A mile-long spit of land that surfaced off the coast of the Rockaways in the mid-1800s, Hog Island eventually became a popular summertime seaside resort along the lines of Rockaway Beach and Brighton Beach.
This favorite vacation destination for Tammany Hall politicians featured the usual late-19th century bathing facilities, pavilions, restaurants, and regular ferries.
This print depicts neighboring resort Rockaway Beach. Hog Island probably looked similar.
So what happened to this modern-day Atlantis? First, it was battered by the Hurricane of 1893. While this category-2 storm reportedly triggered 30-foot sea swells off Coney Island on the night of August 23, it decimated the buildings on Hog Island.
A few more brutal storms in the 1890s sealed its fate; the sea swallowed it back up in 1902.
Tags: Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Far Rockaway, Hog Island, Hurricane of 1893, New York City 19th century beach resorts, New York City hurricanes, Queens beach resorts, Rockaway Beach, Sea Side House, Tammany Hall
October 20, 2009 at 5:44 pm |
[...] Hog Island, a small spit of land off the Rockaways, was a 19th-century resort like Coney Island before it sank beneath the waves. [Ephemeral New York] [...]
October 27, 2009 at 8:20 am |
http://www.rockawaymemories.com/HogIsland4.htm
October 27, 2009 at 2:03 pm |
Great link, thanks for sending it on.