Barnum Island

After the feral pigs that early European explorers brought to the Native Americans, the island was formerly known as Hog Island. Later, Sarah Ann Baldwin Barnum was honored with the new name. In addition, it was occasionally referred to as Jekyl Island, after the name of the development firm that had purchased it from the county.

Though his main career was as a Manhattan clothier, Sarah Ann’s husband Peter acquired sizable pieces of land on Long Island between 1851 and 1870. Hog Island was renamed in Sarah Ann’s honor after she secured its purchase for use as a “poor farm”—a self-sustaining almshouse that was innovative for the time.

The island’s name is incorrectly associated with circus magnate P.T. Barnum, according to local mythology. This is probably because people confuse “PT” with “PC” (Peter C.).

In 1898, the county sold the island to the Jekyl Island Realty Company for $40,000, closing the almshouse. It was renamed Jekyl Island by the business. In 1909, the ownership of the island was transferred multiple times. Jekyl sold it for $120,000 to a group of developers, who then sold it for $650,000 in 1911. (It’s possible that 1910 saw an interim sale as well.) A few canals were built during that age of minimal development before the project was abandoned. A waterway separates Island Park from the Harbor Isle area.

After purchasing the island in 1921, new developers began construction on over 10,000 homes in the 700-acre Island Park neighborhood in the middle of the island in 1922. By 1925, it was operating as a summer resort, and in 1926, Island Park became a village.

The remaining part of the island is still unincorporated; it is still referred to as Barnum Island in the east and Harbor Island in the west. Nonetheless, all three are a part of the Town of Hempstead and comprise the original Hog Island/Barnum Island.

Hurricane Sandy swamped the entire island with two to eight feet of water and filth.