Conspiracy Island is a privately owned

tidal island A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of ...

situated in the Assonet River off

Berkley, Massachusetts Berkley is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston and east of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 6,764 according to the 2020 census, making it the least populated town in the county. History ...

. According to the 2000

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, Conspiracy Island is uninhabited. In very low tides, the island is actually a peninsula, accessible across a sandy stretch of land connecting it to a nearby beach. ''A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts'', published in 1890, describes the history of localities in Massachusetts. In its listing for Berkley, the book states that the island may have received its name from its connection to King Philip, himself the namesake of

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

. Berkley's history also includes a legend that in 1675 on Conspiracy Island King Phillip formed his confederacy.

Geography

According to the Town of Berkley Board of Assessors, the island has a total area of . There is no differentiation in the description between how much is land and how much is water. It is covered predominantly in grass with a few small

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

trees.

Demographics

Conspiracy Island is uninhabited and undeveloped. It is used for camping and swimming by the owners. Public access is not allowed, but is a frequent occurrence.

References

Berkley Massachusetts, 1890
Berkley's entry in ''A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts'' Berkley, Massachusetts Islands of Bristol County, Massachusetts Uninhabited islands of Massachusetts Coastal islands of Massachusetts Private islands of Massachusetts {{BristolCountyMA-geo-stub