Roosevelt Island is a small strip of land smack dab in the middle of the East River between Manhattan and Queens.Before Colonization the island was called Minnehanock by the Native People. They used it for hunting, fishing and other activities. The Dutch bought it in 1637 and they called it Varkens Eylandt, which translates to Hog Island in English. The island was then sold to Captain John Manning in 1666, who then passed it to his son-in-law, Robert Blackwell, and for a time it was known as Blackwell’s Island.  Since then it has also been known as Welfare Island before eventually being renamed Roosevelt Island in 1973. The island has housed a lighthouse, a penitentiary, an almshouse, a hospital, the New York City Lunatic Asylum and a smallpox hospital over the course of its history, so it’s easy to imagine how this little strip of land has gained a reputation for hauntings during its history. 

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Sources:

Damnation Island: Poor, Sick Mad and Criminal in 19th Century New York by Stacy Horn

https://www.nps.gov/places/blackwell-s-island-new-york-city.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjE0s2QyILk

https://blog.mcny.org/2015/03/10/lunatics-inmates-and-homeowners-the-history-of-roosevelt-island/

https://ny.curbed.com/2018/5/15/17353502/roosevelt-island-new-york-history-stacy-horn

https://nyghosts.com/the-madness-of-roosevelt-island/

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/roosevelt-island-rich-frightening-history-article-1.2418027

https://www.ranker.com/list/roosevelt-island-facts/jeffrichard

https://www.brickunderground.com/live/the-octagon-roosevelt-island

https://boroughsofthedead.com/roosevelt-island/

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/living-grave-damnation-island-article-1.4011352

https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2007/10/mysteries-of-roosevelt-island-jailhouse.html

https://gothamist.com/news/why-blackwells-island-was-so-scary

https://www.biography.com/news/inside-nelly-bly-10-days-madhouse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S3hPapL3-Q

https://nypost.com/2021/01/28/meet-history-buffs-who-live-in-nycs-most-notorious-asylum/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/islands-of-the-undesirables-roosevelt-island-blackwell-s-island

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/islands-of-the-undesirables-randall-s-island-and-wards-island

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/islands-of-the-undesirables-hart-island

https://nyghosts.com/hauntings-of-north-brother-island/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/islands-of-the-undesirables

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