Liberty Island states. The oyster beds would remain a major source of food for nearly three centuries. Landfilling, started by the 1870s, particularly by the Lehigh Valley Railroad and Central Railroad of New Jersey, eventually obliterated the beds, engulfed one island and brought the shoreline much closer to the others. After the surrender of Fort Amsterdam by the Dutch to the British in 1664, the English governor Richard Nicolls granted the island to Captain Robert Needham. It was sold to Isaac Bedloe on December 23, 1667. The island was retained by his estate until 1732 when it was sold for five shillings
1956 Boston Bruins exhibition game in Newfoundland 1956 Boston Bruins exhibition game in Newfoundland In April 1956, the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League played a post-season exhibition tour of the Maritimes and the island of Newfoundland with stops in Corner Brook, Grand Falls, Bay Roberts, St. John's and Gander. The Bruins, as was then customary after failing to make the playoffs, would play an exhibition tour. On the night of April 9, 1956, the Bruins made hockey history when they played an outdoor game in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland at the Conception Bay Sports Arena which was an unfinished outdoor arena with an artificial ice surface