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2012 June 10 Bumpkin Island From Sand Spit

Bumpkin Island, also known as Round Island, Bomkin Island, Bumkin Island, or Ward's Island, is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the

Hingham Bay Hingham Bay is the easternmost of the three small bays of outer Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming the western shoreline of the town of Hull and the northern shoreline of Hingham in the United States state of Massachusetts. It ...

area of the

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States. History ...

. In 1902,

Albert Burrage Albert Cameron Burrage (November 21, 1859 – June 29, 1931), known as A. C. Burrage, was an industrialist, attorney, horticulturist and philanthropist from the United States. Birth Albert Burrage was born on November 21, 1859, in Ashburnha ...

, a Boston philanthropist, had a summer hospital opened on the island for children with physical disabilities. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the island was used by the U.S. Navy. Starting around 1940, the island was used as a facility for polio patients. However, the hospital closed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and burned down in 1945. Since 1996, it is part of the

Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is a national recreation area situated among the islands of Boston Harbor of Boston, Massachusetts. The area is made up of a collection of islands, together with a former island and a peninsul ...

. The island has an area of , plus an intertidal zone of a further . It is composed of a central

drumlin A drumlin, from the Irish word ''droimnín'' ("littlest ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated ...

with an elevation of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

, surrounded by a rock-strewn shoreline. A

sand spit A spit or sandspit is a deposition bar or beach landform off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift by longshore currents. The drift occurs due to ...

, exposed at low tide, connects the eastern end of the island to Sunset Point in Hull. On weekends and summer weekdays, Bumpkin Island is accessible by a shuttle boat to and from Georges Island, which connects from there with ferries to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and Quincy. (Camping is also available.)

References

External links

Bumpkin Island web page
with visitor information.
Bumpkin Island Art Encampment
Boston Harbor islands Hingham, Massachusetts Tidal islands of the United States Islands of Plymouth County, Massachusetts Coastal islands of Massachusetts {{PlymouthCountyMA-geo-stub