Glen Island

Infobox Islands
name = Glen


image caption = Glen Island has since been connected to the surrounding satellite islands to create a larger island which is currently called Glen Island Park
image size = 300px
locator
Location map|USA New York City|lat=40.8856389|long=-73.784225|caption=Location of Glen Island off the coast of New Rochelle
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location = Long Island Sound
coordinates = coord|40.8856389|N|73.770231|W|display=inline
archipelago =
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area = convert|105|acre|km2|abbr=on
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country = United States
country admin divisions title = State
country admin divisions = flag|New York
country admin divisions title 1 = County
country admin divisions 1 = Westchester County
country admin divisions title 2 = City
country admin divisions 2 = New Rochelle
country largest city =
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Glen Island is a 105 (0.42 km²)acre park located in New Rochelle, New York, USA. Situated on Long Island Sound, the park offers a variety of recreational facilities. It is also the home of Glen Island Harbour Club, a county owned, privately operated catering facility. The park is connected to the mainland by a drawbridge built in the 1920s. One of the main features of the park is its pristine, crescent shaped beach offering access to Long Island Sound. Cannons, sculptures and castles with coursed rubble stone, arched openings and round towers still remain from the late 19th century when the park was initially developed as a summer resort.

History of the islands

Although now one island, it was originally a large main island with a group of small islands, rocks and sea salt marshes. Over time the water was filled in and the islands were connected. The largest or main island of the original group was known as "Goose Island" early on, containing about 15 acres of land. The first owner on record was Johannes Berhuyt who purchased the farm of Jacob Theroulde in 1701. He presented the island to his son in 1760, who sold it to his brother-in-law George Cornwell in 1766. Cornwall took part in a series of anti-Patriot events leading up to the Revolution, and the property was confiscated by the Commissioners of Forfeitures in 1784 [Historical Landmarks of New Rochelle, Morgan H. Seacord, p.21] .

Later the island came into the ownership of Samuel Wooley and from him the island was long called "Wooley's Island". In 1803 it passed to the Davenport family and stayed in their possession until 1847. During that year it was sold to Lewis Augustus DePau, who, was a grandson of the Compte De Grasse, The Admiral of France, commanding the fleets operating with Rochambeau in 1781. DePau built his mansion on the island where it stood for over 75 years. About this time it was named "Locust Island" which eventually changed when in was purchased by John H. Starin in 1879. Starin, a former U.S. Congressman and New York transportation king, bought five islands which he named 'Glen Island' and created perhaps the first theme park open to the public [Historical Landmarks of New Rochelle, Morgan H. Seacord, pp.22-24] .

The other islands in the group were owned by Anthony Lispenard who died in 1758. The two largest of these were called "Fisherman's" and "Crab Island". They were purchased by John Huner in 1852 when they then came to be known as the "Flat Islands" and "Hunters Flat Islands".

Glen Island Park

John H. Starin maintained the islands as a select summer resort, operating 12 steamboats to and from New York City. The islands were so popular that hundreds of thousands of visitors were brought every season to the attractions which included a zoo, a natural history museum, a railway, a German beer garden (around the castle-like structure which still stands today), a bathing beach, and a Chinese pagoda. A chain ferry transported visitors from a mainland dock [History of Westchester County, Scharf, Vol I. pp870 - 873] . By 1882 attendance reached half a million and within six years it broke a million. In spite of the large number of visitors, Starin stressed the well-behaved nature of the crowds and the orderly character of the experience, governed by a 'middle-class code of conduct'. His desire was to offer an environment of order and civility which contrasted to the rough-and-tumble atmosphere of New York City [Westchester: The American Suburb, Roger Panetta, p.28] . One of the effects of Glen Islands popularity in the beginning of the twentieth century was the building boom in New Rochelle, which had rapidly grown into a summer resort community.

References