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\Jot, f ~l'j.

(leG/(
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IMP
:1
THE NEW YORK CITY
,I LONG RANGE SI...J.JDGE MANAGEMENT

II
I
,I NORTH BRCJI'H.ER. ISLAND

PHASE IA
I ARCI-IA.EX.JI....CXJICAL ASSESSMENT

il
II

'II'
"

I
~q q \
mSTORICAL
I PERSPECTIVES INC.

I P.O. Box 331 Riverside,Connecticut 06878


I
I
I
I
I
THE NEW YORK CITY LONG RANGE SLUDGE MANAGEMENT PLAN
I
I GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT III

I NORTH BROTHER ISLAND

PHASE IA ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

I
I.
-I
I Prepared by:

Historical Perspectives~ Inc.

I' P.O. Box 331


Riverside, CT 06876

Authors:
I Betsy Kearns
Cece Kirkorian

',1' Prepared for:

I, Allee King Rosen & Fleming,


117 East 29th Street
New York, NY 10016
Inc.

I June~ 1991


I
I
I
I
I TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction " Page 1


I Location Page 1

I Current Condition •••..•••••••••....••...•.•••••


Prehistoric Era Archaeological Potential •.~
Page 1
Page 2

I Historic Era " Page 4

Historic Era Archaeological Potential •.....••.• Page 5


I Conclusions and Recommendations •••••••••••••••• Page 9

I Bibliography

Figures

I Photographs

·1·
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·,1
I,
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I
I
I
I LIST OF FIGURES

I Figure

Figure
1

2
U.S.G.S. Map showing

Site locational map


site

I Figure 3 Proposed.sludge facility

Figure 4 Map showing recorded archaeological sites in area

I Figure 5 Map showing Indian trails and villages

1944 map of North Brother Island


I Figure

Figure
6

7 Early photograph of North Brother Island

I Figure 8 Map of island


indicated
with extant 19th century buildings

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,I

I
'1·
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I 1

I
PROPOSED NORTH BROTHER" ISLAND SLUDGE MANAGEMENT FACILITY
I NEW YORK CITY LONG RANGE SLUDGE MANAGEMENT PLAN (GElS III)

I INTRODUCTION: New York City has entered into a consent Decree and
Enforcement Agreement with the u.S Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the New York' State Department of Environmental"

I Conservation (DEC) to end ocean disposal of its sewage sludge.


Long Range Sludge Management Plan ~s being developed by the City
as part of the agreement. "The Plan calls for the development of
A

multiple City sites where dewatered sludge can be processed into


I sludge product with beneficial reuse technologies.

This archaeological assessment is part of a Generic Environmental


I Impact statement (GElS III) for the Long Range Plan.
is to assess the archaeological
Its purpose
potential of the' site and to
determine if the proposed building's footprint will encroach on

I those areas
resources.
of the site that might contain archae~logical

Research has included study of both old and current ~·maps,


I historical accounts, records in various New York City depart~ents,
archaeological reports, guides to New York, a New York State site
file '~earch, and a field inspection.
"I LOCATION: The North Brother Island site is located in the Upper
East River, bounded by the Rikers Island Channel to the south and

I Brother Island Channel to the east. The island consists of two


parcels; Lot 10 is a federally owned United States Reservation and
Lot 20 is owned by the City of New York. The project area occupies
Block 2605, Lot 20 and is approximately 20 acres large (see Figures
I 1 and 2).
CURRENT CONDITION: A field visit was made on June 21, 1991. There
I are 28 buildings on the site, , in conditions that range from
deteriorating to ruined. They include a former hospital building,
boiler, transformer and coal storage houses, a chapel,

',1 administration' and service buildings,


hospital staff.
and houses once used by
(See Photographs 1 and 2 for general views.)
nineteenth century lighthouse-and ruined outbuilding are adjacent
A

to the site on the federally owned portion of the island.


I The island is covered with dense veqetation that is typical of many
overgrown urban areas; the remnants of old plantings and
I
I
I
I
2
I
I
I landscaping are evident as well as naturally occurring flora (Photo
3). In some places the walkway and street layout can be discerned,
but it is difficult to follow. Several species of birds were seen,
I especially sea gulls whose nests and newly-hatched chicks are all
.over the island, even inside buildings. Other than the large
number of birds, rats were the only fauna observed.

