Cuban Ledge is a
reef or islet composed chiefly of
sand and small rocks in
Eastchester Bay,
the Bronx, in
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...
. It is located between
Rodman's Neck and
Country Club in Eastchester Bay and is visible only during periods of low tide.
It is a hazard to boats, and is marked with a signal tower.
Origin and name
Several stories have been circulated regarding how the Cuban Ledge formed and got its name. According to some accounts, it was formed in 1898 when sailors dumped cargo rocks overboard from a ship that was abandoned when its crew left for
Cuba to fight in the
Spanish–American War.
Another version of the story indicates that it was created when a large
barge carrying sand and gravel ran aground on a
shoal
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...
. A salvage crew was mounted there and the barge was rescued, but much of the sand and gravel it was carrying needed to be removed in order to aid the rescue. The workers dumped the sand and rock overboard to get the barge off the shoal, thus forming the reef.
One story of its name stipulates that a ship by the name of ''Cuban Lady'' ran aground on the reef in the 1880s.
Other theories suggest that the ledge resembles the outline of the island of Cuba.
See also
*
Pelham Islands
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuban Ledge
Long Island Sound
Geography of the Bronx