Mussel Island facts for kids

Mussel Island was a small piece of land located in Newtown Creek in New York City. It was found where Newtown Creek met Maspeth Creek, between the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint and the Queens neighborhood of Maspeth.

What Was Mussel Island?

Before many factories were built, mussels lived all over the bottom of Newtown Creek. Mussel Island was a marshy area, meaning it was wet and muddy. No one lived on the island. It stayed there until the 1940s.

A Challenge for Boats

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, many boats used Newtown Creek. Hundreds of thousands of ships traveled through the water. Mussel Island made it hard for these boats to pass. They had to steer very carefully around it. This made the island a danger for navigation.

The Island's Disappearance

In 1921, the United States Congress decided to do something about Mussel Island. They approved a plan to "dredge" Newtown Creek. Dredging means digging up the bottom of a waterway. The goal was to remove Mussel Island.

Creating a Turning Basin

The plan was to replace the island with a "turning basin." This was a wider area of water. It would allow bigger ships to turn around easily. By the end of the 1920s, the project was finished. Mussel Island disappeared under the water.

Still on the Map?

Even after it was gone, some maps still showed Mussel Island. The map company Hagstrom kept it on their maps for a long time. In October 2000, a reader asked The New York Times about the island. Hagstrom then agreed that the island should no longer be on their maps.