Completed in 1887, The Castle at Fort Totten served as the Base Officers’ Mess Hall and Club for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers School of Application. The Castle is one of the finest surviving examples in New York City of the Gothic Revival castellated style architecture. This architectural style was developed in Great Britain in the mid-1700s and brought to the US in the early 1800s. The popularity of the Gothic Revival style marked a turning away from earlier classical styles based on the buildings of ancient Greece and Rome. In 1982, when the Army considered relinquishing parts of Fort Totten, then-Senator Frank Padavan, a retired US Army Corps of Engineer Officer who had served as Chief of Staff at Fort Totten, assisted the Bayside Historical Society (BHS) in leasing and beginning restoration of the building in 1984. The BHS has been caring for the Castle ever since. **Sunday Tours**: 12-4pm BHS docents will provide 45-minute tours of The Castle that cover the history of the building and its restoration, current uses, review of artifacts from the early 1900s, and more. Tours will occur at least hourly or when 15 people are present. **Family Programming**: As part of the Castle’s open access hours, BHS’s Archeology Exhibit Room and Victorian Children’s Play Room will be open.
Completed in 1887, The Castle at Fort Totten served as the Base Officers’ Mess Hall and Club for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers School of Application. The Castle is one of the finest surviving examples in New York City of the Gothic Revival castellated style architecture. This architectural style was developed in Great Britain in the mid-1700s and brought to the US in the early 1800s. The popularity of the Gothic Revival style marked a turning away from earlier classical styles based on the buildings of ancient Greece and Rome.
In 1982, when the Army considered relinquishing parts of Fort Totten, then-Senator Frank Padavan, a retired US Army Corps of Engineer Officer who had served as Chief of Staff at Fort Totten, assisted the Bayside Historical Society (BHS) in leasing and beginning restoration of the building in 1984. The BHS has been caring for the Castle ever since.
Sunday Tours: 12-4pm
BHS docents will provide 45-minute tours of The Castle that cover the history of the building and its restoration, current uses, review of artifacts from the early 1900s, and more. Tours will occur at least hourly or when 15 people are present.
Family Programming: As part of the Castle’s open access hours, BHS’s Archeology Exhibit Room and Victorian Children’s Play Room will be open.
The tour takes place on the main and second floor of The Castle. A chair lift is available for access to the second floor. A ramp is available for access to the main floor in the back of the building. Please call 718-352-1548 for more information on building accessibility.
Free parking is available at the Little Bay Park parking lot just outside of the Fort Totten entrance (212 Street and Cross Island Parkway). From there, it's a short walk into the Fort to Bayside Historical Society, building #208.
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Robert E. Lee (original design of Fort Totten); 1857 Modification: Chief Engineer Joseph G. Totten; 1984 Restoration: Goldstone and Hinz
208 Totten Avenue
Inside Fort Totten Park. Enter the park at the corner of Bell Boulevard and 212th Street., Bayside, NY 11361
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