Castle Island, once one of Boston Harbor’s islands and now a peninsula in South Boston, has long been a strategic and symbolic harbor site. Fortifications begun there in 1634 evolved from Castle William into Fort Independence, controlling access to Boston’s port, serving at times as a prison, and playing major roles in the colonial era, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812. The site also held captured Native Americans after King Philip’s War before their forced shipment into the Atlantic slave trade. Later linked to Prince Hall, Donald McKay, and Edgar Allan Poe’s local legend, it became a U.S. Navy station in World War II and is now a public state park.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Boston, Massachusetts · USA