Part 429: Moses Family Outings to Starin’s Glen Island
In 1901, Thomas G. Moses was making enough money to take some time off from work for sketching trips. This was also an exciting opportunity to make artistic strides while enjoying his family at home every evening. Of his preferred areas to sketch, Moses wrote, “Glen Island was another favorite place for us. On a hot day about four o’clock, I would run down to 21st Street Dock and take the boat around the Battery to Glen Island where the family would join me for a fine shore dinner. It was a short car ride from Glen Island to Mt. Vernon, so it was very convenient for the family to come and return by the way of New Rochelle. Occasionally, we would take a ride to Yonkers, then up to Newburgh or West Point on the beautiful Hudson River.”
Former US Congressman, John H. Starin, acquired and developed “Locust Island” just off the coast of New Rochelle. He renamed the island “Starin’s Glen Island” and built a very successful amusement park. Glen Island was a 105-acre island property, and one of five purchased by Starin in 1879. He converted the islands into a summer resort, connecting them with causeways and piers.
Steamships transported visitors from New York City to the park, with each island featuring a different international theme. Attractions included a zoo, a natural history museum, shooting galleries, a carousel, swings, picnic grounds, wine cellar, a clam bake area, German Castle, beer garden, Chinese pagoda, bathing beach, and a variety of musical entertainments. Glen Island Park opened in 1881, attracting thousands of people daily. It is estimated that more than a million visitors a year visited the amusement park by its sixth year of operation.
The majority of visitors arrived by steamboats and ships. Starin operated a fleet of steamboats that brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to Glen Island each year. As the excursion steamers headed to Glen Island, they rounded Battery Park on the left and Governor’s Island on the right, with exquisite scenery in every direction. On the way to Glen Island passengers enjoyed views of Blackwell’s, Ward’s, Randall’s and Riker’s islands. Speeding up Long Island Sound, passenger’s passed College Point, Willett’s Point, and Fort Schuyler. It was not until the 1920s that a drawbridge connected Glen Island to New Rochelle.
To be continued…
