Battery Park (New York)

Battery Park
Aerial view of Battery Park in 2010. At park's left is Pier A, at park's right is South Ferry Terminal. On the far right is the East River.
Location	Southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City; bounded by New York Harbor to the south
Area	25 acres (10 ha)

Battery Park is a 25-acre (10 ha) public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The area and park are named for the artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years to protect the settlement behind them.

The southern shoreline of Manhattan Island had long been known as "The Battery" since the 17th century when the area was part of the Dutch Settlement of New Amsterdam. At the time, an artillery battery there served to protect the seaward approaches to the town. The Battery continued its function during the colonial era, and was the center of Evacuation Day celebrations commemorating the departure of the last British troops in the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Just prior to the War of 1812, the West Battery, later renamed Castle Clinton, was erected on a small artificial offshore island nearby, to replace the earlier batteries in the area; later, when the land of Battery Park was created, it encircled and incorporated the island.

The relatively modern park was mostly created by landfill starting from 1855, resulting in a landscaped open space at the foot of the heavily developed mainland of downtown. Skyscrapers now occupy most of the original land, stopping abruptly where the park begins. On State Street, the former harbor front and the northern boundary of the park, a single Federal mansion, the James Watson House, survives as part of the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton; until the 1820s, the city's stylish residential district was north of this house, between Broadway and the Hudson River.

While the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Battery Park Underpass were under construction from 1940–52, the park was partly closed; it was later re-landscaped and expanded by 2 acres (0.81 ha). Peter Minuit Plaza was built in 1955; the East Coast Memorial was dedicated in 1963. Battery Park was included within a "group of historic waterfront sites" designated Harbor Park, by the government of New York State, in 1982.