Ellis Island the region. The oyster beds remained a major source of food for nearly three centuries. Landfilling to build the railyards of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey eventually obliterated the oyster beds, engulfed one island, and brought the shoreline much closer to the others. During the colonial period, Little Oyster Island was known as Dyre's, then Bucking Island. In the 1760s, after some pirates were hanged from one of the island's scrubby trees, it became known as Gibbet Island. It was acquired by Samuel Ellis, a colonial New Yorker and merchant possibly from Wales, around
Daufuskie Island industry flourished on Daufuskie. By the turn of the century the island had a population of 2,000-3,000, most of whom worked in this lucrative shellfish trade. The flat coastline, saltmarsh estuary, and natural oyster reefs, combined with a lengthy spawning season, make waters surrounding Daufuskie the perfect habitat for growing abundant clusters of meaty, briny oysters. Daufuskie oysters were known as far away as Bar Harbor and New York. It is reported that the Tsar of Russia preferred Daufuskie oysters. Eventually, in the 1950s, pollution closed the oyster beds and the island's economy declined. Electricity came to the island in