Hunter Island (also Hunters Island or Hunter's Island) is a peninsula and former island in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, United States.
It is situated on the western end of
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 ...
, along the sound's northwestern shore, and is part of
Pelham Bay Park
Pelham Bay Park is a public park, municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the siz ...
in the northeastern part of the Bronx. Hunter Island initially covered and was one of the
Pelham Islands
The Pelham Islands are a group of islands in western Long Island Sound that belonged to Thomas Pell in the 17th century. The islands, and most of the surrounding area, were purchased from the Siwanoy Indians by Pell in 1654, creating Pelham Man ...
, the historical name for a group of islands in western Long Island Sound that once belonged to
Thomas Pell
Thomas Pell, 1st Lord of Pelham Manor (1608 – September 21, 1669) was an English-born physician who bought the area known as Pelham, New York, as well as land that now includes the eastern Bronx and southern Westchester County, New York, and foun ...
. The island is connected to another former island,
Twin Island, on the northeast.
The area around Hunter Island was originally settled by the
Siwanoy
The Siwanoy () were an Indigenous American band of Wappinger people, who lived in Long Island Sound along the coasts of what are now The Bronx, Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. They were one of the western bands of ...
Native Americans. One of Pell's descendants, Joshua Pell, moved onto the island in 1743. It was subsequently owned by the Hunter and Henderson families, and the island was briefly named Henderson's Island after the latter. Henderson's Island was purchased by politician
John Hunter in 1804. Hunter built a mansion on the island and his family resided on the island until 1865, when it was sold to former mayor
Ambrose Kingsland
Ambrose Cornelius Kingsland (May 24, 1804 – October 13, 1878) was a wealthy sperm oil merchant who served as the 71st mayor of New York City from 1851 to 1853. In 1851, he initiated the legislation that eventually led to the construction of Ce ...
. Hunter Island was owned by several other people before being incorporated into Pelham Bay Park in 1888. Subsequently, the island became a vacation destination. In the 1930s, New York City parks commissioner
Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
extended nearby
Orchard Beach, to the south of the island, by connecting Hunter Island to the mainland.
Hunter Island formerly contained Hunter Mansion, which Hunter had built for his family in 1811. It was located on the island's highest point and was destroyed in 1937 when Orchard Beach was expanded onto the island. A
causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
connecting Hunter Island to the mainland still exists. Today the former island is part of a
wildlife refuge
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
, the Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary, which was established in 1967 on the northern shores of Hunter and Twin Islands. The sanctuary includes rock outcroppings and an intertidal
marine ecosystem
Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surf ...
that is not found anywhere else in New York state. Hunter Island also contains the Kazimiroff Nature Trail and Orchard Beach Environmental Center, which was established in 1986 as a tribute to Bronx preservationist
Theodore Kazimiroff
Theodore may refer to:
Places
* Theodore, Alabama, United States
* Theodore, Australian Capital Territory
* Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia
* Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada
* Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...
.
Geography
Hunter Island is located within the northeastern part of Pelham Bay Park, which is itself located in the northeast Bronx, near New York City's northern border.
The island's flora largely consists of tracts of
old-growth forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
that existed prior to the settlement of the New York City area, as well as plants introduced by John Hunter in the 19th century. A 2005 survey by the
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
(NYC Parks) found 49 native species as well as four invasive species. Some of the plants found on Hunter Island, including
lousewort
''Pedicularis'' is a genus of perennial green root parasite plants currently placed in the family Orobanchaceae (the genus previously having been placed in Scrophulariaceae ''sensu lato'').
Description
Between 350 and 600 species are accep ...
,
alum root, and
broad beech fern
''Phegopteris hexagonoptera'', commonly called the broad beech fern, is a common forest fern in the eastern United States and adjacent Ontario. It grows from a creeping rootstock, sending up individual fronds that more or less clump. Its native h ...
are seldom found in other New York City parks. The island contains the
Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary, established in 1967,
and the
Kazimiroff Nature Trail and Orchard Beach Environmental Center, which opened in 1986.
To the north and west of the former island is
LeRoy's Bay
Pelham Bay Park is a municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the size of Manhattan's Central Park. The par ...
, a lagoon nearby that separated Hunter Island from the mainland. The bay was traversed by a stone
causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
to Hunter Island.
Most of the lagoon was filled in during the mid-1930s reconstruction of
Orchard Beach, and the bay became known as the "Orchard Beach Lagoon", or the Lagoon for short.
To the north of Hunter Island is
Glen Island Park
Glen Island Park is a waterfront park, located on Glen Island, on the Long Island Sound, New York. The park is owned and operated by Westchester County and shares the island with a privately operated but county-owned entertainment facility, the G ...
