Swinburne Island
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Swinburne Island is a Template:Convert artificial island in Lower New York Bay, east of Staten Island in New York City. It was used for quarantine of immigrants. Swinburne Island is the smaller of two nearby islands, the other being Hoffman Island to the north.
History
After several cholera pandemics in the nineteenth century, the federal government built two artificial islands, Swinburne Island and Hoffman Island, to serve as areas of quarantine for immigrants arriving by ship and carrying contagious diseases.<ref name="hw">Template:Cite news</ref> Swinburne was originally called Dix Island. It was renamed in honor of Dr. John Swinburne (1820–1899), a military surgeon during the American Civil War.<ref>Swinburne was born on May 30, 1820 and he died on April 4, 1889</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>
Swinburne was used through the early 20th century to quarantine immigrants to the United States who were found to be suffering from dangerous contagious diseases upon arrival at the Port of New York. Immigrants suspected of having such diseases were taken to the quarantine hospital and were not allowed to go to Ellis Island for entry until they were shown to be well or were cured of the disease.<ref name="More Cholera in Port">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Originally, Hoffman was used to house patients who only had exposure to "pestilential" diseases, while Swinburne housed those with confirmed cases.<ref name=":1" />
Swinburne island was used to quarantine patients during the last cholera outbreak in the United States in 1910–1911, which started with a passenger from Naples on the Moltke, a ship of the Hamburg-American line.<ref name="More Cholera in Port" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
During World War I, immigration was reduced. Later, the United States passed the Immigration Act of 1924, which sharply lessened immigration from southern and eastern Europe. By this time, the city and state had learned other means of controlling infectious diseases, so the quarantine facilities were little used.Template:Citation needed
By the start of World War II, the United States Merchant Marine had adapted both islands as a training station, which had opened in 1938.<ref name="Citycyclopedia">Kenneth T. Jackson: The Encyclopedia of New York City: The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. P. 149.</ref>
Ownership of the island was transferred from the city to the National Park Service in 1974.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Current use
Both Hoffman Island (11 acres) and Swinburne Island (4 acres) are now managed by the National Park Service as part of the Staten Island Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area.
Hoffman Island features the remains of deserted docks, and its interior is densely overgrown, revealing only the foundations of demolished structures. Swinburne Island has five substantial dilapidated buildings. Among these ruins stands a brick chimney, likely associated with the former crematorium.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>
They are not open to the public, and as The New York Times reported, "Paradoxically, then, though the islands belong to the Gateway National Recreation Area, the only recreation permitted is practiced by visitors of the feathered and aquatic persuasions."<ref name=":0" /> In the 2000s, Swinburne Island became a popular haul out site for Lower New York Harbor's population of harbor seals and grey seals. The populations of both species have been increasing every year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There are nesting sites for five species of long-legged wading birds.<ref name=":0" />
References
External links
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- Harbor Herons Project, NYC Audubon
- Harbor Herons Nesting Survey -recent reports on wading bird, cormorant, and gull nesting activity at Swinburne Island
- A Satellite Photo of the two islands, Google Maps
- The Forgotten Of Ellis Island: Deaths in Quarantine, 1909–1911
Template:Portalbar Template:Staten Island Template:New York City Islands
- Pages with broken file links
- Islands of New York City
- Artificial islands of New York (state)
- History of immigration to the United States
- History of New York City
- Protected areas of Staten Island
- Islands of Staten Island
- Gateway National Recreation Area
- Nature reserves in New York (state)
- Islands of New York (state)
- Quarantine facilities in the United States