What Is Hart Island? New York's Burial Site For Lost Souls

Hart Island may prove to be unfamiliar to many, but it has served as America's largest burial site for decades. Purchased 150 years ago by New York City in 1868, Hart Island performs as the city's 101-acre Potter's Field — a location for the burial of indigent or unknown people, including the homeless and prisoners. Families who can't afford proper burial arrangements for relatives are also buried here.

New York residences who consent to the mass city burial may not realize that their deceased relatives, including babies, might be buried in trenches of 1,000 people on the island. Prisoners from Rikers Island are reportedly driven to the burial site to fill the trenches to the brim, often including the coffins of 150 adults or 1000 babies, the Daily Mail reported Friday. The inmates earn 50 cents an hour to complete the task.

Hart Island is often referred to the "Island of Lost Souls." Residing nearby the Bronx in the Long Island Sound, the Department of Correction is tasked with operating and maintaining the public burial site. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) determines who is buried at Hart Island.

"In New York City, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) takes custody of remains pending identification and claim by relatives," New York's government website reads. "The OCME transfers unclaimed remains to the Department of Correction for burial on Hart Island."

The first burial occurred in May 1881, but there are gaps over the years without any records of burials. Names of the dead are not listed on tombs.

The cemetery was held under lock and key, as visitations were off limits for years. Visitors were only permitted to visit the gazebo, not the burial site itself. The ability to visit, however, was set in place following a lawsuit filed in 2015.

"The Department of Correction has administered the city cemetery on Hart Island for more than a century and considers this a solemn responsibility," Peter Thorne, a spokesperson for the Department of Correction, told International Business Times Wednesday. "In 2015, we began permitting monthly gravesite visits on Hart Island by family members of individuals interred on the island and their guests. In February, we expanded visitation capacity for family members in a manner consistent with visitor security and safety concerns."

Visits must be requested in advance, as they only occur once a month. Visitation options are limited to general visits to a gazebo area housed on the island or burial site visits for family members who were laid to rest.

The Hart Island Project is a charitable organization that aims to connect individuals to dead relatives housed at the burial site. Founded in 2011, the charity's efforts resulted in the New York City Council making burial records accessible online and publishing a detailed visitation policy.

"A city burial just means that the family, for whatever reason, did not hire a private funeral director — that's what unclaimed means," Melina Hunt, the founder of the Hart Island Project, told Chasing News in May. "It doesn't mean that these people don't have families or people that didn't care. It's just that in New York City, it's very easy to become disconnected."

Hunt added, "A lot of times, people just feel overwhelmed by a death and they're not given very much time to make arrangements."

A representative from the Hart Island Project did not immediately return International Business Times' request for comment.