I CONSTRUCTION PLANS: As proposed, a sludge treatment facility would


have spread-footing foundations to a depth of 5-6 feet below grade
I and would cover the majority of the island area. (D. Lang, Allee
King Rosen & Fleming Inc., personal communication 5/22/91, see
Figure 3).
I PREHISTORIC ERA ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL

I A site file search at the New York State Museum and the New
York State Historic Preservation Office was undertaken in order to
ascertain if there have been any sites reported on North Brother
I Island. While here are 8 recorded prehistoric sites in" the
surrounding area (see Figure 4: # A005-01-0027,28,30,31;
4575; 4539; 2831) [Sites A005-01-0074-79
4574 and
are historic underwater
sites discussed in the Historic Era section of this report), there
I are no recorded sites on the island. Indeed, from what we know
about settlement pattern preferences, several factors argue against
major use of North Brother Island by prehistoric peoples. There
I is no fresh water source on the island. The ground water is
tidally influenced and may be saline since "pockets of Phragmites
and field-like conditions on the southern and eastern banks of the
I island suggest occasional incursion by salt waterlt (Winthrop and
Williams 1978:69).
••
According to pUblished reports, the rock line determined' in
I borings drilled for the Tuberculosis Building on the northern side
of the site is from 6 to 12 feet below the existing grade.
Furthermore, these reports also indicate that the soils consist of
,I an upper layer of clay and a lower level of wet sand of equal
thickness" (Stone and Webster, BX28 -a-p.l) Therefore, the island
would be poorly drained, and well-drained sites were preferred

I habitation sites.
Another factor is the strong water current in the surrounding
East River. Currents average 1.5 knots east from two hours' past
I low water to one hour past high water, and average 1.0 knots west
from two hours past high water to one hour past" low water,

,I according to a report prepared in 1978. An interesting anecdotal


corroboration of that fact was reported in a clipping (on file at
the Bronx County Historical Society) from the NEWS of 4/15/84 that

I
I
I 3

I
I quoted a New York City policeman as saying that, escapees from
Rikers Island may get as far as Brother Island, but can't go any
further because of the strong East River tides.
I Of course, Native Americans may have visited the island by the
.same route from Rikers Island, but probably only for fishing or

I shellfish gathering. That kind of procurement usage ordinarily


entailed transient visits rather than long-term habitation. Robert
Grumet reported that the name "Wikisan," possibly referring to
reeds, had been applied to one or both'of the Brothers Islands
I by Robert Bolton (Figure 5). "This term has not as yet been
located in the colonial record, and may have been introduced by R.
Bolton" (Grumet 1981:63).
I If there were any prehistoric resources left on ,the island by
native Americans, there is a strong possibility that these shallow
deposi ts would have been severely impacted by ninete'enth and
I "twentieth century building episodes and landscaping over the entire
island. In southern New York, prehistoric deposits are usually
located within the top 3 feet below the original grade. :
I Another factor affecting prehistoric potential would be the
erect~on of the seawall that rings the island and the fill placed

'1 behind the wall. The 1890 Board of Health Annual Report referenced
expenditures for 400 feet of sea wall and 4058 square feet of "dirt
filling behind the new sea wall" (Board of Health 1990:30).
Historian I.N.P. Stokes noted that as of 1909 "At North Brother
I Island about 1,900 feet.of concrete retaining wall has been built,
in the rear of which it is intended to deposit filling in a manner
similar to that at Rikers Island (city refuse). These four acres

I of made land are designed for~the use of the Department of Health"


(Stokes 1926:Vol. V, 2074).

A recent examination of the site reported that "In the


I vicinity of the reinforced concrete sea wall, which surrounds the
entire island, the land appears to·be fill comprised of cinders,
slag and miscellaneous debris which was probably placed when the
I island w'as enlarged between 1902 and 1907" (Stone. and Webster,
1991, BX28-2-p.l). (Observations made during the recent field
inspection concur with that, ·except that some material that would

I be from a later date than 1907 was also noted, especially in places
where erosion had taken place underneath the seawall. It is not
possible to"know if the small material remains such as pottery
sherds have been washed ashore, or were deposited as landfill or
I discarded as trash from within the island.)
hampered because there has been
Thus testing would be
so much land manipulation,
including compaction, that finding the original landform would be

I quite difficult. The overall acreage of the site has increased


from approximately 16 acres to approximately 20 acres.

