Political Formation and Topography 21 



Tibbett, or Tippett, whose house was near the end of the point ; 

 in consequence, the neck was known in ancient times as Tip- 

 pett's Neck, or Tibbett's Hill. The neck passed into the 

 hands of the Berriens by the marriage of one of them with 

 Dorcas, the great-great-granddaughter of the original Tip- 

 pett; and after the Revolution and until the present, the pro- 

 montory has been known as Berrien's Neck. The Manhattan 

 tribe of Indians had an important village and castle called 

 Nipnichsen, "a small pond or watering-place," upon the 

 point, to which, and to the section adjoining, they applied 

 the name of Shorackkappock, or Shorakapkock, which means 

 "as far as the sitting-down place," a reference, perhaps, to 

 the fact that the traveller had to sit down and wait for the 

 tide to fall at the wading-place across the creek. 



Port Morris is situated upon a neck of land jutting into the 

 East River. It was originally called Stony Point, or, since 

 it was low land sometimes surrounded by water at high tide, 

 Stony Island. This section has been filled in by the city, 

 sewers built, and streets laid out; and several large factories 

 have been erected by private parties. It was formerly a 

 part of the manor of Morrisania; and the Morrises counted 

 on making it a rival to New York on account of the depth of 

 water and the convenience of access for large vessels, the 

 Great Eastern having actually anchored off the point. In 

 fact, Port Morris was for several years a regular port of entry 

 with its own custom-house. 



The idea of making it an important port has not been 

 abandoned, and numerous plans have been advanced from 

 time to time. One of these is the subject of a pamphlet 

 entitled The World's Great Highway. The scheme will be 

 understood from the following, taken from the inside 

 cover : 



