Mount Loretto Unique Area significant place New York City
Mount Loretto Unique Area is an open space reserve and nature preserve administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City. The area's total size is 241 acres (98 ha), of which 49 acres (20 ha) is underwater.History
Mount Loretto was once the largest orphanage in New York State. It was started by Father John Christopher Drumgoole, an Irish Catholic priest and founder of the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin in Manhattan, an organization to help poor and disposed children. He purchased the Staten Island land for the orphanage in the 1890s and named it "Mount Loretto" in honor of one of the nuns who worked with him at the mission. It was served by the Mount Loretto Spur of the Staten Island Railway.
The area that encompasses the Mount Loretto Unique Area was purchased from the Archdiocese of New York by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 1999. The property formerly contained various buildings including the St. Elisabeth's girls' dormitory, a large Victorian Era building which was destroyed by arson during the time title to the land was being transferred to the state.
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