Swinburne Island

[1] Along with Hoffman Island, which was constructed in 1873, Swinburne was used through the early 20th century to quarantine immigrants to the United States who were found to be suffering dangerous contagious diseases upon arrival at the Port of New York.

[2][3] Swinburne island was used to quarantine patients during the last cholera outbreak in the United States in 1910–1911, which started with a passenger from Naples on the Moltke, a ship of the Hamburg-American line.

By this time, the city and state had learned other means of controlling infectious diseases, so the quarantine facilities were little used.

[citation needed] By the start of World War II, the United States Merchant Marine had adapted both islands as a training station, which had opened in 1938.

Hoffman Island features the remains of deserted docks, and its interior is densely overgrown, revealing only the foundations of demolished structures.