Blackwell’s Island
Dutch Colonization
Roosevelt Island was known in early modern Dutch as Varcken[s],[1][2][3] Varken,[4] or Verckens Eylandt
Manning and Blackwell ownership
After the Dutch surrendered to the British in 1664,[1][29] a British military captain named John Manning acquired the island in 1668.[34][4][29][c] In 1673, Manning surrendered to Dutch forces who had wanted to retake New Netherland; as punishment, he had to live on the island in exile.[4][36][1] After Manning's banishment,[34] the isle became known as Manning's Island.[35][37] Manning had a mansion near the island's southern tip, where he served rum punch to visitors.[38] The island was then conveyed to Manning's stepdaughter Mary in 1676[1][31] or 1685.[39] Mary was married to Robert Blackwell,[11] who became the island's new owner and namesake.[40][4] The Brooklyn Times-Union wrote that the island had gained the Blackwell name "by a mere chance, or the result of a marriage".[37]
The Blackwell family settled the island over four generations.[39] At the beginning of the 18th century, Blackwell built his farmhouse, the Blackwell House, on the island.[41][42] Blackwell's Island was not a major battleground in the American Revolutionary War, though British troops tried to take the island after the 1776 Battle of Long Island.[1][38] The British briefly seized control on September 2–4, 1776, after which the American troops took over.[39] A British prison inspector proposed using the island as a prison in the early 1780s, but it is not known whether this happened.[43][38] Blackwell's sons took over the island in 1780 and tried to sell it, at which point Blackwell's Island had several buildings and was several miles removed from New York City.[44][10] By the mid-1780s, the island included two houses, orchards, a cider mill, and other farm structures.[31][44] Contemporary sources do not mention any structures on the northern half of the island.[44] A public auction was held in 1785, but no one bought the island.[44] In 1796, Blackwell's great-grandson Jacob Blackwell constructed the Blackwell House, one of Manhattan's oldest houses.[40] James L. Bell paid the Blackwells $30,000 for the island in 1823, but Blackwell took back control two years later, upon Bell's death.[45] One source indicated that Bell never fulfilled the terms of the sale.[44]
Hospital and Prison Island
By 1826, the city almshouse at Bellevue Hospital was overcrowded, prompting city officials to consider moving that facility to Blackwell's Island.[46] The city government purchased the island for $32,000 (equivalent to $916,267 in 2024) on July 19, 1828.[48] Ownership of the island remained unresolved for another 16 years while Bell's widow sued the city.[49] Through the 19th century, the island housed several hospitals and a prison.[4][11] At one point there were 26 institutions on the island.[11]
At one point there were 26 institutions on the Island