Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
50-147 |
Title |
View of the Quarantine Grounds and Buildings, Staten Island |
Object Name |
|
Scope & Content |
Created by a 1799 law, the Quarantine Station in Tompkinsville made Staten Island a mandatory stop for both domestic and international ships. The law was passed to prevent infectious disease from spreading in the port of New York. Ships were checked for diseases such as yellow fever and cholera, and if passengers, many of whom were immigrants, or crew were found to be ill, they were treated in hospitals on site. The Quarantine was also a route for those fleeing slavery to slip anonymously into freedom in New York and beyond. Local residents opposed the Quarantine for fear of disease outbreaks, and in 1858, demands for the state to close the facility ended with a group of Staten Islanders burning the station to the ground. |
Collection |
Prints Collection |
Web Rights |
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ |
Catalog type |
Archive |