The long history of Hart Island in New York City is absolutely fascinating. It's the final resting place for over 1 million individuals.
Hart Island was part of New York City even before Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island. The island was purchased in 1868 by the Department of Charities and Correction for the purpose of setting up a workhouse for older boys from the House of Refuge on Randall’s Island.
Soon after the workhouse opened in 1869, burials of unclaimed and unidentified people began on Hart Island. Inmates from Blackwell’s Island Penitentiary traveled by ferry accompanied by bodies released for burial from the city morgue at Bellevue Hospital. Riker’s Island inmates accompanied by a morgue truck still travel by ferry on weekday mornings to Hart Island.
Mass burials on Hart Island began in 1875. A numbered grid system was implemented to facilitate disinterments for later identification at the morgue. Today, most of the buried are identified. The workhouses are long closed. Yet, the system of burials remains unchanged and the cemetery only recently opened to visitation by relatives.
And now the pandemic has brought Hart Island back into the news.
Stark aerial images show new graves being dug on Hart Island as New York coronavirus deaths surge
Uggggh.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt