Hog Island was a set of two islands off Long Island, New York. One, shown on the map at right, is the present day Barnum Island

Barnum Island, New York

Barnum Island is a hamlet in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 2,414 at the 2010 census.Barnum Island is an unincorporated area of the Town of Hempstead...

, part of Island Park, New York

Island Park, New York

Island Park is a village located in Nassau County, New York in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 4,655.Island Park is located in the town of Hempstead.-Geography:...

. The other was a mile-long (1600 m) barrier island that existed to the south of Rockaway Beach

Rockaway Beach, Queens

Rockaway Beach is a neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located on the South Shore of Long Island. The neighborhood is bounded by Arverne to the east and Rockaway Park to the west...

 before being destroyed by the 1893 New York hurricane

1893 New York hurricane

The 1893 New York hurricane was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that struck the New York City area in August 1893. First identified as a tropical storm on August 15, over the central Atlantic Ocean, the hurricane moved northwestward for most of its course, ultimately peaking with...

.

Development

The Island Park "Hog Island" was used by the Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 to raise pigs, once they had been introduced by Europeans and left to run feral. It later became a small farming area. Reports suggest that it began to emerge from the ocean only during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 period. In 1874 Sarah Ann Baldwin Barnum (the wife of Peter Crosby Barnum, a clothier, not P.T. Barnum of circus fame) outwitted a syndicate and purchased Barnum Island for use as an alms house. She had, just days before a deadline, crossed to the island and purchased the existing farm for $13,360 of her own money, and re-sold it to the county (then Queens County, of which at the time the present-day Nassau County was a part) for the same amount. This island still exists today as part of both the Village of Island Park and the Town of Hempstead. The island is believed to have hosted a number of seafront resorts.

Destruction

On the night of August 23, 1893, a devastating Category 2 hurricane made landfall. By the following morning, August 24, Hog Island had mostly disappeared. New York City's leading hurricane historian, Nicholas Coch, a professor of coastal geology at Queens College, believes that this has been the only reported incidence of the removal of an entire island by a hurricane.

During the same hurricane, Coney Island

Coney Island

Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....

 reported 30 foot (9 m) waves which came as far as 200 yards (180 m) inland, destroying the elevated railroad. The East River rose above the sea wall in the Astoria district

Astoria, Queens

Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...

. Many residents in City of Brooklyn reported waist-high water in the streets.

Some resettlement occurred, but Hog Island is believed to have submerged entirely in 1902.

Restoration

In the mid 1990s, after the nor'easter

Nor'easter

A nor'easter is a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, so named because the storm travels to the northeast from the south and the winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada...

s of December 1992 and March 1993 heavily damaged the coast of Rockaway, the Army Corps of Engineers began rebuilding the beaches using dredges close to shore.

Research

Professor Nicholas Coch of Queens College, along with local undergraduate students, was observing the replenishing of the beaches along Rockaway when they noticed peculiar items along the coast. The group uncovered hundreds of different artifacts including whiskey bottles, beer mugs, and even a hurricane lamp. The majority of the items were dated around the late 19th century. Curious about their findings, the group then started to unravel the history of Hog Island.

Analysis

The city of New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

has averaged a major hurricane approximately every 70 to 80 years throughout its history. If the city were to be directly hit by another hurricane of the intensity of the one in 1893 which destroyed Hog Island, the damage is likely to be enormous.