Petty Island (also Pettys Island; but typically spelled "Petty's Island" by area residents) is a 292-acre (1.18 km2)island located in the Delaware River, which forms the border between Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the United States. It is situated between the cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey, and can be seen from both the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the Betsy Ross Bridge. It is the fourth-largest island in the Delaware River's path. Petty Island is officially part of Pennsauken Township, New Jersey.
Petty Island was called "Shackamaxon Island" after the local Shackamaxon village of Lenni Lenape, "Aquikanasara" by Swedish explorer Peter Lindestrom in 1654, and "Treaty Island" likely after Penn Treaty by the Manderson Family who in 1852 bought most of the land. It was bought from local chiefs by Elizabeth Kinsey, a Quaker who had fled persecution in England.William Penn owned the island after Kinsey; John Petty, its namesake, bought it in 1732. It is thought to be the place where Captain Blackbeard docked his ship when visiting Philadelphia. The island was a hotbed for gambling and dueling in the 18th and 19th centuries, and acquired a reputation for lawlessness and danger; adding to this danger was the large number of shipwrecks which occurred around the island, some of which are still visible at low tide. Ralston Laird, an Irish immigrant, moved to Petty Island in 1851 and became a farm manager there, living on the island for nearly 60 years and eventually being proclaimed its "king".