North Brother Island is a 13-acre piece of land located in the East River, a couple of miles away from Manhattan, New York. This island bears the remains of its fascinating, yet tragic history.
North Brother was first inhabited when Riverside Hospital was relocated to the island. The purpose of the hospital was to treat and isolate the sufferers of contagious diseases. The very first residents of the island were victims of illnesses such as smallpox, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and typhus. The most notorious resident was, of course, Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary. Mary was the first documented person in the USA to be identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the bacteria that causes typhoid fever. The woman, who is believed to have infected more than 50 people, 3 of whom died, always denied being a carrier. She was forcefully incarcerated in the island’s hospital for nearly three decades until she died. Even though the woman spent her last days thinking she was innocent, it was proven that Mary’s delicious desserts took part in spreading the disease, find out more in the video.

Another incident related to the island claimed a lot more lives than poor Mary. In 1904 residents of an island witnessed the deaths of more than 1,000 people. Watch the video below to learn more about the mysterious history left behind on this tragic place. Don’t forget to subscribe to Bored Panda YouTube channel.

North Brother Island is a 13-acre piece of land located in the East River, a couple of miles away from Manhattan, New York

Image credits: reivax

North Brother was first inhabited when Riverside Hospital was relocated to the island

Image credits: Google Earth

The purpose of the hospital was to treat and isolate the sufferers of contagious diseases

Image credits: Jonathan Haeber

Some of the patients were held against their will

(c) Ian Ference of the Kingston Lounge, used with permission  ianference.smugmug.com

The most notorious patient was, of course, Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary

Mary worked as a cook for many families in New York and they’d quickly become ill after eating her food

Without knowing Mary has infected more than 50 people, 3 of whom died

Her ultimate downfall was her favorite dessert, ice cream with raw peaches

While Mallon refused to believe that she was the problem, public health authorities quarantined her against her will

Typhoid Mary’s fate was tragic, yet it wasn’t the only tragedy on the island as in 1904 a steamboat ‘General Slocum’ sank and took over 1000 lives

Watch the video below to learn more about Typhoid Mary and other haunting stories about the North Brother Island

Subscribe to Bored Panda YouTube channel for more videos!

Games

View all games

Anyone can write on Bored Panda. Start writing!

Follow Bored Panda on Google News!

Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!