9. Governors Island Railroad

All that’s left of the Governors Island Railroad

When war was declared, Governors Island was designated as a supply base. More than seventy new buildings were constructed with floor areas that totaled 30 million square feet and provided storage for war material of every variety, from helmets to horseshoes. Every day of the war, the government moved $1 million (about $16 million today) worth of goods through the island.

To accomplish this herculean task, the Governors Island Railroad was launched. It had eight miles of track, three engines, boxcars, and an engine house, and it operated around the clock moving supplies from docks to warehouses. After the war, all of the structures and warehouses were razed. In 2012, during a construction project, boxcar wheels were uncovered. They sit next to the Urban Farm.