Isles of Shoals
Encyclopedia
The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately 6 miles (10 km) off the east coast of the United States
, straddling the border of the states of New Hampshire
and Maine
.
and first settled by European
s in the early 17th century. They became an important fishing
area for the young British
and French
colonies. The Isles of Shoals were named by English explorer Capt. John Smith
after sighting them in 1614. The first recorded landfall of an Englishman was that of explorer Capt. Christopher Levett
, whose 300 fishermen in six ships discovered that the Isles of Shoals were largely abandoned in 1623.
"The first place I set my foot upon in New England was the Isle of Shoals, being islands in the sea about two leagues from the main," Levett wrote later. "Upon these islands I neither could see one good timber-tree nor so much good ground as to make a garden. The place is found to be a good fishing-place for six ships, but more can not be well there, for want of convenient stage room, as this year's experience hath proved."
The first township, Appledore, included all of the Isles of Shoals, and was incorporated by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
in 1661. At that time, the province of New Hampshire and the province of Maine were both a part of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Starting in 1680 and continuing for several years, there was a general migration of the population to Star Island in New Hampshire, departing from the Maine (Massachusetts) Hog Island (now known as Appledore). In 1715 the township of Gosport was established by New Hampshire on Star Island.
The Gosport community was fairly prosperous up until about 1778, when the islanders were evacuated to Rye, New Hampshire
due to the Revolutionary War
. Though a small population remained, the islands were largely abandoned until the middle of the 19th century, when Thomas Laighton and Levi Thaxter opened a popular summer hotel on Appledore Island
. Laighton's daughter, Celia, married Levi at the age of fifteen and as Celia Thaxter
became the most popular American female poet
of the 19th century. She hosted an arts
community on the island frequented by such luminaries as author Nathaniel Hawthorne
and the Impressionist painter
, Childe Hassam
. Having executed his last drawing three days previous, the Boston painter William Morris Hunt
drowned here in 1879, reportedly a suicide. Hunt's body was discovered by Celia Thaxter. The popularity of Laighton's Appledore House soon led to establishment of the Mid-Ocean House on Smuttynose Island, and the Oceanic Hotel, which is still in use today on Star Island.
, in Maine, is the largest of the Isles of Shoals, at 95 acres (38.4 ha). Formerly known as Hog Island, and prior to that as Farm Island, it is approximately 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) from east to west, and 0.6 mile (0.965604 km) from north to south. It was home to a large hotel, The Appledore House, during the 19th century. Built in 1847 and opened the following year, the hotel was lost to a fire in 1914. Today, the island is the operating station of the Shoals Marine Laboratory
, run cooperatively by Cornell University
and the University of New Hampshire
. The island is mostly owned by the Star Island Corporation.
Second in size at 46 acres (18.6 ha), Star Island
is located in New Hampshire within the borders of the town of Rye
, and is the only island served by a commercial boat from the mainland
. It is a religious conference center, owned by the Star Island Corporation, which is affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association
and the United Church of Christ
. During the summer, the island hosts a number of week-long and shorter conferences which make use of the Oceanic Hotel, Gosport House, the 150-year-old chapel
, and several buildings dating back to the original village. Short-term day visitors are also welcomed, although that may depend on the boat schedule. This is also a popular destination for sailboats wishing to tie up overnight in Gosport harbor.
, at 25 acres (10.1 ha), is the third-largest island. It is known as the site of Blackbeard
's honeymoon, later for the shipwreck
of the Spanish ship Sagunto in 1813, and then for the notorious 1873 murders of two young women. The latter is recalled in the story, "A Memorable Murder", by Celia Thaxter
, in the 1997 novel, The Weight of Water
, by Anita Shreve
(and in the film of the same name
), and in the song, "The Ballad of Louis Wagner" by John Perrault. There are two small houses on the island. One of them, the Samuel Haley house, was once believed to be the oldest structure in the state of Maine. Smuttynose is not populated today.
Malaga Island is a diminutive island just to the west of Smuttynose, connected to it by a breakwater
. That breakwater was built around 1820 by Captain Samuel Haley, who is reputed to have paid for its construction with proceeds from four bars of pirate silver
that he found under a flat rock on the island.
