The island is named after its next-to-last civilian owner before the Army acquired it: New York City ink manufacturer and Westchester County resident Thaddeus Davids.

Previously, it had been named after other owners and was called successively Bouteillier's, Rodman's, Myer's, Treadwell's, Hewlett's, Allen's, and Morse's Island.

[citation needed] During the last periods before European explorers and colonists arrived, Native Americans inhabited Davids Island.

In 1654, Thomas Pell acquired from the Siwanoys title for the land that now includes Davids Island and southern Westchester County.

Permanent Euro-American occupation of Davids Island began with the arrival of Huguenot settlers to the area in the late 1600s.

De Camp General Hospital was soon established, and wooden structures were erected to house thousands of wounded prisoners from the battlefields of the Civil War.

[8] At the start of the 20th century, the island had become the East Coast assembly point for units being assigned to America's new overseas operations.

In the mid-1960s, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara conducted a highly publicized study to identify Army, Navy and Air Force bases that could be closed or consolidated to try to save money.

In 1968, Consolidated Edison (Con Ed) purchased the island for three million dollars, with a view to building a nuclear power plant there.

[14] In 1977, following ten years of neglect, New Rochelle designated the island, with its remnants of Fort Slocum, as an urban renewal area.

In 1987, a conservation group called Save Davids Island for the Citizens, comprising neighboring property owners and concerned Westchester County residents, formed to oppose Xanadu.

In 1992, the city of New Rochelle opted not to extend Xanadu's status as the designated developer for Davids Island and instead sought new proposals.

In response, developer Donald Trump briefly pursued the opportunity to redevelop the island, but the plans were cancelled while still preliminary.