

Some guided tours even allow you a limited exploration of the island itself, though some areas require hard hats to be worn because of the instability of the castle’s structure.

Luckily, certain kayak tours and Bannerman Island cruises can skirt close to the island and get a view of the ruins. After a fire in 1969 that destroyed most of the buildings, the island was completely off limits to the public, and for the most part still is. – their goal to preserve the history of the island and castle. The island does continue to live on today through the Bannerman Castle Trust, Inc. By 1967, the island and castle had been abandoned and was purchased by the State of New York and Taconic Park Commission. In August of 1920, 200 tons of shells and powder exploded in an ancillary structure, partially destroying the complex. After Bannerman’s death in 1918, construction ceased, and the castle and the island began their decline. The height of Bannerman’s busniess was during World War I, contributing heavily to the US war effort. Some of the original gardening, shrubbery, and paths made by his wife Helen can still be seen today. He also built a secondary, smaller castle on top of the island (dangerously close to the main arsenal) to use as a family summer residence.

Artifacts from the American Revolutionary Period were also collected by Bannerman on his island- in fact, Bannerman once wrote that he hoped his collection of arms would be known one day as the “Museum of Lost Arts.”
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He designed the castle himself, leaving the engineers and builders to figure out how to achieve his requests.Ī savvy business man, Bannerman used the castle as a giant advertisement for his business- “Bannerman’s Island Arsenal” is prominently displayed on the east-facing side of the structure, visible to anyone on the eastern shore of the Hudson River. Having amassed a surplus of military equipment at the end of the Civil War, Bannerman purchased the island to safely store his growing stock of ammunition. The construction of the castle spanned from 1901-1918, comissioned by a Scottish immigrant, businessman, and arms dealer, named Francis Bannerman IV. On the tiny 6.5 acre Pollopel Island in the middle of the Hudson River sits Bannerman Castle- or at least, what remains of it. One of our favorites is located right near the home of ASPIRE Metro in the Hudson Valley. We’ve got some comforting news for you: castles don’t only exist in fairy tales, in fact, there are quite a few scattered around the state of New York.
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Did the new Cinderella 2015 movie get you craving a castle? Don’t worry, same here.