Other islands include White Island
and Lunging Island on the New Hampshire side of the border and Duck and Cedar Islands in the state of Maine. White Island features one of the two lighthouse
s on the New Hampshire coast. Lunging Island, formerly Londoner's Island, was the site of an early trading post
for codfish. Today, it is privately owned.
Duck Island lies about 1 miles (1.6 km) to the north and once was used as a bombing range for the US Navy. It has been sold by the Star Island Corporation to the Maine Coastal Heritage Trust, and is kept as a wildlife sanctuary. It is home to a seal
colony, and has never supported a human population.
Cedar Island is connected by breakwaters to both Smuttynose Island and Star Island and is privately owned.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, straddling the border of the states of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
History
Some of the islands were used for seasonal fishing camps by Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and first settled by European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
s in the early 17th century. They became an important fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
area for the young British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colonies. The Isles of Shoals were named by English explorer Capt. John Smith
John Smith of Jamestown
Captain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...
after sighting them in 1614. The first recorded landfall of an Englishman was that of explorer Capt. Christopher Levett
Christopher Levett
Capt. Christopher Levett was an English writer, explorer and naval captain, born at York, England. He explored the coast of New England and secured a grant from the King to settle present-day Portland, Maine, the first European to do so. Levett left behind a group of settlers at his Maine...
, whose 300 fishermen in six ships discovered that the Isles of Shoals were largely abandoned in 1623.
"The first place I set my foot upon in New England was the Isle of Shoals, being islands in the sea about two leagues from the main," Levett wrote later. "Upon these islands I neither could see one good timber-tree nor so much good ground as to make a garden. The place is found to be a good fishing-place for six ships, but more can not be well there, for want of convenient stage room, as this year's experience hath proved."
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
in 1661. At that time, the province of New Hampshire and the province of Maine were both a part of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Starting in 1680 and continuing for several years, there was a general migration of the population to Star Island in New Hampshire, departing from the Maine (Massachusetts) Hog Island (now known as Appledore). In 1715 the township of Gosport was established by New Hampshire on Star Island.
The Gosport community was fairly prosperous up until about 1778, when the islanders were evacuated to Rye, New Hampshire
Rye, New Hampshire
Rye is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,298 at the 2010 census.-History:The first settlement in New Hampshire, originally named Pannaway, was established in 1623 at Odiorne's Point. The first settler in Rye was William Berry...
due to the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Though a small population remained, the islands were largely abandoned until the middle of the 19th century, when Thomas Laighton and Levi Thaxter opened a popular summer hotel on Appledore Island
Appledore Island
Appledore Island, Maine, is the largest of the Isles of Shoals located about seven miles off the Maine/New Hampshire coast....
. Laighton's daughter, Celia, married Levi at the age of fifteen and as Celia Thaxter
Celia Thaxter
Celia Laighton Thaxter was an American writer of poetry and stories. She was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.-Life and work:...
became the most popular American female poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
of the 19th century. She hosted an arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
community on the island frequented by such luminaries as author Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
and the Impressionist painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, Childe Hassam
Childe Hassam
Frederick Childe Hassam was a prolific American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionism to American collectors, dealers, and museums...
. Having executed his last drawing three days previous, the Boston painter William Morris Hunt
William Morris Hunt
William Morris Hunt , American painter, was born at Brattleboro, Vermont to Jane Maria Hunt and Hon. Jonathan Hunt, who raised one of the preeminent families in American art...
drowned here in 1879, reportedly a suicide. Hunt's body was discovered by Celia Thaxter. The popularity of Laighton's Appledore House soon led to establishment of the Mid-Ocean House on Smuttynose Island, and the Oceanic Hotel, which is still in use today on Star Island.
Appledore Island
Appledore IslandAppledore Island
Appledore Island, Maine, is the largest of the Isles of Shoals located about seven miles off the Maine/New Hampshire coast....
, in Maine, is the largest of the Isles of Shoals, at 95 acres (38.4 ha). Formerly known as Hog Island, and prior to that as Farm Island, it is approximately 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) from east to west, and 0.6 mile (0.965604 km) from north to south. It was home to a large hotel, The Appledore House, during the 19th century. Built in 1847 and opened the following year, the hotel was lost to a fire in 1914. Today, the island is the operating station of the Shoals Marine Laboratory
Shoals Marine Laboratory
Shoals Marine Laboratory is a seasonal marine field station located on Appledore Island, Maine. Appledore Island is the largest of the Isles of Shoals archipelago, a group of rocky islands just offshore of the border between Maine and New Hampshire. The laboratory is cooperatively operated and...
