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THE NEW YORK CITY
,I LONG RANGE SI...J.JDGE MANAGEMENT
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,I NORTH BRCJI'H.ER. ISLAND
PHASE IA
I ARCI-IA.EX.JI....CXJICAL ASSESSMENT
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mSTORICAL
I PERSPECTIVES INC.
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I Prepared by:
Authors:
I Betsy Kearns
Cece Kirkorian
I June~ 1991
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I TABLE OF CONTENTS
I Bibliography
Figures
I Photographs
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I LIST OF FIGURES
I Figure
Figure
1
2
U.S.G.S. Map showing
Figure
6
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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 those areas
resources.
of the site that might contain archae~logical
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,
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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
'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 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
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I HISTORIC ERA
"Adrian Block no~ed this island on his charts in 1614, along
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
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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 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
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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 can be found. The data that has been obtained is inconclusive and
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"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 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.
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'
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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 is warranted.
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·1 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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.
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.
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 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;"
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I Kearns, Betsy, Cece Kirkorian, and Martha Cobbs
1989 "Phase 1A Archaeological Assessment Report for the NYC
Department of Correction: Hunts Point Correctional
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.
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
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U.S.G.SI Topographic Map, 7 • ::l-, Series
I Central Park Quad Flushing Quad
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of EnVirOnmenralD~partment
r~tection
SLUDGE GeneraIzed Land
I MANAGEMEN
PLAN T
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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