FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Bob Harman]

Many classic mineral specimens from the nineteenth century were found in quarries that are now part of New York City.

For purist's specimen labeling purposes, what some of you may not be aware of, is that the 5 boroughs of NYC are not quite the same names as the 5 counties comprising NYC.
New York City was incorporated into its present form about 1898; here is its present form.

Borough ..................................... County

The Bronx ................................ Bronx County
Queens .................................... Queens County
Brooklyn .................................. Kings County
Staten Island .......................... Richmond County
Manhattan .............................. New York County

Another bit of trivia. As rapid industrialization progressed, more large ships needed to navigate the rivers within the NYC area. About 1888 the Harlem River Canal, between The Bronx and Harlem in northern Manhattan, was dredged to deepen it. Several acres of land was removed from The Bronx and added as land fill to part of Manhattan. Thus, the total land area of both counties (boroughs) changed ever so slightly!
This is important as a Harlem area Manhattan quarry containing collected mineral specimens was part of where the dredged material was added making the few new acres! Bob