I
I
I 4

I
I HISTORIC ERA
"Adrian Block no~ed this island on his charts in 1614, along

I with a surrounding cluster of islets which he called "de Ges~llen,"


a term.meaning Brethren. This was not in the family sense, but
meant the commercial brother~ (associates) of the Dutch West Indies
Company. . It was Anglicized to liThe Brothers" when the English
I occupied New York, and designated UNorth ll
due to its geographical
location" (McNamara 1984: 187) . According to Stokes. North Brother
Island was granted to James Graham in 1695 (Stokes 1926:Vol.V).

I Uln 1708, the English governor patented to William Bond the islands
known as 'The Brothers.' Daniel Ludlow was owned [sic] in the
later 1700' s, Edward Acheson in 1802, and Jacob Eaton in 180S"

I (McNamara 1984:232).

a
lI ll of North Brother
The island had been offered for sale by one
Eleanor Braster in 1791 (Stokes 1926, Vol.V).
Island, except part ceded
On April 14, 1871
to United States
Government" was sold to the Board of Trustees of the' Town of
I Horrisania by "Martha Ackerson (single woman) and Annie J. Ackerson
(widow)" for $40,000.00 (Bureau of Municipal Investigation and
Statistics 1908: 14).
I From conveyance records, some early owners of North Brother
are known (see above), but no data concerning actual land usage
could be located other than that the southernmost 2.53 acres were
'1 ceded to the federal government for a lighthouse in 1867 (Winthrop
and Williams 1978:25), and a report that the Sisters of Charity
established a small hospital for'communicable disease in the 1850s.
I No further information verifying or describing the early hospital
usage could be found. Possibly the paucity of documentary sources
is due to the fact that the island was politically part of Queens

I until 1881 when "an act of the New York City Council officially
transferred North Brother from the jurisdiction of Queens to that
of the Bronx" (Ibid.:2S).

I The City of New York had pur~hased the island the year before,
in 1880, in order to establish a hospital for tuberculosis and
contagious diseases. Riverside Hospital was moved from Blackwell's
:1 (now Welfare or Roosevelt) Island to North Brother Island and the
first pavilion (the male dormitory) was opened in 1885. After that
time, many buildings were erected, bringing the total to 32 when

I the facility closed in 1944 (Ibid. :26 and see Figure 6). Certainly
the most infamous of its patients was "Typhoid Mary" Mallon, a
typhoid carrier who unwittingly had started epidemics while
employed as a cook.
I From 1946 to 1951 the island was used by the State to house
veterans and their families, and from 1951 to 1963 by the City as

'I a teenage drug rehabilitation center (NEW YORK TIMES: 8/15/82).

I
I 5

I
I The island was declared surplus property and offered for sale in
1970. Since that time, a number of plans have been suggested for
I its usage, but to date none have been implemented.

I Historic Era Archaeological Potential

Asi~e from the purported use of part of the island as a

I hospital in the 18505, about which no data whatsoever could be


found, the documented historic era on the island began in 1880 with
its purchase by the City of N~w York for the new location of the
Riverside Hospital for communicable diseases which was transferred
I from Blackwell's Island. The first building phase was in c.1885
when the male dormitory was opened. During the 1885 building era
five pavilions and support buildings consisting of an ice house,
I a boiler room, and a store house were also constructed.
structures from that building era still exist, although the ice
Five

house is in ruins and inaccessible because of a large concrete wall

I and a more recent building wall abutting it.


