Rat Island, New York
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- There is another Rat Island in Alaska.
Rat Island is a tiny island in City Island Harbor which is a part of Long Island Sound, near New York City. It is about halfway between City Island and Hart Island and south of High Island. It is one of The Pelham Islands.
[edit] Description
The small irregular island has an odd dual humped appearance and is mostly a lump of Manhattan schist bedrock. There is a small channel cut into the bedrock on the southern side of the tiny island that was used for launching small boats. This channel is filled with Mussel Shells. There is a purple-bluish "beach" made of mussel shells on the west side of the island with some reed grass.
[edit] History
In the 1800s Rat Island was used for a typhoid quarantine hospital for about 40 infected people. The remains of cobblestone walls and foundations are still there. It was abandoned due to storm floods. Local legends say there was also a lighthouse for a while.
[edit] External link
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
