Distant Fortress

Sweet! It really looks like a Disney ride from here!

Very similar to Thom Johnson shot; you have an eye for this, great gallery Mr. Motts

Nice. Good thing you got these pix....... Not much left of the place...

Not much I can say about this other than incredible.

HOPEFULLY THIS PLACE AND MUCH OF ALL OF THE PLACES IN THIS SITE WILL STILL BE STANDING WHEN I GET OLDER AND OUT ON MY OWN TO VISIT THESE SPECTACULAR PLACES TO TAKE MY OWN PHOTOGRAPHS OF ALL THIS SPECTACULARNESS......

Geez.... sure is big

again your to be applauded mr. motts a great gallery and cant wait for the next.

simply beautiful !

What a pity this couldn't have been salvaged and turned into a (tastful) tourist attraction with guided tours. It makes me sad to see something this elegant and with a presumably, interesting history, rot away.

I travelled past this wreck on the train for many years. What a surprise to find these great shots on the net. The romantic ruin emerging from the river at sunset is a powerful image. By the way the train ride from MYC to Albany is one of the great experiences of a lifetime

God i can't breath when i look at your pictures . you really take my breath away with all of your stuff . I would love to go to this place .. it's so beautiful ..

This is a perfect picture such good colors

Wow you have enspired me to become a UE Motts, THANKS!

One of the greatest galleries on here i must say

Looks like it was taken in Europe. This should be in a calendar!!

Where is this at? I would LOVE to go see this place somehow.

i actually saw this veiw of the island on my bros boat

These are great, this place looks like ancient castle ruins found in Europe.

can you say...DDAY!

The whole presentation sort of reminds me of the many German Burgen (Fortresses, or Castles) I visited back in the early 1970s. When I came back stateside in 1975, I was stationed in Upstate NY and didn't know there was such a place nearby!

BEAUTIFUL ,BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL!! Thank you so much for sharing such wonderful pictures!

Loving It ........But no Dungeons ??? ;-))
It looks like a German castle .
The money you can make with something like this ....mmmmm
Sorry I'm Dutch

Don't be sorry you're dutch, I'm not sorry I'm a kiwi.

;)

It's crazy to think that a place like this has been vacant for a (relatively) hort period of time, then to see things in Europe such as the Colleseum and all of the sites around Rome and see that they look the same, even though they are thousands of years older...

It is so pretty, that would be awsome to be drifting along in your boat and see this amazing place.

This place is great!

This castle puts Army / Navy surplus stores to shame!!

Signed: An American Soldier in Germany.

It trully takes you back in time what a stunning place. I love it.

Mr Motts: Another AWSOME GALLERY (as usual) preserved for posterity. Thank U Ever So Much!!!!!

i took this shot but didnt know where to shar it http://i55.photobucket...yedeggs/IMG_3776.jpg

i have seen this place i think..i was on a train to nyc...maybe it wasn't...i'm not sure

another awsome picture show keep it up motts youre a genious

Growing up seeing this almost everyday, I never really gave much thought to it. if you like this, there are even more places like this locally, the area is very rich with history as it is minutes from west point

This place is amazing. I love all your beautiful haunted images, but this is really lovely.

I visited there the other day. Only cost $30 and it was so totally worth it, especially after driving by it my whole life.

Thank you, for the tours you give us which are absolutely breathtaking. I have shared your site with friends explaining your work as awesome and art! You allow us to view these places with such detail we leave feeling we were able to visit them ourselves. Thank you for the trip I will never be able to make in real life.

as much as it is rotting what would u rather have an arsenal or a real castle ruin in your own backyard, i would prefer if they stabilizid it and keep it in its current state

I love this website. It's pictures like this that keeps me coming back. This a beautiful building.

sux that a building of such massive architectural and craftsmanship skill would be allowed to deteriorate. would have been nice if more effort and money went into the up keep. would have made a nice hotel or casino to keep up with the cost of persevering the castle.

how absolutely beautiful must look this one up

I noticed in the pictures on the bannermancastle.org site the lettering on the wall says "Bannerman's Island Arsenal" all on one line and then a couple pictures later it says "Bannerman's Island" on one line and Arsenal below it. Was this wall destroyed and then re-built or are there two walls with the lettering on them?

Absolutely magnificent!

A little late on this one, but outstanding gallery!

As Liz Robbins from The NYTimes says: "… an enigmatic ruin in the middle of the Hudson River, a dreamy landmark for passing train travelers… ",
Yes: I had been one of those instantly charmed passers-by, since for a couple of times (both in 1999 and 2001) I boarded the Amtrack train back and forth between NYC and Rochester, NY.

An old ruins seeker as I was, I couldn't help promising at once to myself that I would come back at the soonest of my possibilities just kayaking right on to the spot…

It was around the end of August, 2001, when from atop the Empire State Building and looking downtown towards the WTC Towers I told to myself that I could take all the time in the world to visit them: maybe on the next coming week; or maybe also on the next coming summer… So with none of such visit done, yet, I plainly left from JFK airport on September 2nd, 2001, quietly awaiting my postponed next tour to the Twin Towers…

So while I still have to get hold of that supposedly useful kayak (maybe a red one, who knows… ) to boldly land on the haunted island, I'm learning today (i. e. end of December, 2011) by browsing your noticeable website that almost half of the Bannerman's Arsenal's remnants fell down to the ground exactly two years ago, due to a very much likely weathering of the old wrecked structure.
Thus, after the many fires and explosions which just as likely stroke the arms depot across its lifetime, I now hope at least it won't be completely swept away by some unexpected forthcoming massive river's flood…

To the most admirable contributor named Ghost of the Delete Key I would like to tell that since from his many keen descriptions he very clearly shows to have extensively cruised along the years the whole island with its extraordinary ruins, and rather skillfully crawled across every single inch of it all leaving nothing unexplored, I think I will appoint him as my own personal guide when (yeah: when??) I'm back on my long desired single person tour of the place!

I only wonder how he could always so easily make it all the way through, though, as Mr. Motts himself says: "Submerged bulkheads and other structures make the surrounding area very dangerous for boaters; the island remains private property and is watched closely by preservation groups." , whereas the latter are perhaps more obstructive than the former... although I eventually believe these are definitely the true local antiques that U. S. citizens should be proud of, and pay caring attention to!