Gardiners Island
| Gardiners Island | ||
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| Waters | Atlantic Ocean | |
| Geographical location | 41 ° 6 ′ N , 72 ° 6 ′ W | |
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| length | 12 km | |
| width | 4.8 km | |
| surface | 13.43 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 42.7 m | |
| main place | Manor House | |
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Gardiners Island is an island less than three kilometers off the east coast of Long Island in the US state of New York .
geography
The island is around 12 km long, up to 4.8 km wide and has an area of 13.43 km². It is separated from Long Island by Gardiners Bay .
Gardiners Island is covered by around four hundred hectares of forest, in which numerous white oaks , but also swamp maples , wild cherries and birches can be found. The largest population of ospreys in New York State can be observed in animals . They build their nests on the ground because they have no natural enemies on the island. Many buildings date from the 17th century, including the oldest surviving half-timbered house in New York.
history
The island, called Manchonake by the natives , was located in the residential and hunting area of the Montaukett , an Indian tribe that lived on the eastern tip of the Long Islands at the beginning of the 17th century. At that time Wyandanch Sachem was the Montaukett, who gave the island to his friend Lion Gardiner , an English officer and adventurer, for a small price. He did this apparently out of gratitude because the English had destroyed the enemies of the Montaukett in the Pequot War (1636–1637). In 1639, Gardiner and his family moved to the island and built a half-timbered house there.
A Royal Grant (royal approval) from King Charles I for his services as a fortress builder Gardiner secured his property against the other settlers. The original charter from 1639 gave Gardiner the right to "own the land forever" and legislate for the island. At the same time she gave him the title of Lord of the Manor (landlord). Another deed was issued by Governor Richard Nicolls to Gardiner's son David in 1665 after the British captured the Dutch colony of Nieuw Nederland in 1664. In 1688 there was an attempt by Governor Donovan to annex the island for East Hampton . The Gardiner family resisted these efforts and the special status of the island remained until the end of the American War of Independence .
In June 1699, the pirate Captain Kidd anchored off the island. With the permission of the owner, Mrs. Mary Gardiner, he buried a treasure then worth $ 30,000 in a ravine between the manor and Bostwicks Point. The treasure consisted of gold dust, silver bars, Spanish gold coins, rubies, diamonds, silver candlesticks and bowls. Although the treasure was later handed over to the authorities, treasure hunters searched the island for it several times.
The manor house, which is still preserved today, was built in 1774. In the American War of Independence and also in the War of 1812 , the Gardiners sided with the colonists and Americans. British ships anchored off the island and the crews looted the pastures and mansion. After the war, the island formally came under the jurisdiction of East Hampton.
The island remained in the family for a long time. From 1920, however, the land was leased as a hunting ground. The owners were in debt or had to pay high inheritance taxes and sold the island to a distant relative in 1937.
In the 1980s there was a legal dispute over the property claims between Robert David Lion Gardiner, who was “16. Lord of the manor ”and his niece Alexandra Creel Goelet. It ended with a compromise of joint ownership and alternating stays of both in order not to have to meet.
A right of use was agreed with the city of East Hampton until 2025.
literature
- Myron L. Fuller: The Geology of Long Island, New York. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 82, Washington 1914 ( online at Google Books )
Web links
- Information about the Gardiner family and Gardiners Island
- Encyclopedia of New York: Gardiners Island
Individual proof
- ↑ Bruce Lambert: Closely Guarded Secrets: Some Islands You Can't Get to Visit. New York Times , May 17, 1998, accessed April 1, 2019 .