Mount Loretto Unique Area is a 194 acre (0.78509084 km²) open space reserve

Open space reserve

Open space reserve, open space preserve, and open space reservation, are planning and conservation ethics terms used to describe areas of protected or conserved land or water on which development is indefinitely set aside...

 and nature preserve administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for the conservation, improvement, and protection of natural resources within the U.S. state of New York. It was founded in 1970, replacing the previous Conservation Department...

 on Staten Island

Staten Island

Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...

, New York. Mount Loretto has approximately one mile of shoreline fronting Prince's Bay and Raritan Bay.

Along the shoreline are the highest ocean facing bluffs in New York State, the highest point, reaching a height of 75 feet (22.9 m). The bluffs are part of the terminal moraine

Terminal moraine

A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a moraine that forms at the end of the glacier called the snout.Terminal moraines mark the maximum advance of the glacier. An end moraine is at the present boundary of the glacier....

, deposits of clay and gravel during periods of glaciation, the last being the Wisconsin Glacier which reached its southernmost terminus in Staten Island. The highest bluff is the location of an historic lighthouse the Princes Bay Light

Princes Bay Light

The Prince's Bay Light is a lighthouse on the highest point of the southern shoreline of Staten Island, New York in the Pleasant Plains neighborhood. It is situated on a . bluff overlooking Raritan Bay with an attached brownstone cottage which served as the lightkeepers house...

. The stone lighthouse, which was built in 1864 with an attached lighthouse keeper's cottage built in 1868 is a New York State Landmark. Across from the park is the Church of St. Joachim and St. Anne, used as a set for the exterior church views in the film The Godfather

The Godfather

The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...

.

Within the preserve in addition to the bluffs there are extensive brackish and freshwater wetlands including a large vernal pond.

History

The area that encompasses the Mount Loretto Unique Area was purchased from the Archdiocese of New York by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 1999. Mount Loretto was once the largest orphanage and the largest farm in New York State, originally started by an Irish Catholic priest, Father John Christopher Drumgoole

John Christopher Drumgoole

John Christopher Drumgoole was an Irish Roman Catholic priest. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 9 from his native Ireland. He became an ordained priest at the age of 52...

, founder of the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin in Manhattan, an organization to help poor and disposed children. He purchased the Staten Island land for the orphanage in the 1890's and named it Mount Loretto in honor of one of the nuns that worked with him at the mission.

The property contained various buildings during its history as an orphanage including St. Elisabeth's girls dormitory a large Victorian Era

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 building which was destroyed by arson during the time title to the land was being transferred to the state.

Flora

The preserve contains a wide variety of native plants, shrubs and trees owing to the diverse habitats represented within the park.

Fauna

There are various species of birds which frequent the park during various parts of the year. Along the beach there are various shorebirds

Wader

Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...

 such a piping plovers, the wetlands areas support habitat utilized by various species of waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 such as the Wood duck (Aix sponsa). The preserve is also home to snakes, turtles frogs and toads, as well as raccoons, chipmunks moles and field mice.