by Sabrina Simone
Long Island is known for many things, one of them being the love and supply for shellfish. In the late 1700’s, oysters were the most popular shellfish dish for Long Islanders. What once started out as a hobby because a full-blown industry. Oystermen would open roughly 2,000 oysters a day. Long Islanders were eating so many that the streets were practically made of oyster shells. The demand continued to grow until around the early 1800’s when it was observed that oystermen were harvesting fewer and fewer oysters. They would soon learn that many oyster beds were empty or destroyed from the high demand.
Figure 1 – An image I took of an image provided by the Rudolph Oyster House at the Sayville Maritime Museum. This image shows a large pile of oyster shells with oystermen standing on top. This quantity of oysters being harvested was very common.
In addition to overfishing for oysters, there were other factors that aided in the oyster population decline. One main factor was from duck farm waste. With large quantities of ducks being farmed, there resulted in large quantities of waste. This was a problem because the waste would run off into local waterways and enter the bay systems where the oyster beds were thriving. The increase in nutrients from the duck waste would cause an increase in algal production. This was not good for growing oysters because it led to algal blooms. Too much algae can reduce the amount of oxygen in the water and can be too much for the oysters to filter. As oysters can filter large quantities of water in a short period of time, filtering gallons of contaminated water caused oyster populations to suffer.
The 1950’s to 1960’s spelled the end for natural oysters on Long Island. Today, locals and environmentalists are working to restore these populations. There are multiple projects currently in effect aiming to re-introduce oysters and rebuild their numbers. This is being done by creating various oyster farms for larvae to thrive, as well as by the use of sanctuaries for oysters to go through a natural life cycle without being fished. While the restoration process is still young, it is a step in the right direction towards bringing back natural oysters to Long Island.
Figure 2 – Another image I took of a pile of oysters on display at the Rudolph Oyster House at the Sayville Maritime Museum. This is an idea of the number of oysters one oysterman might shuck in one day.
Day in The Life of The United States Life-Saving Service
by Christian Iniguez-Ulloa
These clothes are on display at the Long Island Maritime Museum in Sayville. They are clothes that would have been worn by people in the United States life-saving service. Those people would be in charge of helping boats that would get stuck around Fire Island while trying to reach New York City. At first their occupation was only part time and seasonal job but became a fulltime job due to amount of ships that would get stuck.
This is a display at the Long Island Maritime Museum in Sayville of a Breeches Buoy. A Breeches Buoy was essentially a zip line that would bring people from ships onto shore. This was done by shooting a line from shore onto ships with instructions telling the sailors to attach it to high part of their sails and setting up the other part on land. This method was mostly used when there was a little amount of people on the ships.
This is a life car that is also on display at the Long Island Maritime Museum in Sayville. A life car was used when for the same purpose as Breeches Buoy but when there were more people on the ships. Like the Breeches Buoy a messenger line would be shot over to the ships except now multiple people can go inside and be rescued at once. The life car would be pulled back and forth between the shore and the ship until everyone was safe. Since there were holes for air there was some water that would make its way into the life car, but it did it just well.
This kart was used by the United States life-saving service and it is on display at the Long Island Maritime Museum. Whenever there would be a ship that would crash around Fire Island the life-saving service men would bring these karts to the shore where the ships where. The karts were filled with all the tools need to rescue the passengers on the crashed vessels.
Disaster aboard the SS General Slocum
by Brad McGuire
On June 15, 1904, a passenger ship owned by the Knickerbocker Steam Company, the SS General Slocum, embarked on a day trip down the East River with a load of 1,360 passengers. Approximately a half of an hour from the Slocum’s destination, a fire was discovered aboard in one of the ship’s storage rooms. When emergency measures were deployed, many turned out to be old and in a poor enough condition that they failed: the fire hoses burst when used, the lifeboats were wire tied to the side of the ship, and the life jackets were so old as to ensure the drowning of the user. In an attempt to save those on board, the captain managed to beach the ship on a sandy area near North Brother Island. During the time spent maneuvering to this point, the fire grew and it is estimated that 600 people were killed when the decks eventually collapsed. Between the fire and those who drowned or were crushed by the ship’s paddles, the number dead came up to 1,031.
The disaster of the fire on the SS General Slocum was the worst maritime disaster in the history of New York City, and the second worst maritime disaster to ever occur on US waterways. Before the events of September 11, 2001, it ranked as the worst disaster to have occurred in the New York area. The ship’s captain, William van Schaick, was ultimately convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in Sing Sing prison for his negligence and actions. The event itself made international news and is still the worst ever peacetime maritime disaster to occur in US waters.
Photo Credit: Fire
aboard the SS General Slocum. Long Island Maritime Museum. Taken by Brad
McGuire
The Life and Times of Long Island Oystermen
By John Maniscalco
This past week in our coastal cultural experience class, we had the opportunity to go to the Long island maritime museum located in Sayville, NY. While at the museum we learned about various things about maritime culture and how they pertain to Long Island. Oystering in particular, was a very prominent part of Long Island culture. During the 19th and 20th centuries oysters were found in vast numbers all across Long Island. These oysters shaped not only the culture of Long Island, but also the lives of the oystermen, whose livelihood had become dependent upon Long Island oysters. It was while at the museum we got an inside look into what the life of a oysterman was like.
