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New York - New York City - Governors Island Five hundred yards off the tip of Manhattan, Governors Island faces the tall towers of the metropolis; but its neatly squared shores, its trim redbrick barracks, its well-kept buildings, shaded walks, and historic forts surrounded by green lawns suggest a Dutch village. This is the headquarters for the Second Corps Area, second in importance only to Washington in administrative affairs of the United States Army. The Government ferryboat, Gen. Charles F. Humphrey, lands at the foot of Soissons Place, named for a successful World War engagement of the Sixteenth Infantry Regiment. From here, two roads branch out, one leading to Castle Williams on the right, and the other to Fort Jay on the left. The star-shaped FORT JAY dominates the island from a knoll. Originally built in 1794, it was reconstructed and renamed Fort Columbus in 1806. Its four bastions of masonry held one hundred guns and a drawbridge approach over a dry moat to a sally port. In 1904 its old name was restored. Within the fort is a quadrangle of officers' dwellings; surrounding the bastion works and the patched redbrick walls are the greens of a ninehole golf course. The administrative offices, post office, tool shops, and WPA offices and shops are housed in buildings near Fort Jay. The WPA has constructed and repaired officers' dwellings, and beautified the grounds; a mural in the Administration Building, depicting scenes from six American wars, was painted by artists of the Federal Art Project. CASTLE WILLIAMS, popularly known as "the cheese box" because of its circular shape, was begun in 1807 and completed in 1811 after the designs of Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Williams. Two hundred feet in diameter, with ivied red sandstone walls, forty feet high and eight feet thick, it is casemated with arches for three tiers of guns. Today Castle William is the disciplinary barracks of the U.S. Army. Near by are the structures built on filled land in the 1930's by the War Department to house the Sixteenth Infantry -- complete with barracks, mess- and class-rooms. On the flat expanses of filled land to the south are the polo grounds, small-arms target ranges, and stables. The Sunday afternoon polo matches (May through October, admission fees 50¢ and 75¢) draw large numbers of civilian spectators. BRICK Row, landscaped in keeping with the military environment, consists of eight red-brick two-story houses bordering the parade ground. The frame houses of GENERALS ROW and COLONELS ROW enclose a park. There are also a library, workshops, and a store. At Brick Row, situated in what is now the center of the island, the elevation is about forty feet above the high-water mark. In the chapel are flags of engagements ranging from the Revolutionary to the World War. At the south end of the island, the triangular SOUTH BATTERY, built in 1812, looks out over Buttermilk Channel to Brooklyn. Once a forbidding fortress bristling with guns, it is now the site of the Officers Club. A few paces from South Battery the square stone tower of the CHAPEL OF SAINT CORNELIUS THE CENTURION, of Trinity Parish, rises above the trees. Within this granite-block building, designed by Charles C. Haight and built in 1906, are preserved a number of military curios, including brass cannon and the oldest army flag of the first United States Infantry. Governors Island, originally called Nutten Island, was ignored by the Dutch until Wouter van Twiller, second governor of New Netherland, purchased it in 1637 from two Indians for one or two axheads, a few nails, and other trifles. In 1698 the New York Assembly set the land aside "for the benefit and accommodation of His Majesty's governors." This gave rise to its present name. At various times the island served as sheep farm, a quarantine station, a race track, and a game preserve, in addition to harboring the governor's "pleasure house." Although the Assembly in 1703 authorized the raising of funds to build fortifications on the island, none was erected until the urgencies of the Revolution compelled General Israel Putnam, with a thousand men, to build them as defense against the British. By the time of the War of 1812 the fortifications were considered to be of such military strength that observers believed they forestalled the threatened British naval' attack on New York City. During the Civil War, 1,500 Rebel prisoners were held in Castle Williams, and a great number of troops were stationed on the island -- the records mentioning seven regiments as being on duty at one time. In 1863 draft-rioters unsuccessfully tried to storm the island while the troops were guarding the Subtreasury in Wall Street. By 1900 the area of Governors Island had dwindled from about 170 acres (its size during the Dutch occupation) to 70 because of wave erosion. The land was replaced with earth dug from subway excavations and dredged channels, so that today, with 173 acres, Governors Island has more than regained its former size. On the recovered land more than seventy buildings were constructed during the World War, and even a temporary railroad was built. Today such excitement as the peaceful island knows is created by dress reviews and competitive sports, to which the public is invited. Most popular are boxing, basketball, football, and polo.