Duck Island is a peninsula and former

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the wetlands at the confluence of the Delaware River and

Crosswicks Creek Crosswicks Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in Burlington County, New Jersey. Description Crosswicks Creek water ...

in Mercer County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. It is mostly located within Hamilton Township, but its northwest edge crosses the Trenton city limits. The community of Duck Island is located near the northwest end of the former island, along the Trenton/Hamilton border. The peninsula is flanked by the

Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park is a New Jersey state park along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. History In 1974, most of the canal system was declared a New Jersey state park. It remains one today, and is used for canoeing, kayaking, an ...

History

In 1891, Henry Smith escaped from Trenton State Prison to Duck Island by cutting through the prison roof. A channel known as Duck Creek once separated Duck Island from the rest of New Jersey, but it had been partially filled in by 1947. Since 1995, Interstate 295 has crossed the southeastern portion of the peninsula. In 1996 there were plans to build a $260 million trash incinerator on Duck Island, but the proposal was defeated by the

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

for Mercer County, New Jersey.

References

Islands of New Jersey Landforms of Mercer County, New Jersey Trenton, New Jersey Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey {{TrentonNJ-stub