The New Student's Reference Work/Blackwell's Island

Black′well’s Island is in the East River and is part of New York city. It has an area of 120 acres. It is the seat of many of the penal institutions of the city. It has a lunatic asylum, an asylum for the blind, a workhouse, almshouse, penitentiary and several hospitals. On its north end is a stone lighthouse, with a fixed red light, which is fifty-four feet above the sea.