It is not known exactly how many people died on North Brother Island during its time as an isolation and quarantine hopital, but we do know more than one thousand people lost their lives when a steamboat sank just off its shore.
The island and buildings now stand abandoned.
The island and buildings now stand abandoned.
Disaster
The General Slocum A young boy runs up to Captain Van Schaik of the passenger steam boat PS General Slocum, to tell him that fire had been spotted in the forward section of the ship. The Captain did not believe him. It would be ten minutes before he was once again informed of the fire but by then it was already too late.
The fire is believed to have started in the lamp room, quickly catching hold as it lit up the straw and lamp oil. A poorly extinguished and discarded cigarette or match being the likely suspect. The fire spread to other rooms aboard the Slocum, including the paint locker and gasoline stores.
The crew quickly scrambled to put out the blaze, but the safety equipment on the General Slocum was not up to scratch. Fire hoses had not been replaced in years, the rotted tubing falling apart in the crews hands. The lifeboats that could have allowed passengers to depart to safety were attached to the hull with wire and had been painted over, making them all inaccessible. Life jackets were old, the canvas filled with holes allowing the cork, the buoyancy, to escape... what's more is that iron bars had been placed in the bottom of the jackets to ensure they kept people floating upright... in this case all it did was cause people to sink faster.
The fire is believed to have started in the lamp room, quickly catching hold as it lit up the straw and lamp oil. A poorly extinguished and discarded cigarette or match being the likely suspect. The fire spread to other rooms aboard the Slocum, including the paint locker and gasoline stores.
The crew quickly scrambled to put out the blaze, but the safety equipment on the General Slocum was not up to scratch. Fire hoses had not been replaced in years, the rotted tubing falling apart in the crews hands. The lifeboats that could have allowed passengers to depart to safety were attached to the hull with wire and had been painted over, making them all inaccessible. Life jackets were old, the canvas filled with holes allowing the cork, the buoyancy, to escape... what's more is that iron bars had been placed in the bottom of the jackets to ensure they kept people floating upright... in this case all it did was cause people to sink faster.
Wreck of the Slocum Captain Van Schaik kept the Slocum running, fearing that allowing it to drift would cause it to run aground on the banks of the East River, New York City, unfortunately this course of action actually fanned the flames making them burn hotter.
In the end, the General Slocum sank in shallow water just off North Brother Island. More than 1000 people drowned or burned alive. The date was June 5th, 1904, and it was the worst disaster in New York City, in terms of loss of life, until September 11, 2001.
Many of the victims washed ashore on the banks of North Brother Island which, at that point in time, was a quarantine hospital for contagious and deadly diseases.
In the end, the General Slocum sank in shallow water just off North Brother Island. More than 1000 people drowned or burned alive. The date was June 5th, 1904, and it was the worst disaster in New York City, in terms of loss of life, until September 11, 2001.
Many of the victims washed ashore on the banks of North Brother Island which, at that point in time, was a quarantine hospital for contagious and deadly diseases.
Bodies being recovered from the wreck As a hospital for infectious, deadly diseases, North Brother Island was no stranger to death. Although dozens of bodies washed up on its shore line on that day in 1904, they were all transported from the island on the same ferry that the hospital itself used to remove its dead.
Since 1885 the island had been home to the Riverside Hospital, a smallpox hospital that later treated other quarantinable diseases.
Three years after the General Slocum disaster, the hospital would receive a patient that would cause more media attention to be centred on the island.
Mary Mallon was a career cook, but for many she worked for she would present them with something else asides from food... she would also give them a sickness, one that would prove deadly for some.
Since 1885 the island had been home to the Riverside Hospital, a smallpox hospital that later treated other quarantinable diseases.
Three years after the General Slocum disaster, the hospital would receive a patient that would cause more media attention to be centred on the island.
Mary Mallon was a career cook, but for many she worked for she would present them with something else asides from food... she would also give them a sickness, one that would prove deadly for some.
Mary
Mary Mallon on the left The problem was that although Mary Mallon was a carrier of the disease she did not present any of the symptoms, and so unbeknownst to her, she was spreading the disease to people through the food she prepared for them.
It is not sure how many people Mallon infected with the disease, but estimates run as high as the hundreds, with possibly as many as fifty deaths. The disease was rampant, and when the media found out about Mary Mallon, how she was a carrier who did not get sick herself, she simply spread the disease wherever she went, they gave her a nickname.
The disease was Typhoid.
She was known as Typhoid Mary.
Mary was quarantined for three years on North Brother Island, but then it was decided that asymptomatic carriers should not be kept in isolation. Mary was released as long as she no longer worked as a cook. She agreed to this but sometime after release she changed her name and went back to work as a cook, further infecting people and causing more fatalities.
It is not sure how many people Mallon infected with the disease, but estimates run as high as the hundreds, with possibly as many as fifty deaths. The disease was rampant, and when the media found out about Mary Mallon, how she was a carrier who did not get sick herself, she simply spread the disease wherever she went, they gave her a nickname.
The disease was Typhoid.
She was known as Typhoid Mary.
Mary was quarantined for three years on North Brother Island, but then it was decided that asymptomatic carriers should not be kept in isolation. Mary was released as long as she no longer worked as a cook. She agreed to this but sometime after release she changed her name and went back to work as a cook, further infecting people and causing more fatalities.
'Typhoid Mary' in quarantine (front) In 1915, Typhoid Mary was placed back into quarantine on North Brother Island where she spent the rest of her life. She died November 11, 1938. Her autopsy revealed live Typhoid Bacteria in her gall bladder.
After Mary's death in 1938, the hospital ran for a few more years before it was closed and the island abandoned. It was later reused as accommodation for college students after World War II, then in the 1950's it was used as a detox and rehabilitation centre for adolescent drug addicts. This centre closed due to staff corruption, and what was considered cruel treatment of addicts.
After Mary's death in 1938, the hospital ran for a few more years before it was closed and the island abandoned. It was later reused as accommodation for college students after World War II, then in the 1950's it was used as a detox and rehabilitation centre for adolescent drug addicts. This centre closed due to staff corruption, and what was considered cruel treatment of addicts.
Abandoned
Nature has started taking it all back North Brother Island has been largely free of human habitation since the early 1960's. The forest that was once cleared to build the Riverside Hospital on the island has taken back the land, growing amongst the old buildings, concealing them. The old structures are off limits as they are starting to come down, though at times permission has been granted for journalists and photographers to go visit and document what is left.
Photos from these visits reveal that the hospital seemed to be abandoned with quite some haste – furniture still adorns the rooms, beds (some still with sheets and blankets) can be found in patients rooms, even some of the sets of keys, used by staff to access the rooms, can be found on shelves and in desks.
Photos from these visits reveal that the hospital seemed to be abandoned with quite some haste – furniture still adorns the rooms, beds (some still with sheets and blankets) can be found in patients rooms, even some of the sets of keys, used by staff to access the rooms, can be found on shelves and in desks.
The Morgue The morgue still stands, tiles starting to peel from the walls, the rusting autopsy table standing alone in the centre.
The paint peels, the ceilings sag and the boilers rust. One can only imagine what the walls whisper.
As far as my searches tell me, there are no reported hauntings on North Brother Island, but then no one has been there long enough to have such experiences.
The paint peels, the ceilings sag and the boilers rust. One can only imagine what the walls whisper.
As far as my searches tell me, there are no reported hauntings on North Brother Island, but then no one has been there long enough to have such experiences.
Ashley Hall 2013
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