, run cooperatively by Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and the University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
. The island is mostly owned by the Star Island Corporation.
Star Island
Star Island
Star Island is one of the Isles of Shoals that straddle the border between New Hampshire and Maine, seven miles from the mainland in the Atlantic Ocean. Star Island is the largest of the four islands in the group that are located in New Hampshire...
is located in New Hampshire within the borders of the town of Rye
Rye, New Hampshire
Rye is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,298 at the 2010 census.-History:The first settlement in New Hampshire, originally named Pannaway, was established in 1623 at Odiorne's Point. The first settler in Rye was William Berry...
, and is the only island served by a commercial boat from the mainland
Mainland
Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...
. It is a religious conference center, owned by the Star Island Corporation, which is affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association , in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of...
and the United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
. During the summer, the island hosts a number of week-long and shorter conferences which make use of the Oceanic Hotel, Gosport House, the 150-year-old chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, and several buildings dating back to the original village. Short-term day visitors are also welcomed, although that may depend on the boat schedule. This is also a popular destination for sailboats wishing to tie up overnight in Gosport harbor.
Smuttynose and Malaga Islands
Smuttynose IslandSmuttynose Island
Smuttynose Island is one of the Isles of Shoals, located six miles off the coast of New Hampshire, but actually in the state of Maine. It was named by fishermen, seeing the island at sea level and noticing how the profuse seaweed at one end looked like the "smutty nose" of some vast sea...
, at 25 acres (10.1 ha), is the third-largest island. It is known as the site of Blackbeard
Blackbeard
Edward Teach , better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies....
's honeymoon, later for the shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
of the Spanish ship Sagunto in 1813, and then for the notorious 1873 murders of two young women. The latter is recalled in the story, "A Memorable Murder", by Celia Thaxter
Celia Thaxter
Celia Laighton Thaxter was an American writer of poetry and stories. She was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.-Life and work:...
, in the 1997 novel, The Weight of Water
The Weight of Water
The Weight of Water is a 1997 bestselling novel by Anita Shreve. Half of the novel is historical fiction that speculates about the true events of the Smuttynose Island murders of 1873.-Plot summary:...
, by Anita Shreve
Anita Shreve
Anita Shreve is an American writer. The daughter of an airline pilot and a homemaker, she graduated from Dedham High School, attended Tufts University and began writing while working as a high school teacher in Reading MA. One of her first published stories, Past the Island, Drifting, was awarded...
(and in the film of the same name
The Weight of Water (film)
The Weight of Water is a 2000 film based on the novel of the same name by Anita Shreve. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film stars Sean Penn, Elizabeth Hurley, Sarah Polley, Josh Lucas and Catherine McCormack...
), and in the song, "The Ballad of Louis Wagner" by John Perrault. There are two small houses on the island. One of them, the Samuel Haley house, was once believed to be the oldest structure in the state of Maine. Smuttynose is not populated today.
Malaga Island is a diminutive island just to the west of Smuttynose, connected to it by a breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
. That breakwater was built around 1820 by Captain Samuel Haley, who is reputed to have paid for its construction with proceeds from four bars of pirate silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
that he found under a flat rock on the island.
Other islands
White and Seavey Islands
White Island and Seavey Island are in the Isles of Shoals located off the coast of New Hampshire in the town of Rye. During low tide, the two islands are connected by a land bridge....
and Lunging Island on the New Hampshire side of the border and Duck and Cedar Islands in the state of Maine. White Island features one of the two lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
s on the New Hampshire coast. Lunging Island, formerly Londoner's Island, was the site of an early trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
for codfish. Today, it is privately owned.
Duck Island lies about 1 miles (1.6 km) to the north and once was used as a bombing range for the US Navy. It has been sold by the Star Island Corporation to the Maine Coastal Heritage Trust, and is kept as a wildlife sanctuary. It is home to a seal
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
colony, and has never supported a human population.
Cedar Island is connected by breakwaters to both Smuttynose Island and Star Island and is privately owned.