Isles of Shoals

Infobox Islands
name = Isles of Shoals


image caption = Isles of Shoals
image size = 300px
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location = Gulf of Maine, Atlantic Ocean
coordinates = coord|42|58|53|N|70|36|41|W
archipelago =
total islands = 9 (Maine - 5, New Hampshire - 4)
major islands = Appledore, Star, Smuttynose
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country = United States
country admin divisions title = States
country admin divisions = Maine and New Hampshire
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additional info =The Isles of Shoals are a group of nine small islands situated approximately 16 km (10 miles) off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of New Hampshire and Maine.

History

Some of the islands were used for seasonal fishing camps by Native Americans, and first settled by Europeans in the early 1600s. They became an important fishing area for the young British and French colonies. The Isle of Shoals were named by English explorer Capt. John Smith. But Smith never landed there, according to his journals. Instead, the first recorded landfall of an Englishman was that of Christopher Levett, whose 300 fisherman in six ships discovered that the Isles of Shoals were largely abandoned in 1623. [ [http://www.seacoastnh.com/shoals/history.html Capt. Levett's Landing, SeacoastNH.com] ]

The first permanent settlement of the islands began in 1660's when the Province of Maine, under Massachusetts rule, incorporated Gosport on Hog (now Appledore) Island. When Massachusetts undertook to increase taxes and the recent availability of housing on Star Island, which was in New Hampshire, a mass migration occurred and in 1715, the township of Gosport, New Hampshire, was established on Star Island.

The 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 Isles 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 sixteen 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. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F05E1DB1738E23ABC4153DFBF668382669FDE Death of William Morris Hunt, New York Times, Sept. 9, 1879] ] Hunt's body was discovered by Celia Thaxter. [ [http://www.seacoastnh.com/celia/life.html Celia Thaxter Life Timeline, Norma H. Mandel, SeacoastNH.com] ] 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 Island, in Maine, is the largest of the Isles of Shoals, at 95 acres (38 ha). Formerly known as Hog Island, and prior to that as Farm Island, it is approximately a mile (1.6 km) from east to west, and five-eighths of a mile (1 km) from north to south. It was the home of a large hotel, the Appledore House, during the 19th century; 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.

tar Island

Second in size at 46 acres (19 ha), Star Island 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.

muttynose and Malaga Islands

Smuttynose Island, at 25 acres (10 ha), is the third largest. 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, [http://www.seacoastnh.com/smuttynose/ballad.html "The Ballad of Louis Wagner"] by [http://www.johnperrault.com/programs.cfm 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. [http://seacoastnh.com/History/As_I_Please/Misty_Legends_of_Sam_Haley/] Smuttynose is not populated today. [http://seacoastnh.com/arts/please071401.html]

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

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 lighthouses 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 1.5 miles (2.4 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.

References

External links

* [http://www.starisland.org Star Island Corporation]
* [http://www.sml.cornell.edu/ Shoals Marine Laboratory]