'the male dormitory, Photographs
(Photograph 3 shows
4 and 5 show the kitchen
building/staff house, and Photograph 5 shows all that could be seen
of the ice house.) . -
I There is a problem for the researcher in documenting this building
era because important archival material either does not exist or
"I cannot:be located. The New York City Board of Health, under whose
aegis the hospital complex was built and administered,
print an annual report for the years 1881 through 1888, crucial
did not

I years for the purposes of this research. The annual reports for
1879 and 1880 consist solely of vital statistics and do not mention
buildings. The 1889 annual report does not describe the physical
plant of the hospital complex. The only pertinent information"
I contained in the 1890 annual report was a statement that besides
the male dormitory, there were five other heated pavilions that
were about 50 feet apart. No building plans could .be found. The

I Bronx Buildings Department does not even have a block folder for
North Brother Island, and the Department
construction records in its library.
of Health has no
Librarians at the Department
of Health library and the Municipal Reference Library knew of no
":1 place where such plans might be found. The 1978 report prepared
by Winthrop.and Williams gave ·a general description of the c.1885
building phase, but it is unclear where the information was
I obtained.
to documents
It is possible that the writers at that time had access
that by now have been destroyed or dispersed
unknown repositories. A librarian at the Municipal
to
Reference

I Library commented that she thought that the Department of Health


document collection
organization
had been divided during a department
(Personal communication from Derryl Lang, 6/91).
re-

Therefore, the early building history has been reconstructed from


I a variety of sources, including the visual evidence obtained during
the field inspection.

I
I
I 6

I
I It appears that the next building phase took place in the
early 1900s concurrent with the deposit of landfill and erection
I of the seawall ringing the island. A 1908 document on file at the
Municipal Reference .Library has undated photographs from that era
that show structures from the earlier building phase as well as

I more recently

photographs were
constructed

valuable
buildings

during the
(Bureau

field
of
Investigation and Statistics, Department of Finance 1908).
Municipal

inspection
These
in
identifying the c.1885 structures that still stand. (For an
I example, see Figure 7.) There is extensive documentation through
photographs and written des~riptions of subsequent 20th century
building episodes contained in the Art Commission files. There

I were a number of these episodes throughout the first half of the


centurYi for example, several of the first wooden pavilions were
replaced: by masonry structures. It appears that often old
buildings were demolished, the sites cleared, and new buildings
I -erected on or near the earlier sites.

Locating the subsurface remains of razed structures fr0~ the


I first building phase would not make an important contribution to
the archaeological record since there are extant examples (Photos
3, 4,. and 5). The general building usage is known through
documents and none of these indicate associated features - other
'1 than cisterns or privies
archaeological resources.
that might produce valuable
For example, there was a morgue building
located adjacent to the ferry dock. This location is significant
I because bodies were tz:ansferred for private burial or to the
potter's field. There was· no burial ground on the island.

I While the general building usage can be reconstructed,

cannot determined. Privies and cisterns


the
hospital's· earliest methods of obtaining water and disposing of
waste can provide
archaeological data about past lifeways othe~wise unobtainable for
I study, because when they are no longer in use they quickly fill
with refuse, and they may remain undisturbed as "time capsules"
with distinctly stratified layers. Waste material from the 19th
;1 century Riverside Hospi tal complex use might address research
topics such as medical and dietary practices or institutional
consumer patterns.

I . These shaft features - or the deeper portions of them -


often survive development activity. There is the potential for
this kind of cultural resource to be present on North Brother
I Island, although the existence of shaft features cannot
definitively proved because neither building blueprints/plans
records about the initial installation of sewer and water lines
be
nor

I can be found. The data that has been obtained is inconclusive and

I
I
7
I
I
"I sometime conflicting. The 1978 Winthrop and Williams report stated
that "documents at the Bronx Building Department conflict as to the
nature of sewage treatment. A 1902 application indicates a public

I sewer runs to North Brother from Davidson Avenue in the Bronx,


whereas a 1905 document, and all subsequent material, state or
imply that the sewage and d~ainage ran directly into the river •••A
six inch water main was constructed to North Brother from 140th
I Street in the Bronx. In 1902 the main froze solid and had to be .
taken up and relaid before the trouble was over" (Williams and
Winthrop 1978: 26-27).

