Liberty Island border issue. In 1830, New Jersey planned to bring suit, but the matter was resolved with a compact between the states ratified by US Congress in 1834 which set the boundary line between them as the midpoint of the shared waterways. This was later confirmed by the US Supreme Court in a 1908 case which also expounded on the compact. In 1987, US Representative Frank J. Guarini and Gerald McCann, then mayor of Jersey City, sued New York City, contending that New Jersey should have dominion over Liberty Island because it is on the New Jersey side of the state
Island Park, New York New York and Long Beach Railroad, as it was known, crossed Reynolds Channel. Between 1851 and 1870, Peter C. Barnum gained ownership of the southeastern lands of Long Island which were then part of Queens County. In 1874 his widow, Sara Ann, purchased Hog Island and sold it to the county for $13,000. The property became the site of the county's poor farm (Miele's Camp) and also a smallpox hospital. It was at this time that Hog Island was renamed Barnum Island in her honor. In 1910, Frank Lawson, a developer, and William Austin had a vision: to develop Island