, outside the city limits in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
. It is separated from Hunter Island via LeRoy's Bay.
Glen Island Park is operated by Westchester County, and parking and beach access are open only to Westchester residents.
The eastern part of Hunter Island is adjacent to Hog Island and Cat Briar Island, two tiny islands in Pelham Bay. Hunter Island is also physically attached to Twin Island on the southeast corner.
Twin Island was itself formerly two islands called East and West Twin Islands;
the westernmost island was connected to Hunter Island via a man-made stone bridge,
which now lies in ruins in one of the city's last remaining
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
es.
Twin Island is in turn attached to another former island called Two Trees Island.
Twin and Two Trees Islands are now connected to Hunter Island and the mainland by landfill. All six landmasses form part of the Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary.
To the south is Orchard Beach and
Pelham Bay
Pelham Bay Park is a municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the size of Manhattan's Central Park. The par ...
. Orchard Beach surrounds the bay on its east in a roughly crescent shape, and the northern part of the beach connects Hunter and Twin Islands.
The bay formerly adjoined the southern part of Hunter Island, but approximately one third of the original bay was filled in to create Orchard Beach from 1934 to 1938.
Orchard Beach's parking lot is located on the southeast side of Hunter Island.
History
The
Siwanoy
The Siwanoy () were an Indigenous American band of Wappinger people, who lived in Long Island Sound along the coasts of what are now The Bronx, Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. They were one of the western bands of ...
Native Americans who originally occupied the area referred to the general vicinity around Hunter Island as "Laap-Ha-Wach King", or "place of stringing beads".
One notable boulder, the "Gray Mare" at the northwestern shore of the island, is a
glacial erratic
A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundred ...
where the Siwanoy would conduct ceremonies.
Another boulder was the "Mishow", another important ceremonial site for the Siwanoy, as well as the burial sites of two
sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
s.
Fishing was once conducted on Hunter Island's eastern shore (though not necessarily by the Siwanoy), and on some days, fishermen netted over a thousand pounds of fish.
Sources indicate Wampage II, Siwanoy
sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
and son of
Wampage I
Wampage I (), also called Anhōōke and later John White, was a Sagamore (or chieftain) of the Siwanoy Native Americans, who resided in the area now known as the Bronx and Westchester County, New York. He was involved in the murder of Anne Hutc ...
, had a
stockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall.
Etymology
''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived ...
d "castle" on Hunter Island in the late 17th century.
The earliest building to be built on the island was the Old Stone House, a small outbuilding that was believed to have been built by an unknown
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
prior to 1700.
What was later known as Hunter Island was originally part of the Pell estate, and Joshua Pell, a descendant of Thomas Pell, took ownership of the island in 1743.
According to a newspaper article from 1933, the Old Stone House was the Pells' residence. The island was subsequently owned by the Hunter and Henderson families.
The island was briefly called Henderson's Island after Alexander Henderson, the third owner of the island.
Upon Henderson's death in 1804, the island was offered for lease.
John Hunter, a successful businessman and politician, purchased the property shortly afterward. Hunter, his wife Elizabeth, and his son Elias moved to the island in 1813. The Hunters built
their own mansion on the island.
The Old Stone House, which by then adjoined the mansion, was used as a barn.
[
John Hunter lived on the estate until his death in 1852.] Ownership of the mansion then passed to Elias Hunter. Upon Elias's death in 1865, his son John III was supposed to inherit the land only if he lived on it, as per the senior John Hunter's will. John III, who lived in Throggs Neck
Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and ea ...
instead, sold it to Mayor Ambrose Kingsland
Ambrose Cornelius Kingsland (May 24, 1804 – October 13, 1878) was a wealthy sperm oil merchant who served as the 71st mayor of New York City from 1851 to 1853. In 1851, he initiated the legislation that eventually led to the construction of Ce ...
in 1866. The land then passed in succession to Alvin Higgins, Gardiner Jorden, and Oliver Iselin. The city then bought the land in 1889 for $324,000 (). In 1892, Stephen Peabody was given the right to occupy the Hunter Mansion, paying $1,200 a year in rent, in conjunction with his new role as groundskeeper of Hunter Island. Soon afterward, the mansion became a shelter for children operated by the Society of Little Mothers. The barn adjoining the mansion burned down in a fire in approximately 1890, and was abandoned by the early 20th century.[
By the early 1900s, Hunter Island had become a popular summer vacation destination, and it hosted a campsite.] The Hunter House had been renovated into a hotel. In 1903, due to overcrowding on Hunter Island, NYC Parks opened another campsite at Rodman's Neck on the south tip of the island, with 100 bathhouses. By 1917, Hunter Island saw half a million seasonal visitors. The park's condition started to decline in the 1920s as the surrounding areas were developed. Hunter Island became popular with European immigrants who built shelters and established summer colonies. This led to the island being closed and camping banned, but was unsuccessful at preventing the beachgoers from returning.
