Spinnaker Island (formerly known as Park Island, Hog Island, and Little Hog Island) is 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

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 Since ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, USA. The island is part of the town of Hull, to which it is connected by a bridge, and is one of the few harbor islands that neither forms 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 peninsula, ...

nor is considered within the municipal limits of the city of

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 ...

History

In 1636 the Boston Board of Selectmen ordered that two town residents be given land in current day Winthrop, Massachusetts in exchange for them forgoing their rights to land on the island. In 1920,

Fort Duvall Fort Duvall was a Coast Artillery fort, part of the Harbor Defenses of Boston, in Massachusetts. What was then called Spinnaker Island (Massachusetts), Hog Island in Hull, Massachusetts was acquired by the U.S. government in 1917, and the fort was ...

, a Coast Artillery fort, was constructed on Little Hog Island. A pair of 16-inch guns were emplaced on the island and later fortified with reinforced concrete casemates just prior to

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 opposin ...

. One of these fortifications is still visible under a condominium complex at the north end of the island, where it is currently used as parking space. The fort was declared surplus after the war. In the 1950s, the island became the site of the Integrated Fire Control (IFC) and

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

systems for a

Nike missile The United States Army's Nike Ajax was the world's first operational guided surface-to-air missile (SAM), entering service in 1954. Nike Ajax was designed to attack conventional bomber aircraft flying at high subsonic speeds and altitudes above ...

site. The missile launchers were located in what is now the

Webb Memorial State Park Webb Memorial State Park is a public recreation area located on a peninsula that extends nearly half a mile into the Hingham Bay area of Boston Harbor in Massachusetts. It is composed of three connected drumlins and a low marsh area. The state p ...

, on the other side of Hingham Bay. The missile site was deactivated in 1974 and the island was subsequently used by the Hull public school system. In 1987, the island was redeveloped as a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

and

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

complex and renamed Spinnaker Island by the new owner.

References

External links

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{{authority control Boston Harbor islands Islands of Massachusetts Islands of Plymouth County, Massachusetts Formerly Used Defense Sites in Massachusetts