Purchased from local Native Americans in 1654, Hart Island has been used as a internment camp, drug rehabilitation centre, isolation hospital, several prisons, a lunatic asylum and more.
However, it is better known for the children and adults buried there, in the worlds largest tax funded cemetery.
However, it is better known for the children and adults buried there, in the worlds largest tax funded cemetery.
An Island with a Long and Varied History
Hart Island. Louisa Van Slyke was born at sea in 1845. On 20 April, 1869, Louisa poor and alone died from Yellow Fever in a charity hospital. With no one to claim her remains, she became the first burial at Hart Island, New York.
Her lonely burial was not to remain solitary for long as other burials soon followed. The north side of the island is a 'Potter's Field', a place for the burial of unknown and poor people or even for those whose families refused to collect their remains after death. However, it was not always the site of a cemetery, as Hart Island went by other names and has been used for other purposes in the past.
The island was purchased from local Native Americans in 1654 by a English Physician named Thomas Pell. The island fell in as part of the huge tracts of land he purchased from Chief Wampage and other Siwanoy Indian tribal members – this land included what is now known today as Pelham, the Bronx, Long Island Sound and parts of Westchester County. The price he paid is unknown but it is believed he paid for it all in Jamaican Rum.
Her lonely burial was not to remain solitary for long as other burials soon followed. The north side of the island is a 'Potter's Field', a place for the burial of unknown and poor people or even for those whose families refused to collect their remains after death. However, it was not always the site of a cemetery, as Hart Island went by other names and has been used for other purposes in the past.
The island was purchased from local Native Americans in 1654 by a English Physician named Thomas Pell. The island fell in as part of the huge tracts of land he purchased from Chief Wampage and other Siwanoy Indian tribal members – this land included what is now known today as Pelham, the Bronx, Long Island Sound and parts of Westchester County. The price he paid is unknown but it is believed he paid for it all in Jamaican Rum.
School Ship anchored off Hart Island. In 1864 the island became a military barracks and prisoner of war camp where more than 3,000 captured Confederate soldiers were held until the end of the war. From here the facilities became a boys workhouse then a womens insane asylum.
In 1869, New York City purchased the island for $75,000 from the then current owner, with the island at the time known as Lesser Minneford Island. However it was also known as 'Hearts Island' and at some stage the 'a' was dropped with the island going by its current name 'Hart' or 'Harts'.
In 1869, New York City purchased the island for $75,000 from the then current owner, with the island at the time known as Lesser Minneford Island. However it was also known as 'Hearts Island' and at some stage the 'a' was dropped with the island going by its current name 'Hart' or 'Harts'.
New York's 'Potters Field'
Burial on Hart Island. Now owned by New York, part of Hart Island became the largest tax funded cemetery in the world. The US has a huge population which means there are a large number of people dying every year and of those deaths, some 200,000 are unclaimed, unknown or 'paupers'. Although these numbers were not to be as high back in the late 1800's they were large nonetheless and it was wondered what was to be done with these unfortunates.
Regular funeral and burials were too costly for the tax payers and state to handle so a number of 'potter's fields' were established with Hart Island designated to be the largest. The idea was to cut cost, be efficient with land space while still providing the basic semblance of a burial.
Regular funeral and burials were too costly for the tax payers and state to handle so a number of 'potter's fields' were established with Hart Island designated to be the largest. The idea was to cut cost, be efficient with land space while still providing the basic semblance of a burial.
Inmates from Rikers do the work. As stated earlier, Louisa Van Slyke was the first burial at Hart Island but she was soon joined. The standard procedure is to bury unknowns in single plots (in case they are later identified and can then be easily exhumed and collected) whilst identified people are buried in mass graves.
Up until 1913 everyone, young and old would end up in the same plots however with adults making up a large number of those later exhumed, children under the age of five began to be buried in separate mass graves to the older children and adults.
Generally everyone is buried in simple pine boxes and stacks and rows are created. Adults are buried three deep and two wide in long trenches of 78 burials. Young children are buried five coffins deep, twenty across in trenches of 1000 burials. Amputated body parts are also buried in the field.
Up until 1913 everyone, young and old would end up in the same plots however with adults making up a large number of those later exhumed, children under the age of five began to be buried in separate mass graves to the older children and adults.
Generally everyone is buried in simple pine boxes and stacks and rows are created. Adults are buried three deep and two wide in long trenches of 78 burials. Young children are buried five coffins deep, twenty across in trenches of 1000 burials. Amputated body parts are also buried in the field.
Many trenches, each able to hold thousand of bodies, are dug. These trenches are reused every fifty odd years after sufficient time has allowed the bodies to break down. They are reopened, the contents compacted and fresh burials are put on top.
In the deep past, ceremonies were conducted for these burials but with more and more bodies being buried each year formal ceremonies were dropped in the 1950's. What's more, in order to keep the cost down further, it is prisoners from Rikers Island who undertake the work, burying thousands of bodies every year.
In the deep past, ceremonies were conducted for these burials but with more and more bodies being buried each year formal ceremonies were dropped in the 1950's. What's more, in order to keep the cost down further, it is prisoners from Rikers Island who undertake the work, burying thousands of bodies every year.
Other Uses Over Time
The island once held a prison. Although records are kept, many were lost when vandals trespassed onto the island after the Phoenix House drug rehabilitation facility, located on the southern end of the island, was closed in 1976. Many records (both prison and cemetery) were kept on site as the Department of Corrections maintained the island on and off as a prison over the years but the vandals torched many of the buildings causing irreparable damage to the history kept on paper.
Other uses for the island included an isolation hospital for those with yellow fever, a Tuberculosis hospital, a reformatory, disciplinary barracks during WWII, housing for male 'derelicts' and several defunct missile silos from the days of the 'cold war'.
Other uses for the island included an isolation hospital for those with yellow fever, a Tuberculosis hospital, a reformatory, disciplinary barracks during WWII, housing for male 'derelicts' and several defunct missile silos from the days of the 'cold war'.
Later on it was a rehabilitation centre for drug users. No living people remain on the island today, apart from those times burial work is undertaken but the island has a huge population of the dead as some 850,000 bodies are currently buried there. They are taking up so much room that historic buildings are been torn down to make more room for burials. Mass graves and trenches now take up more than 45 acres.
However amongst all the graves there is one private one, alone with it's own headstone "SC - B1 1985" which decodes to Special Child, Baby 1, 1985 – the first child to die of AIDS in New York and to be buried on Hart Island. Special attention was paid to the burial with it being set aside from the others in a wooded area.
However amongst all the graves there is one private one, alone with it's own headstone "SC - B1 1985" which decodes to Special Child, Baby 1, 1985 – the first child to die of AIDS in New York and to be buried on Hart Island. Special attention was paid to the burial with it being set aside from the others in a wooded area.
Grave of the first child to die of AIDS in New York. Many people have claimed that Hart Island is the most haunted place in New York but with visitors being very few and far between, and having to prove they have a family member buried there, it is unlikely a thorough investigation has been carried out. Still, with 850,000 burials and many of the previous facilities holding the sick, the maimed, the insane and the angry, I am willing to bet it has its fair share of ghosts.
Ashley Hall 2013
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