DAVIDS' ISLAND (NEW YORK)

'Davids' Island' is a small island at the western end of Long Island Sound.
It is part of New Rochelle, New York. Currently uninhabited, in the past it was the site of Fort Slocum.

Contents

History of the name

Uses of the island

External links

History of the name

The name is often given as ''David Hawk's'' or ''David Hawk'', but neither is correct. The island is named after its next-to-last civilian owner before the Army acquired it; New York City ink manufacturer and Westchester County resident Thaddeus Davids. It was first leased (1861-1867), then owned (1867-1965), by the U.S. Government, and was known as ''Davids' Island Military Reservation'' until it was named ''Fort Slocum'' on July 1st, 1896. Previously it had been named after other owners, and was called successively: Bouteillier's, Rodman's, Myer's, Treadwell's, Hewlett's, Allen's, and Morse's Island. Among recent owners, Donald Trump wished to rename it for himself, but this never happened.

Uses of the island

The 78 acre island was known to have been inhabited by Native Americans and then used by French settlers from New Rochelle as grazing land for farm animals. It began its military use during the American Civil War as a hospital center and detention site for Confederate prisoners of war. By 1876 it had earned the name Fort Slocum. During World War I Fort Slocum was the busiest recruiting station in the northeast, processing 100,000 soldiers per year. The island served as an embarkation point during World War II and was a home for Army chaplains. Later it became Slocum Air Force Base and finally a Nike missile site. The control facilities were located at Fort Slocum, with the launch facilities located at nearby Hart Island. In July 1960, after only five years of operation, Nike Battery NY-15 was closed. From then until it was deactivated, Fort Slocum was the site of the information school, where Army soldiers and Air Force airmen were trained in journalism, public affairs, and photography. In 1965, the information school was moved to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana and Fort Slocum was deactivated. At one point the Island was owned by Con Edison, which had plans to build a nuclear power plant on it. After those plans fell through, in the late 1960s, it was used as a childrens summer camp named July O Rama for inner city children during summers. The island was sold to New Rochelle in 1967. Plans for Davids Island are to preserve it as parkland under the Westchester County Parks system. It is not legal to land at the island.

External links

★ Citizens Campaign for the Environment page about Davids Island

★ Saving Davids Island: An Activist History

★ Michael Cavanaugh's Fort Slocum page

★ Historic Pelham blog entry, including entire text of a September 11, 1862 New York Times article about the soldiers hospital on Davids Island