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
Daufuskie Island on the island. Later in 1893, he opened the L.P. Maggioni and Company Oyster Factory. The factory harvested, shucked, steamed, and canned oysters to ship to Savannah. The success of L.P. Maggioni and Company Oyster Factory brought several to the island. Several shucking shacks and factories remained on the island after the L.P. Maggioni Company moved to Savannah, Georgia. The oyster industry flourished as people as far away as Bar Harbor and New York considered Daufuskie Island oysters as a delicacy. The 1930s depression and World War II caused the oyster industry to decline as many left the island for