The British started calling Nutten Island "Governor's Island" (with an apostrophe) in 1698 and reserved the island for the exclusive use of colonial governors. Four years later, when Edward Hyde, Lord of Cornbury took office as New York colonial governor, he built a mansion on Governor's Island, though evidence of this mansion no longer exists. Later, governor William Cosby used the island as a preserve to breed and hunt pheasants. Other governors leased out the island for profit, and for a short period around 1710, Governor's Island was designated as a quarantine station for refugees. Otherwise, Governor's Island mostly remained untouched until the American Revolutionary War started in 1775.