One aspect of New York that always amazes me is forgotten property. New York – and especially Manhattan – feels overwhelmingly like a city that has no secrets. It’s like every inch has been studied and cataloged by developers, photographed by tourists, written on by graffiti artists, trampled by residents, etc., etc., etc. Obviously, there’s a lot more to see than is readily apparent, as I try to show on my blog, but usually it’s a hidden quirk here, or an interesting gem there. You’re not going to suddenly stumble on some long-disused alleyway, for example, as there isn’t a single alley in the city that hasn’t been shot in literally hundreds of times by film crews.
It’s funny how once you get outside of the city limits, however, that extreme level of exposure quickly tapers off, even as close as Yonkers. Today, I was clicking around Wikipedia, and somehow came across the entry on the Pelham Islands, a group of islands located in western Long Island Sound. Amazingly enough, only City Island, part of the Bronx, is populated – the rest are empty.
Well, that’s not entirely true for Hart Island. There are no living residents on Hart Island, but there are quite a lot of dead: about 750,000, to be exact, making it the largest tax-funded cemetery in the world.
Hart Island has had a very, very colorful history. Since the 1800′s, it has been home to a workhouse for delinquent boys, a hospital, an insane asylum for women, prisons, a Civil War internment camp, a reformatory, and a missile base. Many of the structures are still standing to this day (though in severely dilapidated states), including parts of the asylum, a stable, a theater, a laundry, workhouses, the missile silos, and a church.
Hell, there are still knives in the old butcher’s shop:
Hart Island (allegedly called that due to its heart-shape) continues to be used to this day as a potter’s field – a cemetery for the unknown and indigent. About 2,000 people are buried here each year from NYC. Riker’s Island inmates perform the burial labor, stacking pine coffins in two rows, 3 high and 25 across, then filling in the plot and marking it with a single concrete marker.
The first child to die of AIDS in New York City is buried in the only single grave on Hart Island, with a concrete marker that reads SC (special child) B1 (Baby 1) 1985.
Unfortunately, the island is off-limits to anyone except those who can prove they have relatives buried here. A ferry runs out of City Island. The reasons for this are pretty obvious (among others, the explorers who took this picture found grenades inside the church!).
For those who can settle on pictures, there are two great sources. First, for a virtual tour of the island, the urban explorers over at Kingston Lounge took an unauthorized trip to the island and took some really, really amazing photographs. Frankly, they put my site to shame. Check them out immediately!
One picture in particular really amazes me – patients at the women’s asylum would participate in occupational therapy as part of their treatment. Apparently, this consisted of making leather shoes. See the junk at the bottom of this picture? It’s actually hundreds of leather shoes, still in great condition.
The second source, Hart Island website, run by Melissa Hunt, has been helping relatives get information about those buried on the island, as well as making historical information available to the public since 1994. There’s a great section of photographs, including some of the inmates at work.
A single tour of the island was conducted in 2000 at the request of local residents, and it’s extremely unfortunate that it doesn’t happen more often. These buildings will never be saved; the island is a cemetery, and it’s not only the corpses that are left to decay. Those who would like to see it, up close and respectfully, are historians and photographers, not vandals, and I’m not sure why groups of 10 or 20 couldn’t be that much trouble to accommodate.
What really amazes me is that an organization like the City Museum of New York doesn’t get off its ass and grab some of the irreplaceable items left on the island before they’re either stolen or succumb to the elements. There are bleachers from Ebbet’s Field, for Christ’s sake!
Governor’s Island is giving more and more tours, and maybe something similar will someday happen on Hart Island. In the meantime, however, if any of you readers happens to have an inside connection that might get me a quick tour of the island, please contact me!! I’m sadly way too much of a wuss to get on a boat and sneak onto the island.
-SCOUT
PS – Not everyone buried here is unkown; some were simply those whose bodies were unclaimed after they died. This included author Dawn Powell, whose building we coincidentally posted about earlier in the week (Elephants on East 10th Street).