I However, a recent visit to the Bronx water and sewer


departments produced no records whatsoever about when North Brother
Island was hooked into. municipal utility lines despite a diligent
I search by staff personnel in each of the departments. One staff
person suggested that early documents such as the ones in question
may have been moved to some other repository - or even destroyed -
I " because of limited storage space. They were able to locate some
early maps of sewer and water lines in the Bronx near where the
lines would have been extended to the island. The Sewer Department

I Section 2 Map shows an 1898 sewer along 138th Street leading to the
East River and a Section 4 Map shows a 1907 line along Truxton
Street also leading to the river. The pipelines terminate at the
river~:s edge. A Water Department map shows a pipe along 140th
'1 Street, as mentioned above, but there is no installation date.

During the period. in question, two pertinent items were found


I in the Board of Health Annual Reports for 1902 and 1903. " •••With
this appropriation Riverside and Kingston Avenue Hospitals were
repaired and filled with proper sanitary accommodations" (Board of

I Health 1902: 16) and "Nearly all plumbing in the various buildings
[on North Brother Island]
(Board of He~lth 1903:15).
has been replaced by new plumbing'

I It should be remembe~ed that the inspection of the state of


the sanitary conditions of New York was the responsibility of the
Board of Health which implies that their own facilities should be

:1 above reproach. Perhaps the.conclusions of Joan Geismar's research


on the same subject for Roosevelt Island are applicable to the case
of North Brother Island. Dr. Geismar noted that "bucket brigades"
that dumped waste material into the water surrounding the island
I were a means of disposal sometimes used even after the practice
became a violation of health ordinances in 1881. It was suggested
that the Department of Health or some other agency provided boats
I to remove such waste prior to the installation of sewer lines
(Geismar 1985:28-45).

I
I
I
8
I
I
I Like Roosevelt Island, there is no pictorial or cartographic
evidence of privies or cisterns on the hospital grounds at North
Brother Island. There is currently a large cistern located behind
I the boiler building that has pipe connections to the boiler room
(Photograph 7). It is possible that there was a cistern of some
size constructed during the 1885 building era although there is no
mention of one in documents and no indication of one on a 1937 plan
I of the island. There also may well, have been small cisterns
associated with each 19th century building until or unless there
was a central water supply system
I If a portion of the shoreline of North Brother Island will be
impacted by dock building or improvement (Photo 8), there is an

I addi tional archeological concern to be addressed which is the


possible existence of sunken ships, or remains thereof.
Bri tish frigate HUSSAR sank in 1780 in the vicinity of North
.The

Brother Island. Its exact location has been the subject of


I .numerous searches.
exhaustively
A 1988 report by Maritime Explorations, Inc.
documented the history of the ship and previous
attempts to find it as well as remote sensing and dive oper~tions
I ,conducted between 1985 and 1988 (site numbers A0050074 through 79
as shown on Figure 4). The conclusion of the report stated that
"t.her-eis no doubt that the remains of HMS HUSSAR lie on the bottom
on the East River somewhere near the foot of 136th Street in the
I South Bronxu and thus outside the North Brother Island site area
(Reedy 1988:14). '

I Another famous shipwreck occurred on June 15, 1904 when the


excursion steamer GENERAL SLOCUM caught fire and beached off North

I Brother Island and 1051 persons perished. According to Irving


Wersteinls book about the incident, the boat ran aground about 20
yards off the south shore. The stern settled where the water was
30 feet deep and the bow on a sand bar only about 6 feet deep
I (Werstein 1965: 65-66). Coroner O'Gorman decided to send bodies
to the Board of Health dockshed at the Manhattan morgue at the foot
of East 26th Street. He also ordered the collection of personal
;1 belongings; there were many contemporary reports of looting of the
debris and even of bodies (Ibid.:84).
U.S. Steamboat'Inspection
The Supervising Inspector,
Service, New York District, ordered the
hulk towed to Hunters Point, Long Island, but on the way the ship
I foundered and went down in 60 feet of high tide'water (Ibid.:93-
94). The boat was shortly thereafter raised and towed to Robbins
Dockyard at the Erie Basin in Brooklyn's Red Hook District (Ibid.:
I 127-128). It is possible that random artifacts related to the
wreck might be recovered, but no significant deposits relating to
the accident can be expected to be intact and no search for them

I is warranted.

