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
Crab Island (Lake Champlain) cleared allowing access for visitors and a wharf was built to accommodate boats. A full-time caretaker was hired to live in a small cottage on the island and in 1909, by act of Congress, the island was officially renamed Macdonough National Military Park. By 1930, the island had been mostly abandoned. The one and only caretaker had left in 1915 and the caretaker's cottage burned in 1929. The island remained mostly devoid of activity until the 1950s, when United States Air Force personnel stationed at nearby Plattsburgh Air Force Base began a project of clearing portions of the island for