The Lost Pearls of New York City
Hyperallergic links New York City’s Pearl Street to the Lenape shell middens that once marked the original 17th-century East River shoreline, noting that such oyster-shell piles were common indicators of pre-European settlement and could reach about four feet deep. The article cites Mark Kurlansky’s book The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell (2006) and an 1839 diary entry by Brooklyn writer Daniel Tredwell describing “Indian shell heaps” extending 15 to 30 feet along creek banks. It argues that the later dismantling of middens—used as fill for roads and modernization—contributed to the erasure of Indigenous presence in the city. Artist Alan Michelson’s public installation “The Oyster,” which opened on Governors Island in late summer 2026 and runs until late fall, is presented as a contemporary artwork that foregrounds this overlooked and contested history.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Van Gogh Returns, and the City’s Art Wars