Sunset Island

Sunset Island is a three-acre island on

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The New York portion of t ...

, located just west of the Greater Mallets Bay,

Colchester, Vermont Colchester is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Colchester was 17,524. It is the fourth-most populous municipality and second-most populous town in the state of Vermont. Colchester bor ...

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 territori ...

. It is currently privately held, with Patricia McDonald as the majority owner. Originally named Hogback Island, the property was used by the caretaker of the Colchester Reef lighthouse for

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

from 1871 until the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1933. In 1956, after the lighthouse had been relocated to the Shelburne Museum, Sunset Island went up for auction and was purchased by John McDonald and 3 other sportsmen to be used predominantly for

duck hunting Waterfowl hunting (also called wildfowling or waterfowl shooting in the UK) is the practice of hunting ducks, geese, or other waterfowl for food and sport. Many types of ducks and geese share the same habitat, have overlapping or identical hunt ...

. There are no facilities on the island besides a one-room cabin left over from the lighthouse era that is used to store maintenance and landscaping requirements. {{authority control Colchester, Vermont Landforms of Chittenden County, Vermont Lake islands of Vermont Islands of Lake Champlain