Battery Park

The Battery is a 25acre public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. The park and surrounding area is named for the artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years to protect the settlement behind them.The Battery Conservancy, founded in 1994 by still-current President Warrie Price, has undertaken and funded the restoration and improvement of the once shopworn park. In 2015, the New York City Department of Parks and The Battery Conservancy announced the park's name-change from "Battery Park" to its original, historical title, "The Battery."HistoryThe southern shoreline of Manhattan Island had 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 Battery's landmass was created, it encircled and incorporated the island.