The Plum Island Animal Disease Laboratory. Page: 2
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the mainland by deep navigable water. The Congress
also required that the entire island be under the jurisdiction
of the Federal Government in order to provide
for complete control of movement to and from the
island and on it.
Plum Island, in Long Island Sound, met all specifications
and was proposed as the location for the Laboratory.
After public hearings had been held within a
radius of 25 miles of the site, the Secretary of Agriculture
officially announced on July 28, 1952, that Plum
Island had been selected as the site for the Laboratory.
Plans for the principal research building were reviewed
by outstanding American and European scientists,
experienced in research on foot-and-mouth and
other animal diseases.
In 1954 construction of the principal research building
was started. In the meantime, a smaller existing
building on the island had been remodeled and made
safe for conducting experiments with contagious diseases
so that limited research could be started before the
new structure was completed.
HISTORY OF THE ISLAND
Plum Island is located about 11/2 miles off the eastern
end of the North Fork of Long Island, N. Y. It is about
3 miles long and 1 mile wide at its widest point, and
has an area of about 800 acres. The nearest village is
Orient, on Long Island. Ferry service to Plum Island
is provided from Orient Point.
Plum Island was probably first seen by Europeans
in 1614 when Adrian Block, an Englishman employed
by the Dutch West India Company, charted the area.
The island was named from the beach plums that grow
along the shores, and an old Dutch map made about
1640 shows the name "Pruym Eyelant" (Plum Island).
In 1659 the little island was purchased by Samuel
Willis, son of the Governor of Connecticut, from
Wyandanch, the ruling Indian chieftain of Long Island,
for a coat, a barrel of biscuits, and 100 fishhooks.
After passing through the possession of more than
20 families, the island was purchased by the United
States Government about the time of the Spanish-American
War for approximately $90,000. A Coast Artillery
post, later known as Fort Terry, was established there.
This post was deactivated after World War II; it was
later reactivated and assigned to the Army Chemical
Corps.
The Department of Defense, through the Chemical
Corps, made available to the Department of Agriculture,
docks, certain buildings, equipment and otherPlum Island is at the eastern tip of the North Fork of
Long Island. It is located in Long Island Sound, south
of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
facilities that permitted the early establishment and
operation of the Plum Island Animal Disease Laboratory,
and on July 1, 1954, the entire island, except for
a lighthouse station, was formally transferred to the
Department of Agriculture.
ORGANIZATION AND
FACILITIES
The Plum Island Animal Disease Laboratory is a
unit of the Animal Disease and Parasite Research
Branch, Agricultural Research Service. Research studies
of the Laboratory are organized into the following
groups: (1) Microbiological Investigations, (2) Chemical
and Physical Investigations, (3) Immunological
Investigations, (4 Cytological Investigations, and (5)
Diagnostic Investigations.
Laboratory employees on the island, in addition to
research scientists, include the administrative staff,
engineers, animal caretakers, maintenance workers, a
safety staff including guards, and a permanent staff
of firemen.
In addition to the new research building, facilities
on the island include: A one-unit research building,
sewage decontamination building, administrative offices,
firehouse, cafeteria, electrical and other workshops,
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United States. Agricultural Research Service. Animal Disease and Parasite Research Branch. The Plum Island Animal Disease Laboratory., book, September 1956; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1577/m1/4/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.