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Jamaica Bay: a History

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Jamaica Bay: a History Historic Resource Study JAMAICA BAY: A HISTORY Gateway National Recreation Area New York, New Jersey Cultural Resource Management Study No. 3 Frederick R. Black Associate Professor of History C. W. Post Center, Long Island University for the Division of Cultural Resources North Atlantic Regional Office National Park Service U.S. Department of Interior Washington, D.C., 1981 Electronic Transcription Formatting and Editing James L. Brown Gateway National Recreation Area 2001 ii FORWARD Cultural Resources and Natural Areas Jamaica Bay is a place well known for its flora and fauna. This study adds another dimension to Jamaica Bay - -its use by humans, especially during the Historic period. Understanding the human use of the Bay and its shore is both timely and historically interesting. Historically it is often entertaining, as well as Informative, to learn how our ancestors, and the Native Americans who lived here before them, made their livings in an environment that is at once the same and different from the one we know - - the same in that much of the geography is similar; different in that the recent past has witnessed massive alterations to the natural environment of the Bay. This study helps place the substantial modern changes in perspective. In doing that, it is timely. Increasingly we are made aware of the relatedness of cultural and natural phenomena. Jamaica Bay is no more a strictly natural resource than Manhattan Island. The history of human land use is an essential guide to comprehending the Bay’s natural environment currently and in the near future. The goals of Dr. Black’s research were primarily managerial. We sought sufficient information to evaluate cultural resources, that is, historic and prehistoric archeological sites and historic structures within the Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area. Happily, the study provides much more than a fine management aid. It has a large potential to inform interested persons about the area and assist the Gateway staff in interpreting it. For these reasons the Park Service has funded the printing and distribution of the study. Francis P. McManamon Chief, Division of Cultural Resources 2 March 1981 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: Scope, Problems, Methods, Sources...............................................................1 I. JAMAICA BAY, 1600-1865...........................................................................................................4 Early Seventeenth-Century Indian Life........................................................................................4 Flatlands.......................................................................................................................................9 Bergen and Mill Islands............................................................................................................. 11 Barren Island ............................................................................................................................. 14 Flatbush, New Lots and Jamaica.............................................................................................. 17 Agriculture ................................................................................................................................. 19 Jamaica Bay Fisheries.............................................................................................................. 21 Shipping..................................................................................................................................... 22 II JAMAICA BAY AFTER 1865: ISLANDS, LANDINGS, AND MAINLAND................................ 25 Barren Island ............................................................................................................................. 25 Canarsie .................................................................................................................................... 43 New Lots.................................................................................................................................... 48 Howard and Hamilton Beaches ................................................................................................ 51 The Islands................................................................................................................................ 56 III JAMAICA BAY AFTER 1865: FISHING, SHIPPING, TRANSPORTATION, TOPOGRAPHICAL CHANGE ...................................................................................................... 61 Fishing ....................................................................................................................................... 61 Shipping..................................................................................................................................... 65 Transportation ........................................................................................................................... 68 Topographical Changes............................................................................................................ 71 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................ 80 FOOTNOTES................................................................................................................................ 83 Chapter I. Jamaica Bay, 1600-1865 ........................................................................................ 83 Chapter II. Jamaica Bay After 1865: Islands, Landings, and Mainland ................................. 87 Chapter III. Jamaica Bay After 1865: Fishing, Transportation, Topographical Change ........ 91 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................... 95 I. Published Historical Sources ................................................................................................ 95 II. Census Reports ................................................................................................................... 96 III. Town and Municipal Records and Reports ....................................................................... 96 IV. New York State Reports and Publications ......................................................................... 97 V. Cartographic Sources.......................................................................................................... 98 VI. Newspapers........................................................................................................................ 99 VII. Secondary.......................................................................................................................... 99 VIII. Directories....................................................................................................................... 102 IX. Miscellaneous ................................................................................................................... 103 iv LISTS OF FIGURES and TABLES Figure 1 Jamaica Bay: General Reference ................................................................................3 Figure 2 Indian Sites......................................................................................................................5 Figure 3 Flatlands and New Lots, 1700 .................................................................................... 13 Figure 4 Barren Island, 1850-1911 ............................................................................................ 16 Figure 5 Flatlands and New Lots, 1873 .................................................................................... 28 Figure 6 Barren Island and Flatlands Bay, 1911 ..................................................................... 34 Figure 7 Barren Island and Flatlands Bay, 1926 ..................................................................... 35 Figure 8 Barren Island and Flatlands Bay, 1940 ..................................................................... 36 Figure 9 Mill Island and Bergen Island, 1911........................................................................... 40 Figure 10 Mill Basin and Bergen Beach, 1926......................................................................... 41 Figure 11 Mill Basin and Bergen Beach, 1940......................................................................... 42 Figure 12 Canarsie Shoreline, 1911-1940 ................................................................................ 46 Figure 13 North Shore, 1911...................................................................................................... 53 Figure 14 North Shore, 1926...................................................................................................... 54 Figure 15 North Shore, 1940...................................................................................................... 55 Figure 16 Central Islands, 1911................................................................................................. 76 Figure 17 Central Islands, 1926................................................................................................. 77 Figure 18 Central Islands, 1940................................................................................................. 78 Figure 19 Central Islands, 1977................................................................................................. 79 Table 1 Flatlands Agriculture 1865 and 1875 ............................................................................
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