Plans Underway to Build an Eco-Friendly Yoga, Canoeing or Fishing Retreat on Historic Rat Island, Once Part of Pelham

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Scattered off the shores of Pelham in Long Island Sound are many islands that were part of Thomas Pell's purchase of lands from local Native Americans on June 27, 1654.  Principal among these islands, as they are known today, are:  City Island, Hart Island, High Island, Hunter's Island and the Twins, Travers Island, Neptune Island, Glen Island, David's Island, Huckleberry Island, Big Pea Island, and Little Pea Island.  There are, of course, many, many other rock outcroppings and granite shelves referenced as "islands" and "islets" in the same region.

One of the most notable such islets is one known as "Rat Island."  Rat Island is privately owned.  It lies in City Island Harbor roughly midway between City Island and Hart Island.  Historic Rat Island may soon add yet another fascinating chapter to its long and storied history.

Detail from 1851 Bache and Hassler Nautical Map of Hart and City Islands and

Sachem's Head Harbor Showing Rat Island Between City Island and Hart

Island.  Source:  DavidRumsey.com.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

 Rat Island on October 8, 2006, as Seen from City Island.

Source:  "Rat Island, New York" in Wikipedia - The Free

Encyclopedia (visitedAug. 28, 2016).  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

I have written extensively about the history of Rat Island.  See Thu., Sep. 08, 2016:  Historic Rat Island, One of the Pelham Islands First Purchased by Thomas Pell.  

No one knows how the islet received its name.  There are two traditions.  The first recounts that rats once were prolific on the little islet though a number of 19th century reports noted that no rats had ever been seen on the tiny islet that, in any event, has been a barren, rocky location unlikely to sustain a colony of rats.  Another tradition holds that 19th century prisoners held on nearby Hart Island, known as prison "Rats," used the islet as a resting spot during daring escape attempts as they swam away from Hart Island.  Thus, locals labeled the rocky outcropping "Rat Island."  

The little island once was the home of retired City Island Pilot Gilbert ("Gill") Horton, born in 1825 who built a home on the islet that stood for many years before it was demolished in 1893.  Rat Island has been the scene of a number of shipwrecks such as the wreck of the coal schooner Lena B. Kaplan of Nova Scotia that struck the rocky islet and sank in January 1886.  After New York City annexed the area in the mid-1890s, it sold the island in 1908 to a private purchase due to unpaid taxes on the property.  Since then, the island has passed through the hands of a number of owners.

In 2011, the islet was auctioned.  Eight bidders battled over the 2-1/2 acre rock with City Island resident Alex Schibil prevailing.  He purchased the island for $176,000.  Since then, according to one account, he has "mainly used the island, accessed via a 10-minute canoe ride, for family picnics, barbecues and private outings with his long-term girlfriend, Noelva Vigoya, 69, who works as a babysitter for her grandchildren."  See Ridley, Jane, Bronx Man Envisions Hotel on City's Barren Rat Island, N.Y. Post (Apr. 3, 2019).

Recently the New York Post reported that Mr. Schibil envisions developing the tiny islet as an eco-friendly "hotel" or "camp" for yoga, canoeing, and fishing with ten solar-powered, self-contained wooden cabins around the islet and a small jetty and boat dock to facilitate arrivals and departures from the islet.  Because there is no running water on the island, there are plans to harvest rainwater for toilets and showers.

Rendering of Planned Eco-Friendly Development on Rat Island.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Plans for development of Rat Island are in the earliest stages and funding has not been arranged.  Indeed, Mr. Schibil is seeking investors for the project.

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In addition to many articles about City Island, Hunter's Island, and Travers Island, I have written before about a number of the islands and rocky islets off the shores of Pelham that are -- or once were -- part of the Town.  See, e.g.:

Fri., May 12, 2017:  Where in Blazes Were "The Blauzes" in Pelham?

Tue., Feb. 28, 2017:  A Little History of the Chimney Sweeps, Two Diminutive Pelham Rocky Islets.

Fri., Feb. 17, 2017:  More on the History of High Island in the Town of Pelham.

Wed., Feb. 15, 2017:  Captain Kidd's Treasure: Buried on High Island in the Town of Pelham.

Thu., Sep. 08, 2016:  Historic Rat Island, One of the Pelham Islands First Purchased by Thomas Pell.  

Tue., May 05, 2015:  More About the History of Goose Island, Once the Home of Mammy Goose.  

Mon., May 26, 2014:  James D. Fish and the Mansion He Built that Once Stood on the Most Easterly of the Twin Islands in Pelham.

Tue., Apr. 25, 2006:  More About "Mammy Goose" of Goose Island.

Thu., Mar. 10, 2005:  "Mammy Goose" of Goose Island.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
Order a Copy of "The Haunted History of Pelham, New York"
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."