Ellis Island public and the museum partially re-opened on October 28, 2013, after major renovations. Originally much of the west shore of Upper New York Bay consisted of large tidal flats which hosted vast oyster banks, a major source of food for the Lenape population who lived in the area prior to the arrival of Dutch settlers. There were several islands which were not completely submerged at high tide. Three of them (later to be known as Liberty Island, Black Tom Island and Ellis Island) were given the name Oyster Islands by the settlers of New Netherland, the first European colony in
Mersea Island on the island to guard against invasion. A battery of 4.7 inch guns was installed along the beach along with a Battery Observation post and a number of searchlights and pillboxes. Several of these installations survived and can still be seen along the south coast of the island, one of which has been converted into a cafe. After the war, the island suffered from severe winter weather in 1947 which destroyed much of the oyster fishery, and from the flooding of 1953, where numerous beach huts were swept out to sea. In 1963, a lifeboat service was launched following an