Upon taking office in 1934, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
surveyed every park in the city. Moses devised plans for a new Orchard Beach recreation area after he saw the popularity of the Hunter Island campsite. At the time, the beach was a narrow sand bar
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 o ...
connecting Hunter Island and Rodman's Neck. Moses canceled 625 leases for the project, and after campers unsuccessfully sued the city, the site was cleared of campers in June. Moses decided to connect Hunter Island and the Twin Islands to Rodman's Neck by filling in most of LeRoy's Bay
Pelham Bay Park is a municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the size of Manhattan's Central Park. The par ...
, a lagoon located to the west of the island. The deteriorated Hunter Mansion was demolished in 1937 with the construction of the beach. The expanded Orchard Beach was opened on June 25, 1937.
In the 1960s, there were plans to expand a landfill in Pelham Bay Park, which would have created the City's second-largest refuse disposal site next to Fresh Kills
Fresh Kills (from the Middle Dutch word '' kille'', meaning "riverbed" or "water channel") is a stream and freshwater estuary in the western portion of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, forme ...
in Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
. A group of preservationists headed by Dr. Theodore Kazimiroff
Theodore may refer to:
Places
* Theodore, Alabama, United States
* Theodore, Australian Capital Territory
* Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia
* Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada
* Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...
, a Bronx historian and head of the Bronx Historical Society
The Bronx County Historical Society is a private non-profit organization that collects and disseminates historical material and information about the New York City borough of the Bronx, as well as southern Westchester County, New York.
The Socie ...
, lobbied the city to create a wildlife preserve in Hunter Island, one of the sites where the landfill was proposed to be expanded. The preservation effort suffered setbacks in August 1967 when the New York City Board of Estimate
The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...
voted against an initial effort to create the protected area in the proposed landfill expansion site. On October 11, 1967, Mayor John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
signed a law authorizing in the creation of two wildlife refuge
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
s in Pelham Bay Park: the Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary
Pelham Bay Park is a municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the size of Manhattan's Central Park. The par ...
on the western side of the park, and the Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary on the former Hunter Island. This was followed by the Kazimiroff Nature Trail and the Pelham Bay Park Environmental Center in 1986. The trail was named after the historian Kazimiroff, who had since died.
Mansion
In 1811, the Hunter family built a mansion in the English Georgian style. It was described as one of the finest mansions of the period, with three stories, a large veranda
A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure.
Although the form ''veran ...
, and terraced gardens
In gardening, a terrace is an element where a raised flat paved or gravelled section overlooks a prospect. A raised terrace keeps a house dry and provides a transition between the hardscape and the softscape.
History
;Persia
Since a level si ...
leading to the island's shore. The building had a rectangular shape. The main entrance faced west, toward the mainland, and contained a grand doorway flanked by columns. A portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
at the back faced the Long Island Sound. The mansion held an art collection of over 400 works from artists such as Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
, Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
, Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh c ...
, and Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
. The home was situated at the highest point on the island, above sea level, and had views of 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 ...
to the east and the hills and woodlands of the Town of Pelham to the north. At the time that the mansion existed, the remainder of the island was mostly lawns, except for a few outbuildings such as the former Old Stone House, as well as a tenant's house and a garden. The mansion was demolished in 1937 after a long period of deterioration.
The stone causeway connected the island to the mainland. The entrance to the causeway from Eastern Boulevard (present-day Shore Road), on the mainland, was marked by two white granite gateposts. The Hunter's Island Inn, a mansion owned by Elias Hunter's daughter Elizabeth de Lancey, was located across from the gateposts. The causeway blocked the flow of water in LeRoy's Bay. The bridge's remnants still exist .
Wildlife sanctuary
Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary encompasses all of Twin Islands, Cat Briar Island, Two Trees Island, and the northeastern shoreline of Hunter Island. It contains many glacial erratics, large boulders that were deposited during the last glacial period. The rocky coast of Twin Islands contains the southernmost outcropping of Hartland schist
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...
, the major bedrock component of New England coastlines, as well as granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
with both migmatite
Migmatite is a composite rock found in medium and high-grade metamorphic environments, commonly within Precambrian cratonic blocks. It consists of two or more constituents often layered repetitively: one layer is an older metamorphic rock tha ...
dikes
Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to:
General uses
* Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian"
* Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment
* Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice
* Dikes, ...
and veins
Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated b ...
made of quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
. The sanctuary supports a unique intertidal marine ecosystem that is rare in New York State. It holds the largest continuous oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
in Pelham Bay Park, including white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
, and black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
oak, as well as black cherry
''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the g ...
