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The General Slocum Disaster

North Brother Island’s tragedy wasn’t limited to the deaths caused by illnesses like Typhoid and Smallpox. It was also the setting for a horrible, freak accident that caused the death of over 1,000 people.

On June 15, 1904 the PS Slocum, a sidewheel passenger ship, was chartered by the St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church for $350.00. It was supposed to be a fun-filled day outside of the city for the passengers of the ship, which included mostly women and children from the German-American community of the Lower East Side. The ship was supposed to travel from New York City to the North Shore of Long Island, but it would never make it there.