The Elizabeth Islands are a chain of small
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 ...
s extending southwest from the southern coast of
Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
,
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. They are located at the outer edge of
Buzzards Bay
Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is approximately 28 miles (45 kilometers) long by 8 miles (12 kilometers) wide. It is a popular destination for fishing, boating, and tourism. Since ...
, north of
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...
, from which they are separated by
Vineyard Sound
Vineyard Sound is the stretch of the Atlantic Ocean which separates the Elizabeth Islands and the southwestern part of Cape Cod from the island of Martha's Vineyard, located offshore from the state of Massachusetts in the United States. To the we ...
, and constitute the town of
Gosnold in
Dukes County, Massachusetts
Dukes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,600, making it the second-least populous county in Massachusetts. Its county seat is Edgartown.
Dukes County comprises the Viney ...
.
History
The islands were long known to and utilized by the
Wampanoag
The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 17 ...
and other indigenous peoples prior to European colonization. Europeans first learned of the islands in 1602 when the English colonizer
Bartholomew Gosnold
Bartholomew Gosnold (1571 – 22 August 1607) was an English barrister, explorer and privateer who was instrumental in founding the Virginia Company in London and Jamestown in colonial America. He led the first recorded European expedition to ...
sighted them on his way to Virginia. However it was not until 1641, subsequent to the successful establishment of the first English North American colonies, that colonizers formally laid claim to and settled the islands in the name of the
English Crown
This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sax ...
as part of the country's nascent
imperial expansion. At this time they renamed the islands after
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
, who had been
Queen of England when the islands had first been discovered by Europeans.
"Visiting the Elizabeth Islands
" ''North American Review''; vol. 5 (15); (September 1817), pp. 313-324; accessed July 7, 2009 In 1641, Thomas Mayhew the Elder, of Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End.
Watertown ...
, bought the islands—along with Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard—from William Alexander, the Earl of Stirling
Earl of Stirling was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created on 14 June 1633 for William Alexander, 1st Viscount of Stirling. He had already been created a Baronet, of Menstrie, Clackmannanshire in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia on 1 ...
.
Before the creation of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...
in 1691, the islands were part of the extinct Dukes County, New York
Dukes County was a county of the Province of New York from 1683 to 1691. It was established on November 1, 1683, at the same time as Kings County, Queens County, and Dutchess County. It consisted of the Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard, a ...
. The first known European inhabitant was Francis Usselton, who had been banished at the time for making secret trades with the local Indians without consent from the governor.
Geography and demographics
The total land area of the islands is 34.55 km² (13.34 sq mi); and there was a permanent population of 75 persons as of the 2010 census, making it the smallest town in Massachusetts.
Named islands
All of the Elizabeth Islands, except Cuttyhunk
Cuttyhunk Island is the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. A small outpost for the harvesting of sassafras was occupied for a few weeks in 1602, arguably making it the first English settlement in New England. Cuttyhunk is locat ...
and Penikese
Penikese Island is a island off the coast of Massachusetts, United States, in Buzzards Bay. It is one of the Elizabeth Islands, which make up the town of Gosnold, Massachusetts. Penikese is located near the west end of the Elizabeth island cha ...
, are privately owned by the Forbes family
The Forbes family is one of the components of the Boston Brahmins—they are a wealthy extended American family long prominent in Boston, Massachusetts. The family's fortune originates from trading opium and tea between North America and China ...
. Stretching south-west from land's end at Falmouth, , the islands are:
*Nonamesset Island
Nonamesset Island is the most easterly of the Elizabeth Islands of Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The island has a land area of 1.398 km² (0.54 sq mi or 345.5 acres) and was uninhabited as of the United States Census, 2000, 2000 ...
, the closest to the mainland
*Veckatimest
''Veckatimest'' () is the third studio album by American rock band Grizzly Bear, released on May 26, 2009, by Warp Records. The album is named after Veckatimest Island, a small island in Dukes County, Massachusetts. Produced by bassist and mul ...
, a small island.
* Gull Island, a small uninhabited island.
*Uncatena Island
Uncatena Island is one of the Elizabeth Islands of Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the most northerly of the Elizabeth Islands and lies just off the northernmost point of Naushon Island. Uncatena has a land area of 0.492 km² ...
, uninhabited as of the 2000 Census
*Naushon Island
Naushon Island is the largest of the Elizabeth Islands in southeastern Massachusetts. It is part of the New England town, town of Gosnold, Massachusetts, and is owned by the Forbes family. As of the United States Census, 2000, 2000 census, the isl ...
, long and the largest. Composed of the main island along with the smaller Nonamesset, Monohansett, Bull
A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions,
includin ...
, 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
* ...
, and Bachelor
A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". ().
Etymo ...
islands. Owned by the Forbes' Naushon Island Trust, and while it is not generally open to the public, the Forbes family has set aside Tarpaulin Cove to the south and Kettle Cove to the north as well as Bull Island and Hadley Harbor to the northeast for public enjoyment including picknicking.
