England’s Daily Mail has a great article on Roosevelt Island history starting from the the Minnehanock Native Americans to Blackwells Island, Welfare Island and to the present day with some fantastic historical pictures from days gone by.

According to the Daily Mail:

From farm land to high-rise living: A history of New York City’s often overlooked Roosevelt Island

  • Roosevelt Island was called Minnehanonck by the Native Americans, meaning ‘it’s nice to be on the island’
  • Two-mile-long island was first purchased by the Dutch, then used as farmland by the British
  • In 1821, the Blackwell family sold what as then called Blackwell’s Island to the city
  • The city used the land to build a smallpox hospital, prison and insane asylum
  • These institutions began to disappear in the 20th century, bringing a new age of high-rise living to the island…

Click here for the full Daily Mail article Image From the Daily Mail and some great New York Public Library Blackwells Island historical pictures too.