To harvest the oysters, oystermen would travel out to the bay where they would use large tongs. These tongs were essentially long poles with very large baskets attached on the ends. Even in the winter when the bay would freeze over, oystermen would go out onto the ice with a horse and cart and harvest oysters with the tongs. However, the tongs were not very efficient. Thus, large metal dredges, which are large metal baskets that would be dragged behind the boat, became more popular. As oysters were being harvested, oystermen would go to the oyster house, where they would process the many oysters that would come into the oyster house each day. Processing these oysters included shucking, packing, and shipping them. Unfortunately, the oystermen were not paid by the hour. Instead they were paid by the number of oysters they could shuck in a day. To make matters worse, the oyster houses were cold and wet; making a harsh working environment. In addition, oystermen would be standing all day. Nonetheless, thousands of oysters were required to be opened each day in order for the oystermen to make any kind of money; which is exactly what happened. Many oystermen during the peak of their profession were able to support their families with the money made while oystering. In other words, a lot of oysters were processed during this time. However, all of this was taking place during a period known as the ‘gilded age’. ‘Gilded’, which during this time refers to the fact that it seemed like the oystermen were prospering, when in reality this may not have been the case.
As mentioned before, oystermen seemed to be prospering during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. However, for a few reasons as time went on oystering became more of an issue. One reason being, oysters only could be caught during the colder months; September through April to be exact. Thus, oystermen turned to clams in the summer. Regrettably, clams were not as profitable as oysters. That said, the decline of oystering was more of a result of the technology than anything else. This was because where dredges were more efficient. They also left a negative impact on the bays as well. Dredging left a negative impact due to digging up the bays. Even more so, the eelgrass which was responsible for keeping the bay calm, was also torn up by the constant dredging. As a result, the bay became more turbulent. By the 1950’s, oyster populations hit an all-time low; causing the oystermen to pretty much go extinct. They then turned to clamming as result, but as mentioned before this was nowhere nearly as profitable as oystering. Currently, oyster farms have become quite popular as they are still in high demand across the country. However, it is safe to say that where oysters were once plentiful so were oystermen. Nevertheless, due to the decline of the Long Island oyster populations the life of oystermen changed with the changing population.
A Tale of Two Ships
by Emelie Einhorn
All photo credit to the Long Island Maritime Museum
You may have read about coastal response and rescue teams in my classmates’ blog posts, especially those written about Fire Island’s unique history. Here is another story about Fire Island, though this one shows that their system was limited by human capabilities.
On February 8th 1895, the John B Manning crashed on the sand bar running along Fire Island. The 12 sailors on board were likely panicking, however the rescue crews on the coast were quick to respond, managing to save everyone on board. The rescue crew was tired and cold by the end of their operation, ready to pack up and head home. However, in an unfortunate twist of fate, another ship, the Louis B Place, had crashed a few miles away at almost the same time as the John B Manning had. Upon learning of the second crash, the rescue team reluctantly headed over to the second crash. The 8 men on board had been patiently waiting during the entire rescue of the John B Manning, so by this point the crew was too cold and frostbitten from the early February weather to grab the paddle attached to the rope that would set up the britches buoy system from the water. The rescue crew had to wait for the weather to improve before sailing out to the Louis B Place, and by this point 6 of the crew had already succumbed to the cold. Only 2 men were rescued, one dying of his injuries soon after. Today, all 8 sailors are buried together in Patchogue and serve as a stark reminder of the dangers of maritime travel.
This photograph shows the Louis V Place being launched from port for the first time, several years before its crash off of Fire Island.
This is a photograph of the deck of the John B Manning. The sailors are awaiting rescue while the team on shore sets up the cannons and britches buoy system.
This photo shows just how close the two wrecks were, and just how fortunate the sailors on board the John B Manning were to crash first lest they suffer the fate of the crew of the Louis B Place.
Boats!
by Amanda Ackermann
The Long
Island Maritime Museum in Sayville boasts a number of boat models, and a boat
shed with different kinds of boats that were donated to the museum. Each has a
historical background, with significance to the area. Below are three images of
the old Fire Island Ferry, a specialized sailboat made for ice racing, the Two
Brothers and a comparison picture of a typical racing sailboat.
During the prohibition era, some Fire Island ferries were used by the rum-runners to smuggle alcohol from Fire Island into the city, as Fire Island made an ideal place for illegal booze to be hidden. While this boat in particular was most likely not used for smuggling, the ferry boat “Running Wild” was known for its smuggling and still has patched over bullet marks left from its run-ins with the Coast
Guard (this boat was sold to a man in Sayville, unfortunately not the museum)2.
This flat looking sail boat is an ice boat that was used for racing over the ice. It’s fitted with three runners/skates at the bottom that allowed it to skate quickly over the ice. The sails are modified with patches to allow the person at the helm to see through the sails. The sport of sailing ice boats is called ‘ice yachting’ and is popular on the Hudson River and in Long Island Sound. The first ice boat in America was in 1790, and were historically used for ice fishing and transportation across frozen bodies of water. Today the Northwest Ice Yacht Association holds annual ice boat regattas, and has been doing so for 100 years3.
This boat is the Two Brothers, a boat that was built by a man for his two sons to practice sailing. He had said “If you could sail this boat, you could sail any boat”. This boat had the structure of an older sailing vessel, as can be seen by the rigging and sails. The second image shows just how complex the lines can be. Below is a racing sailboat, and compared to this one, the Two Brothers would have no problem sailing it.
A typical sailboat. In the middle there is a fin structure that would be used to keep the boat balanced when there were strong winds. This fin could be moved up or down, depending on how shallow the water is.
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