I
I
I 9

I
·1 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Because of minimum research potential and the known

I disturbance record as discussed on pages. 2 and 3, no further


archaeological consideration of the North Brother site for
prehistoric resources is.warranted. Documentary research" and a
field inspection on the island indicate that potential
I archaeological resources are limited to shaft features such as
cisterns and privies from the historic era usage. It is likely,
although not provable by documentary research, that sewer and water
I pdpe Ld.ne s from the Bronx mainland were not in place until around
the turn of the century, making it possible that privies received
waste disposal and that cisterns stored rain water for
approximately 15 years after the first buildings were constructed~
I When no longer needed, the shafts would have either been
deliberately filled or used as trash receptacles. As discussed
above, locating material culture remains trom the early decades of
I .operation of one of New York City's pUblic hospitals could address
a number of important archaeological research topics.
..

I Allor parts of these features - if they exist at all - may


be intact or they may have been seriously disturbed by the
underground water, sewer, and electrical system in use before the
island was abandoned. Visual evidence obtained during the field
"I inspection and a statement by a member of the water Department
staff as to the extensive network of utility lines on the island
suggest substantial disturbance. Photograph 9 shows .the above
I ground entrance to a utility vault, and Photograph 10 is a view
into its interior space which is approximately 12 feet deep and
whose horozontal extent· is unknown, but probably hooks into a
I system of subsurface utility tunnels. Because of·dense vegetation
covering the site, if there are capped cisterns or privies they
were not visible during the field inspection.

I In the absence of conclusive evidence relating to the


existence of shaft features, it is recommended that a systematic
survey of the area in the vicinity of the extant 19th century
I buildings be conducted if North Brother Island is used as a sludge
processing site. As proposed, a sludge facility would impact most
of the island's area (Figure3)~ the extant circa 1885 buildings

I are indicated by arrows on Figure 8•


conducted by archaeologists certified by
The survey should be
the Society of
Professional Archaeologists (SOPA) after the island has been
cleared of vegetation prior to construction activity. If
I archaelogical resources are encountered, a testing plan should be
devised with the review and approval of the New York City Landmarks
Preservation Commission.
I
I
I
I
I
I BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bolton, Reginald P. .
I 1922 ilIndian Paths in the Great Metropolis," in INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS, edited by P.W. Dodge. New York:
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.

I Bronx County Historical Society


Neighborhood Files: North Brother Island.

I Bureau of Municipal Investigation and Statistics, Department of


Finance
1908 REAL ESTATE OWNED BY THE CITY OF NEW YORK UNDER THE

I JURISDICTION OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE BOROUGHS.


in Municipal Reference Library.
File

Comfort, Randal
I 1906 HISTORY OF BRONX BOROUGH.
Press.
New York: North Side News

I Cook, Harry T.
1913 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX:
Published by the author.
1639 - 1913. New York:

·1 Craigwell,
1970
Hadyn H.
"North Brother Island: Report and Proposal." New York.
Pages from. manuscript found in Bronx County Historical
I society verticle file.

Ellis, Edward Robb

I 1966 THE EPIC OF NEW YORK CITY. New York: Old Town Books.

Geismar, Joan
1985 ilAn Archaeological Eveluation of the Northtown Phase
I II Project Area, Roosevelt Island, New York." The
Starret Housing Development Corporation, New York.

I Grumet, Robert Steven


1981 NATIVE AMERICAN PLACE NAMES IN NEW YORK CITY.
York: Museum of the City of New York.
New

I Jenkins, Stephen
1912 THE STORY OF THE BRONX: 1639 - 1912. New York:
G.P. Putnam's Sons.
I Kearns, Betsy and Cece Kirkorian
1988 "Phase IB Fieldwork Report: Shorehaven Site·, Br'onx;"

I Ms on file with NYCLPC.

I
I
I
I
I Kearns, Betsy, Cece Kirkorian, and Martha Cobbs
1989 "Phase 1A Archaeological Assessment Report for the NYC
Department of Correction: Hunts Point Correctional

I Facility, Bronx, New York. Ms on file at Parsons


Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc., New York, NY.

Lenik, Edward
I 1986 "Phase 1A Archaeologicl Assessment Report, Resource
Recovery: Barretto Point," B. Kearns and C.
Kirkorian. Editors. Ms on file with Parsons
I Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc., NYC.

