"Castle Island" is a 22 acre major recreation site located in South Boston on Boston Harbor. It is the site of Fort Independance, one of the oldest fortified sites in British North America. It was first called Fort William by the British, and renamed Fort Independace in 1779. It protected Boston Harbor in the War of 1812. The current "Castle" is a five sided fort built before the Civil War.
Local legend has it that the remains of an unpopular officer were found walled up at the fort while Edgar Allan Poe served there in the Army and this became the basis of his story The Cask of Amontillado. There is no proof of this being true.
During the Second World War the Navy used the site for a ship degaussing station.
Today the Castle Island fort is open to tours in the summer. There is a monument to Donald McKay who built the clipper ships Flying Cloud and Sovereign of the Seas.
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