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
Oyster Harbors by the late Alexis F. du Pont and his sister, and three shares owned by Gladys B. Thayer. Eventually in 1980 Mellon became the only stockholder of the corporation. Without Paul Mellon's determination to have Oyster Harbors remain a private island, the club, the course and the entire island would have been much different today. Oyster Harbors Oyster Harbors is a gated community within the village of Osterville, Massachusetts. It is located on Grand Island. Oyster Harbors was first inhabited by the Wampanoag tribe when they first settled on Cape Cod. A legend states Captain Kidd presumably had buried treasure