I highly recommend checking out “The Other Islands of New York City” by Sharon Seitz. It’s fascinating stuff.
Wow. What a wonderful location. Too bad it’s not accessible.
I’ve really been getting into shooting gems like this one, so this really piqued my interest. The striking thing about Hart Island is the absence of graffiti and vandalism. Very, very few abandoned locations are in such wonderful condition. Case and point:
Abandoned mental hospital: http://flickr.com/photos/jmjackson6880/sets/72157614277981824/
Abandoned coal breaker: http://flickr.com/photos/jmjackson6880/sets/72157613813725112/
Abandoned mining village: http://flickr.com/photos/jmjackson6880/sets/72157613798570573/
I love all the history… awesome. I can’t believe it’s so close to Manhattan!
Go here:
http://maps.live.com
Type in: Hart Island New York
Navigate over to the island, zoom in, and click birdseye view.
Hello again!
wow, thanks for mentioning this! The same class I learned about the Minetta Creek in mentioned this island, we wanted to attempt a midnight row field trip but my professor didn’t wan to deal with the liability … she also mentioned Washington Square Park is a potter’s field, I wonder if there are more?
Several years ago a couple of teenagers drowned while boating near the island. I wonder if that was their destination. I’ve been living in NY all my life and never knew about this lost treasure. I really hope someone with clout reads your post and does something about preserving it. Baby One just breaks my heart.
I love this blog so much – thank you for it.
This is not an original posting since all of the photos were taken from my website: see The Hart Island Project. A source link is not included and my name is not Melissa. The number of 750,000 burials comes from my book (Hart Island, Scalo 1998) There are now 800,000 burials. The city website for Hart Island is based on a pamphlet published in 1967. It is really out of date.
I heard about Hart Island while watching a TV programme and was interested to see what is there so I checked out this website. It is such a shame that no one is doing something about preserving the history and artifacts of this island. It looks like such a sad and mournfull place. What amazing stories some of those buried would be able to tell it they could. Just think, thousands of people practically forgotten by family and friends, all of whom had a life which will never be remembered.
I wonder why they buried that little baby out there? Was it because of the Aids virus he/she died of and the ignorance and hysteria which prevailed in the eighties about the disease?
Thank you for sharing these photos. Your blog is fantastic – a wonderful treasure trove – I bet a book one day would do well. One note – those grenades, my husband tells me, are most likely smoke grenades, or maybe tear gas, and both would make sense, perhaps, at a DOC site. Yes, it is possible that they are another type, but they are more likely not so dangerous: http://www.answers.com/topic/hand-grenade-2 . Not that I am advocating anyone going out there. You’d have to be really careful, and go really early in the am, I bet.
I invite anyone interested in Hart Island to check out the website I just started as well as related Blogs as follows:
http://hartisland-acryforhelp.blogspot.com
http://mybrother-john.blogspot.com
I hope you will stop by and visit. I am merely a sister to a brother buried on Hart Island telling our story and doing my best to shed more light on the Island and its sadness.
Im obliged for the blog post.Much thanks again.
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I was Stationed on Hart Island with Baty D 66th AAA millile Batn. from 1955 to 1958. At the time the prison was still in operation. The potters field was right outside of our fence and daily we saw the prisoners burying the dead in the trenches. It was very good duty there except for the potters field. We had to ride the prison ferry to get to and from the island and sign in and out with the prison guard stationed at the dock. We were not allowed to talk with the prisoners, but did have a few who the warden sent daily to our site to cut grass, etc. They were able to eat with us and we gave them cigaretts. As I said it was great duty.
Hi, I just found your website and have spent the last 3 days exploring on my own here in salt lake city. I grew up in chicago and now I wish I was still there so I could share my forgotten views of chicago. anyway, for some reason, the photos on this page are not there and the links appear broken. can you fix that? or, if need be, if given permission I can fix it.
There is an old abandoned missile silo from the 50′s over there also.
I think other site proprietors should take this website as an model, very clean and great user genial style and design, as well as the content. You’re an expert in this topic!