Gardiners Island

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Gardiners Island

Gardiners Island is a small island in eastern Suffolk County in the U.S. state of New York, located in Gardiners Bay between the two fluke-like peninsulas at the eastern end of Long Island. It is 6 miles long, 3 miles wide and has 27 miles of coastline. The island is the largest privately owned island in the United States, and has been owned by the same family for nearly 400 years.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Controversy
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Gardiners Island from Springs, New York showing the famed white windmill and manor house.

The island is 3,318 acres in size,^[1] approximately 5 square miles (13 km²). It includes more than 1,000 acres (4 km²) of old growth forest and another 1,000 acres (4 km²) of meadows. Many of the buildings date back to the 17th century. In 1989, the island was said to be worth $125 million.^[2]

The island has the largest stand of white oak in the American Northeast. Other trees include swamp maple, wild cherry and birch. The island is home to New York state's largest colony of ospreys, and is one of the few locations in the world where they build their nests on the ground, as there are no natural predators to the osprey on the island.

Its structures include the oldest surviving wood-frame structure in New York state, a carpenter's shed built there in 1639.

[edit] History

In 1639, the island was settled by Lion Gardiner from a grant by Charles I as the first colonial English settlement in present-day New York state. The island was originally in its own jurisdiction affiliated with neither New York nor New England. The island has been privately owned for over three hundred years by his descendants, and is the only real estate still intact as part of an original royal grant from the English Crown.

Lion Gardiner reportedly purchased the island in 1639 from the Montaukett Indians for "a large black dog, some powder and shot, and a few Dutch blankets." The Indians called the island Manchonake, while the Gardiners initially called it Isle of Wight. The original 1639 royal patent gave Gardiner the "right to possess the land forever". His son, David Gardiner (1636-1689), was granted a new patent on October 5 1665 by Governor Richard Nicolls, and annexed by East Hampton in 1688.

Gardiner established a plantation on the island for growing corn, wheat, fruit, and tobacco, as well for raising livestock. The island was later the scene of wars between Native American tribes during the Pequot War and was visited by Captain Kidd. He buried a small cache of treasure in a spot known as Cherry Tree Field. This treasure was removed shortly thereafter by Governor Bellomont, shipped to England, and used as evidence against Kidd.^[3]^[4]^[5] The island was used by the British to store provisions during the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Gardiners Island windmill

From 1854 to 1894, the island was the site of the Gardiners Island Lighthouse. Most proprietors lived in the island up until 1920, when it was leased and became a hunting preserve. Owing to the high cost of upkeep, in 1937 the island was put up for sale but was bought at the last minute by a relative, Sarah Diodati Gardiner, for $400,000. Upon her death in 1953, the island passed in trust to her nephew Robert David Lion Gardiner, and his sister, Alexandra Gardiner Creel.^[2] Their aunt had also set aside a trust fund for upkeep of the island, but it was exhausted by the 1970s.

[edit] Controversy

The island was the subject of a family dispute regarding the ownership and inheritance of the land when Robert David Lion Gardiner quarreled with his sister and her daughter, Alexandra Gardiner Goelet, believing they secretly wanted to sell the island for development after his death. After Goelet and her husband began paying the large upkeep and tax costs of the island (estimated at $2 million per year), Mr. Gardiner refused to pay half, hoping that the government would acquire the land and make it a historic site. His relatives took him to court, in 1980 he was barred from visiting the island. On appeal, this was reversed in 1992, and Mr. Gardiner regularly visited the island, though he did not speak to the Goelets.

Mr. Gardiner, who claimed the title "16th Lord of the Manor of Gardiner's Island" and lived in East Hampton, married in 1961 but had no children, leaving him with no heir. In the 1990's, Mr. Gardiner attempted to adopt a middle aged midwestern businessman, George Green, as his "son" but was not successful.^[2] Upon Gardiner's death in 2004, his ownership of the island passed to his niece.

The Goelets offered to place a conservation easement on the island in exchange for a promise from the town of East Hampton to not up-zone the island, change its assessment, or attempt to acquire it by condemnation. If accepted, the easement would ensure that the island is not developed for the foreseeable future.