SeacoastNH Home

FRESH STUFF DAILY
Seacoast New Hampshire
& South Coast Maine

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

How many eyes has a typical person? (ex: 1)
Name:
Email:

Discover more than 1,000 places to go
 
Touring | Free Newsletter | Feedback | Buy the Book | The Blog
Home Places & Events Isles of Shoals A Quick History of the Isles of Shoals
cf0 Viagra Canada Pharmacy buy viagra online viagra from canda buy propecia Male Enhancement Cialis how to get viagra without a prescription canada viagra cheap viarga from canada drug stores levitra online tadalafil canadian cialis viagra buy online buy tramadol generic propecia cheap viagra with prescription detox from vicodin propecia without prescription buy zoloft generic viagra online canada pharmacy no prescription Levitra 10 mg where to buy fenfluramine sialis viagra on viagra canadian pharmacy no prescription 0
A Quick History of the Isles of Shoals Print E-mail
Written by J. Dennis Robinson   

White Island / SeacoastNH.com
400 YEAR CAPSULE

Few islands in New England have been so fully frozen in time. Privately owned, lovingly maintained, each island has its own legends and history. This quick overview Is for first-timers who have yet to discover one of the earliest booming communities in the New World. Today, you can count the year-round residents on one hand. In summer, the Isles are much as they were when Victorian tourists arrived by steamer.

 

Visit our Shoals section

A 400 Year Capsul History

The "Remarkablest Isles" 

John Smith / SeacoastNH.comThe nine rocky Isles of Shoals have played a larger role in history than their size implies. Because the surrounding cold, deep Atlantic waters yielded an abundant crop of large fish, the treeless Isles were an ideal stopping point for European fishermen. The first documented landings begin at the opening of the 17th century. Because they worked and traded, but did not "settle" in the New World, early fishing and trading outposts are not credited as the first New England settlements. Still, local tradition assigns the record to a group at Londoner's (now Lunging) Island from around 1615 to 1620. Today, with only one private home, the island is far less populated than it was when the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Plantation in 1620.

Explorer Captain John Smith even named the "remarkablest Isles" after himself on his 1614 map. While summering at Monhegan Island in Maine, according to his account, fewer than two dozen men were able to hook 60.000 fish in a month. The same abundance was available at "Smythe Isles" in New England. Smith was talking about the northern New England coast when he wrote, "...of all the foure parts of the world that I have yet seene not inhabited, could I have but means to transport a colonie, I would rather live here." Smith did not live here, but made three failed attempts to found his New England settlement.

Smith didn’t mention landing on the Isles although later occupants attributed a stone cairn built there to him. The first documented English landing goes to Christopher Levett, whose crew of about 300 fishermen in six ships found the Shoals a barren camp site in 1623. Eventually a number of famous Seacoast families used the Shoals as a stepping stone to successful businesses on the mainland. The Cutts brothers (1645) and William Pepperrell (1676) founded successful New England shipping and fishing dynasties by starting nine miles out at sea on the Isles, then moving to the mainland. After building Fort Star as early protection against Native Americans – who very rarely visited these distant sacred Isles -- the Isles industry thrived, rivaling other early ports like Boston for sheer volume of exported goods.

CONTINUE with SHOALS BRIEF HISTORY


 

Please visit these SeacoastNH.com ad partners.

Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner

Portsmouth Herald

Portsmouth Herald Latest Headlines
Portsmouth Herald News from SeacoastOnline.com

Banner
Saturday, November 21, 2009 
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner

Copyright 1996-2009 SeacoastNH.com. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement
PO Box 7158, Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03802 | 603-427-2020

Site by enorm.new.