, white poplar White poplar is a common name used to refer to several trees in the genus ''Populus'', including:
* ''Populus alba'', native to Eurasia
* ''Populus grandidentata'', bigtooth aspen
* ''Populus tremuloides
''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous ...
, white pine
''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...
s, Norway spruce
''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.
It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...
, and black locust
''Robinia pseudoacacia'', commonly known in its native territory as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is endemic to a few small areas of the United States ...
trees. One can also find grape hyacinth
''Muscari'' is a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, most commonly blue, urn-shaped flowers resembling bunches of grapes in the spring. The common name for the genus is grape hyacinth (a name which i ...
, periwinkle, daylily
A daylily or day lily is a flowering plant in the genus ''Hemerocallis'' , a member of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. Despite the common name, it is not in fact a lily. Gardening enthusiasts and horticulturists have long ...
, and Tartarian honeysuckle
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both contin ...
, which were part of the Hunter Mansion's garden. Member species of the islands' salt marsh ecosystem include egret
Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...
s, cormorant
Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...
s, fiddler crab
The fiddler crab or calling crab may be any of more than one hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae, well known for their sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic claws; the males' major claw is much larger than th ...
s, horseshoe crab
Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachn ...
s, marine worm
Any worm that lives in a marine environment is considered a marine worm. Marine worms are found in several different phyla, including the Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida (segmented worms), Chaetognatha, Hemichordata, and Phoronida. For a ...
s, barnacle
A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in eros ...
s, and oysters
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...
.
Kazimiroff Nature Trail
In 1983, the Theodore Kazimiroff Environmental Center was proposed for the park, alongside a nature trail that would wind through the park's terrain. It would be named out of respect to the late Kazimiroff, who had died in 1980. The Kazimiroff Nature Trail, as well as the Pelham Bay Park Environmental Center at Orchard Beach, opened in June 1986.
The Kazimiroff Nature Trail traverses of Hunter Island. Much of the island's natural features are found along the trail. The trail comprises two overlapping lasso-shaped paths, the "red" and "blue" trails. The blue trail is slightly longer than the red trail.
Along the shared "lasso spur" is a canal for mosquito control as well as an intersection with the old Hunter Island causeway's cobblestone approach path. Going counterclockwise from the intersection with the two "loops", the trail passes through a grove of 100 Norway spruce
''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.
It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...
s planted in 1918; a black locust
''Robinia pseudoacacia'', commonly known in its native territory as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is endemic to a few small areas of the United States ...
forest from the 1970s; and a thicket
A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in the ...
of shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
s and vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...
s. At this point, the longer blue trail diverges to the northwest and then northeast, passing the former Hunter Mansion's knoll
In geography, knoll is another term for a knowe or hillock, a small, low, round natural hill or mound.
Knoll may also refer to:
Places
* Knoll Camp, site of an Iron Age hill fort Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
* Knoll Lake, Leonard Canyon, Ar ...
; a forest of white pine
''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...
s; some mugwort
Mugwort is a common name for several species of aromatic flowering plants in the genus ''Artemisia.'' In Europe, mugwort most often refers to the species '' Artemisia vulgaris'', or common mugwort. In East Asia the species '' Artemisia argyi'' i ...
and invasive ''Ailanthus
''Ailanthus'' (; derived from ''ailanto,'' an Ambonese word probably meaning "tree of the gods" or "tree of heaven") is a genus of trees belonging to the family Simaroubaceae, in the order Sapindales (formerly Rutales or Geraniales). The genus ...
''; the Hunter Mansion's main driveway; a less dense patch of trees and burnt tree stumps, part of a forest burned by the Siwanoy; white oak
The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...
s and black locust
''Robinia pseudoacacia'', commonly known in its native territory as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is endemic to a few small areas of the United States ...
s; and lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.[white poplar White poplar is a common name used to refer to several trees in the genus ''Populus'', including:
* ''Populus alba'', native to Eurasia
* ''Populus grandidentata'', bigtooth aspen
* ''Populus tremuloides
''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous ...]
forest; a grove scorched by an uncontrolled fire; and remnants of the former estates' stone walls. Both trails merge and loop back to the east and south, passing through glacial-erratic boulders, New England bedrock, and the island's salt marsh. The Gray Mare glacial erratic can also be seen along this stretch.
References
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External links
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{{New York City Islands
Geography of the Bronx
Islands of New York City
Long Island Sound
Nature centers in New York City
Pelham Bay Park
Protected areas of the Bronx
Former islands of New York City