*The Weepecket Islands
The Weepecket Islands are a group of three islands which are part of the Elizabeth Islands of Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. They are located off the north shore of Naushon Island, the largest of the Elizabeth Islands. Together the t ...
, three small, publicly accessible islands north of central Naushon owned by the Forbes family. These islands offer very few places to land, are nearly obscured by water, and are home to numerous shore birds, seals and other animals.
*Pasque Island
Pasque Island is one of the Elizabeth Islands of Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies between Nashawena Island to the west and Naushon Island to the east. The island has a land area of 3.45 km² (1.333 sq mi or 853 acres) and h ...
, long, owned by a subset of the Forbes family, and covered in poison ivy. A shallow tidal creek cuts part way through the island.
*Nashawena Island
Nashawena Island is the second largest of the Elizabeth Islands of Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies between Cuttyhunk Island to the west and Pasque Island to the east. The island has a land area of and an official permanen ...
, long, owned by another subset of the Forbes family, it has grazing livestock.
*Baret Island
Baret is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Thomas Baret (died 1396), English MP for Oxford and spicer
*Richard Baret (died 1401), English politician
*William Baret, English MP for Gloucester
See also
*Beret
A beret ( or ...
, located off the north shore of Nashawena Island.
* Rock Island, located off the north shore of Nashawena Island.
*Penikese Island
Penikese Island is a island off the coast of Massachusetts, United States, in Buzzards Bay. It is one of the Elizabeth Islands, which make up the town of Gosnold, Massachusetts. Penikese is located near the west end of the Elizabeth island cha ...
, located about north of Nashawena and Cuttyhunk. Penikese is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has a colorful history. It was the site of a groundbreaking 19th-century research facility that was the precursor to the famed Marine Biological Laboratory
The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution that was independent ...
(MBL) in Woods Hole
Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at ...
, was the site of the state's only leper colony in the early 20th century, and is currently a bird sanctuary and site of the Penikese Island School, a 35-year-old school for troubled teens.
*Cuttyhunk Island
Cuttyhunk Island is the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. A small outpost for the harvesting of sassafras was occupied for a few weeks in 1602, arguably making it the first English settlement in New England. Cuttyhunk is locat ...
, farthest west in the chain, and home to most of Gosnold's municipal population. Like Penikese, Cuttyhunk is not owned by the Forbes family, and therefore much of the island is publicly accessible.
* Gosnold Island, located in Westend Pond on Cuttyhunk Island.
Named channels
Channels with strong tidal currents, known locally as ''holes'', separate the islands from each other and the mainland. Currents of up to are driven by the different sizes and filling rates of Vineyard Sound to the southeast and Buzzards Bay to the northwest. At high tide, water flows from Buzzards Bay to the Vineyard Sound. Near mid-tide the water stops and reverses, filling the Bay at low tide.
Listed from northeast to southwest, the named channels are:
*Woods Hole
Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at ...
separating the mainland from Nonamesset Island
*Robinson's Hole
Robinson's Hole is the strait in Massachusetts' Elizabeth Islands separating Naushon Island from Pasque Island. It is one of four straits allowing maritime passage between Buzzards Bay and the Vineyard Sound. The others are Canapitsit Channel, Q ...
between Naushon Island and Pasque Island
*Quick's Hole
Quick's Hole () is the strait in Massachusetts' Elizabeth Islands separating Nashawena Island from Pasque Island. It is one of four straits allowing maritime passage between Buzzards Bay and the Vineyard Sound. The others are Canapitsit Channel, R ...
between Pasque Island and Nashawena Island
*Canapitsit Channel
Canapitsit Channel is a channel that runs from Cuttyhunk Harbor to the Vineyard Sound and separates Nashawena Island from Cuttyhunk Island, two of the Elizabeth Islands off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It is one of four straits allowing maritime pass ...
between Nashawena Island and Cuttyhunk Island.
Named harbors and coves
*Cuttyhunk Harbor
Cuttyhunk Harbor is a bay in Dukes County, Massachusetts. It is located between Copicut Neck on Cuttyhunk Island and Nashawena Island northeast of Cuttyhunk in the Town of Gosnold. Cuttyhunk Harbor is connected to Vineyard Sound
Vineyard Sou ...
is sheltered on its east by Nashawena Island on its west by Cuttyhunk Island and on its north by Penikese Island.
*Tarpaulin Cove
Tarpaulin Cove is a bay in Dukes County, Massachusetts. It is located on Naushon Island east of Kettle Cove and northeast of Robinson's Hole
Robinson's Hole is the strait in Massachusetts' Elizabeth Islands separating Naushon Island from Pas ...
on the south shore of Naushon Island.
References
External links
Cuttyhunk Historical Society, the Museum of the Elizabeth Islands
Bathymetry of the Waters Surrounding the Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
*
{{Authority control
Islands of Dukes County, Massachusetts
Coastal islands of Massachusetts
Private islands of Massachusetts