the mainland by deep navigable water. The Congress ° 
also required that the entire island be under the juris- 
diction of the Federal Government in order to provide 
for complete control of movement to and from the 
island and on it. 
Plum Island, in Long Island Sound, met all specifi- 
cations and was proposed as the location for the Lab- 
oratory. After public hearings had been held within a 
radius of 25 miles of the site, the Secretary of Agri- 
culture officially announced on July 28, 1952, that Plum 
Island had been selected as the site for the Laboratory. 
Plans for the principal research building were re- 
viewed by outstanding American and European scien- 
tists, experienced in research on foot-and-mouth and 
other animal diseases. 
In 1954 construction of the principal research build- 
ing was started. In the meantime, a smaller existing 
building on the island had been remodeled and made 
safe for conducting experiments with contagious dis- 
eases so that limited research could be started before the 
new structure was completed. 
HISTORY OF THE ISLAND 
Plum Island is located about 114 miles off the eastern 
end of the North Fork of Long Island, N. Y. It is about 
3 miles long and 1 mile wide at its widest point, and 
has an area of about 800 acres. The nearest village is 
Orient, on Long Island. Ferry service to Plum Island 
is provided from Orient Point. 
Plum Island was probably first seen by Europeans 
in 1614 when Adrian Block, an Englishman employed 
by the Dutch West India Company, charted the area. 
The island was named from the beach plums that grow 
along the shores, and an old Dutch map made about 
1640 shows the name “Pruym Eyelant” (Plum Island). 
In 1659 the little island was purchased by Samuel 
Willis, son of the Governor of Connecticut, from 
Wyandanch, the ruling Indian chieftain of Long Island, 
for a coat, a barrel of biscuits, and 100 fishhooks. 
After passing through the possession of more than 
20 families, the island was purchased by the United 
States Government about the time of the Spanish-Amer- 
ican War for approximately $90,000. A Coast Artillery 
post, later known as Fort Terry, was established there. 
This post was deactivated after World War II; it was 
later reactivated and assigned to the Army Chemical 
Corps. 
The Department of Defense, through the Chemical 
Corps, made available to the Department of Agricul- 
ture, docks, certain buildings, equipment and other 
PLUM ISLAND. 
a 
Plum Island is at the eastern tip of the North Fork of 
Long Island. It is located in Long Island Sound, south 
of Connecticut and Rhode Island. 
facilities that permitted the early establishment and 
operation of the Plum Island Animal Disease Labora- 
tory, and on July 1, 1954, the entire island, except for 
a lighthouse station, was formally transferred to the 
Department of Agriculture. 
ORGANIZATION AND 
FACILITIES 
The Rlum Island Animal Disease Laboratory is a 
unit of the Animal Disease and Parasite Research 
Branch, Agricultural Research Service. Research stud- 
ies of the Laboratory are organized into the following 
groups: (1) Microbiological Investigations, (2) Chem- 
ical and Physical Investigations, (3) Immunological 
Investigations, (4) Cytological Investigations, and (5) 
Diagnostic Investigations. 
Laboratory employees on the island, in addition to 
research scientists, include the administrative staff, 
engineers, animal caretakers, maintenance workers, a 
safety staff including guards, and a permanent staff 
of firemen. 
In addition to the new research building, facilities 
on the island include: A one-unit research building, 
sewage decontamination building, administrative off- 
ces, firehouse, cafeteria, electrical and other workshops, 
powerplants, warehouses, residences, a health unit, 
