It's Halloween and possibly one of the creepiest places in the United States is here in New York State. There are more than one million bodies buried on this island. Not only is the island where unclaimed dead are, it has been a harrowing multi-use island for centuries.

Hart Island is located in the Bronx borough in the New York City area. A ferry allows the living to travel to the island of the dead. Somehow, over a million bodies are buried on the island, which is only 131.22 acres. The island was first purchased in 1654 by English doctor Thomas Pell from Native Americans. The first use of Hart Island was as a training ground and barracks for the 31st Regiment of the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War.

It's not just the massive number of deceased people buried on the island that gives me the ick, it's the whole history of the place. Talk about being on the wrong side of history, Hart Island has been a quarantine station, a psychiatric hospital, a tuberculosis ward, a reform school, a homeless shelter, a rehabilitation facility, a military base, and a jail. I couldn't imagine having to be there during the day, nevertheless at night.

"In 1869, the City first began using Hart Island as a public cemetery for the burial of people who died indigent or whose remains went unclaimed after their death. Some of the first people buried on Hart Island included indigent Civil War veterans. Since 1985 thousands of individuals who died of AIDS-related illness have been buried on Hart Island, including the first child to die in New York City of AIDS-related illness, whose grave is indicated with a marker which reads 'SC (special child) B1 (Baby 1) 1985.' In 1991, the City ended all other uses of the island except as a public cemetery."

In addition to housing one million bodies buried on it, Hart Island served as a women's asylum at one point.

Hart Island was used as a quarantine station during the 1870 yellow fever epidemic. In that period, the island contained a women's psychiatric hospital called The Pavilion, which was built 1885, as well as a tubercularium. There was also an industrial school with 300 students on the island. ~Wikipedia

The Island came into use again due to the coronavirus pandemic. With the deadly virus overwhelming New York City morgues, the public cemetery on Hart Island became home to many people who died from COVID-19. You can just feel the sorrow and sadness of the island without even taking a trip there.