Sand Mining in Port Washington

Sand Mining in Port Washington. . , Sand mined in Port Washington was used to build much of the infrastructure of New York City. It is estimated that between 1865 and 1989, more than 200 million tons of sand was shipped from Port Washington to New York City to make concrete for the sidewalks, tunnels, foundations, and skyscrapers of the “Big Apple.” For over a century, fifty barges a day left Manhasset Bay and Hempstead Harbor loaded with Cow Bay sand and gravel, mined from the vast deposits laid down on Long Island’s North Shore by glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age., Mining required labor. More than 800 laborers from Italy, Poland, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia and other European countries were housed in barracks on Port Washington’s sand banks. Hours were long, wages were low, and the work was dangerous. Death from cave-ins was a constant threat. Accidents occurred when sand cliffs cut back too steeply collapsed, burying victims under dozens of tons of loose sand., Sand mining leveled large sections of Port Washington, reducing hundred-foot cliffs (resembling those at present-day Sea Cliff) to flat sand and gravel pans. The environmental damage continued for over a century. By the time the last sand mining concession closed, over seventy abandoned barges littered Manhasset Bay and Hempstead Harbor. In the 1990s, funds were obtained to clear the beaches and restore the shoreline to its former beauty. , (Captions), Crescent/Colonial Sand Mine Operation c.1950 , Unidentified miner in front of the Colonial Sand mine , Advertisement for a company that imported laborers, c.1900 , Courtesy of the Port Washington Public Library Local History Center, About the Artist, Aaron Morgan has lived in Port Washington for 37 years. He has been active in many areas of civic life. Morgan eloquently believed that art is about the process of choices and learning: “It is like magic, creating something from nothing! As an artist I have something to say and I do it visually.”, The theme of the mural “Sand Mining in Port Washington” is immigration. At the turn of the century immigrants came from Scandinavia, Nova Scotia, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Poland. In the mural the word “sand” is repeated in many languages, representing the roots of these hard-working people who came to our shores seeking streets “paved with gold.” Instead they found their streets (and jobs) paved with “sand” from Port Washington.