McNamara, John
I 1984 HISTORY IN ASPHALT: THE ORIGIN OF BRONX STREET AND
PLACE NAMES. Bronx, N.Y.:The Bronx County Historical
Society.

I Reedy, James R. Jr.


n.d. "Phase I Preliminary Report: HMS Hussar Search."
MS printed by Maritime Explorations, Inc.
I Smith, Thelma E.
1962 "The Islands of New York City," in THE NEW YORK PUBLIC
__ LIBRARY MUNICIPAL REFERENCE LIBRARY NOTES. Vol.XXXVI,
<I No.6, June 1962. Pages 97-102.

Stokes, I.N.P.
I 1915- THE ICONOGRAPHY OF MANHATTAN
1926 York: Robert. H. Dodd.
ISLAND. Vols. I-VI. New

I Werstein, Irving
1965 THE GENERAL SLOCUM INCIDENT. New York: The John Day
Co., Inc.
I Willensky, Elliot and Norval White
1988 AlA GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY. New York: Harcourt Brace
,I Jovanovich, Publishers.
Winthrop, Hope and Harold S. Williams
I 1978 TOWARD NORTH BROTHER ISLAND. Rensselaerville, N.Y.: The
Center for Community Revewal, Institute on Man and
science.

I WPA
1939 THE WPA GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY. New York: Pantheon
. Books.
·1 Wright, Carol von Pressentin
1983 BLUE GUIDE TO NEW YORK. New York: W.W. Norton & Company

I "Inc.
I Figure I

I
U.S.G.SI Topographic Map, 7 • ::l-, Series
I Central Park Quad Flushing Quad

'i Coil ...

)~
I N
I
I i
o 0.25

I
I.'
I Bronx

I
I
I

I I

Ea.st River

I
I'
I
N
I
~I ~

I
'II· ~ ::Ne~w~Y~o~rk:C:it~=E~T-----;;;:;:;:~;::::~~
of EnVirOnmenralD~partment
r~tection
SLUDGE GeneraIzed Land
I MANAGEMEN
PLAN T
. Snlnx SIte 2BU&e
IIIIIIIid
Narlh Srolhw FI .
TASK 7 t!lUf8 8x28 3-1
I Figure 3
~.s6762416 aX28LURP (ED 2 APRIL 91)

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I VEHiCULAR ACCESS

I, _____ APPROXIMATE PROPERTY BOUNDARY

I NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT


BRONX SI1E 28; N. BROTIiER ISL.
BUILDING SITE PLAN
OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

1'1 SLUDGE MANAGEMENT PLAN -~


o L.....-l200 400 FT. G
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Recorded sites from New


York State files

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I Figure 5

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I From Grumet, 1981, NATIVE AMERICAN
NEW YORK CITY.
PLACE NAMES IN

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I Figure 6

1.- Figure II: North Brother Island, ~irca 1944

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I From Winthrop and Williams,
I 1978, TOWARD NORTH
BROTHER ISLAND

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I Figure 7

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C1un"'J'll1 Vlow "' North ",nthD' hilAnd, 'mm 1.IKh'"11I1M".
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From Municipal Reference Library Files
I (looking north)

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IPILINGS
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PIER B..

RIP .",

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General views of North Brother Island from the East River,
I looking northeast.
Photograph 1: The west side of the island
photograph 2: The east side of the island

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Photograph 3: Front facade of the 1885 male dormitory.
I It is building 25 on Figure 8.
Note the dense vegetation.

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Photographs 4 and 5: Side and rear views of a c.1885-90
I building, #9 on Figure 8.

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Photograph 6: Ruins of the ice house whose location is shown
I on Figure 6 as south of the cistern/fountain.
This is a portion of the north wall, and the
only wall that can be seen. The interior is

I inaccessible because of large, unstable


building debris.

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Photograph 7: Cistern behind the boiler house, #~ on Figure 8.
I It is connected to.the boiler by pipes.

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I Photograph 8: Looking northeast toward the coal and ferry
docks. Note the deteriorated condition.

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:?notocraDIl ~I: ~::-ade ~:2veJ. :::;:2!l:":c.c; :1= u t i Li, t.v v au L t.

I PhotoaraDn lJ: ~~ew oi int:er:..o::- of ~ault.

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