Pre-1000 CE: Native Americans inhabited what is now Liberty Island, using it as a food source with its abundant oyster beds.
1609: Henry Hudson landed in New York Harbor, beginning European colonization of the area.
1620s: The island was known as one of three "Oyster Islands" in New York Harbor.
1667: Isaac Bedloe, a Dutch colonist, obtained ownership of the island.
1670: Colonial Governor Francis Lovelace granted the land to Bedloe with a note about renaming it "Love Island."
1673: After Bedloe's death and Lovelace's overthrow by the Dutch, the island was renamed "Bedloe's Island."