Crowninshield Island, also known as Brown's Island, is a small island off the shore of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Since 1955, it has been maintained by The Trustees of Reservations. For all Trustees of Reservations purposes, the island is referred to as Crowninshield Island, however federally the island is still maintained as "Brown's Island", and it remains better known by that name locally. [1]
The island had been owned by the Brown family from 1797-1918. The Massachusetts Trustees of Reservations describe themselves as "the oldest statewide land conservation organization in the country." In honor of Louise E. du Pont Crowninshield, a historic preservationist who married Francis Boardman Crowninshield, a member of the noted Crowninshield family, they suggested to call it Crowninshield Island, honoring the pioneer in America's historic preservation movement from 1925 until her death in 1958. Crowninshield summered at Peach's Point and the family donated the island to the Trustees in 1955. The Crowninshields purchased the island from the Browns for $1 in 1918. The Crowninshields were Boston Brahmins who had been historically powerful in nearby Salem, the original town from which Marblehead was formed.
Early January 2009, Gene Record wrote to selectmen of Marblehead asking to change the name of the island. While the Trustees list it as Crowninshield Island they never had the name officially changed by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a federal office maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition, the Board on Geographic Names doesn't approve a request for a name change unless it comes from the local government.
In his letter, Mr. Record, a relative of the Crowninshields, mentioned their generous support of Marblehead institutions and asked the selectmen to send in their support. The selectmen voted unanimously to oppose the name change. [1]
In 2023, Record tried again to have the name officially changed, and this time it was approved by the selectmen and they intended to submit a proposal to the federal government. [2]
Marking the entrance to Dolliber Cove and Marblehead Little Harbor, Crowninshield Island features a rocky shore, sandy beach, meadow, and salt marsh. There is some anecdotal evidence that it has at times been considered two separate islands, a notion which the topography of the whole would seem to support. Accessible by foot via mudflats during low tide, it is most frequently used as a spot for picnicking and sightseeing, with Grace Oliver Beach, Fort Sewall, Gerry Island, Marblehead Light, and Marblehead Harbor all located in the vicinity.
Trafic
Salem is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one of the most significant seaports trading commodities in early American history. Prior to the dissolution of county governments in Massachusetts in 1999, it served as one of two county seats for Essex County, alongside Lawrence.
Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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The North Shore is a region in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, loosely defined as the sea coast between Boston and New Hampshire. Its counterpart is the South Shore region extending south and east of Boston.
The Crowninshield family is an American family that was historically prominent in seafaring, political and military leadership, and the literary world. The founder of the American family emigrated from what is now Germany in the 17th century. The family is one of several known collectively as Boston Brahmins, a reference to old wealthy New England families of British Protestant origin that became influential in the development of American institutions and culture.
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The Monoliths, also known as Agassiz Rock, is a 116-acre (47 ha) park in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, owned and maintained by The Trustees of Reservations. The park's name is from two examples of large glacial erratic boulders plucked from bedrock. As glaciers scoured this landscape, the mass of bedrock forming the hill proved more resistant than the surrounding soil, forcing the bottom of the glacier up and over the hill. The north side was smoothed and the south side left steep and rugged as the glacier broke off chunks of rock as it passed.
Crane Beach is a 1,234-acre (4.99 km2) conservation and recreation property located in Ipswich, Massachusetts, immediately north of Cape Ann. It consists of a four-mile-long (6 km) sandy beachfront, dunes, and a maritime pitch pine forest. Five and a half miles of hiking trails through the dunes and forest are accessible from the beachfront.
Fort Pickering is a 17th-century historic fort site on Winter Island in Salem, Massachusetts. Fort Pickering operated as a strategic coastal defense and military barracks for Salem Harbor during a variety of periods, serving as a fortification from the Anglo-Dutch Wars through World War II. Construction of the original fort began in 1643 and it saw use as a military installation into the 20th century. Fort Miller in Marblehead also defended Salem's harbor from the 1630s through the American Civil War. Fort Pickering is a First System fortification named for Colonel Timothy Pickering, born in Salem, adjutant general of the Continental Army and secretary of war in 1795. Today, the remains of the fort are open to the public as part of the Winter Island Maritime Park, operated by the City of Salem.
Wasque ("way-squee") or Wasque Beach is a 200-acre (0.81 km2) nature reserve on Chappaquiddick Island, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The site was established as a reservation for the public in 1967 and is one of five conservation areas on "the Vineyard" managed by the Trustees of Reservations. Wasque contains a sandy strand the Boston Globe calls "a magnificent beach." Travel + Leisure named Wasque Beach the number one beach in New England and WHDH-TV reports "It's pristine, serene, and rain or shine, it's a beach-goers' delight." Off the shore of Wasque Beach is Katama Bay, "a vast and pristine salt water bay that includes many acres of productive shellfish beds."
The Marblehead Little Theatre is a community theatre in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Founded in 1956, it is one of the oldest continually operating community theatres in New England.
The Misery Islands are an 87-acre (350,000 m2) nature reserve established in 1935 in Salem Sound close to the Salem Harbor in Salem, Massachusetts. It is managed by the Trustees of Reservations. The islands are a part of the city of Salem, although they are much closer to the mainland of the city of Beverly, in whose aquatic territory they lie.
Children's Island, formerly known as "Cat Island" is an island off Marblehead, Massachusetts, and is part of the City of Salem, Massachusetts. The YMCA of the North Shore has owned and operated a children's day camp on it since 1955. The first written record of the island was in 1655 when it was granted to Governor John Endecott. It was then bought and sold several times until around the Revolutionary War when the Essex hospital was built as a smallpox inoculation site. The hospital was burned down by townspeople of Marblehead. By the end of the 19th century, the Lowell island house was established as a summer resort. This was run for about 30 years before being converted into a sanitarium for sick and crippled children until 1946. The island then lay unused until bought by the YMCA and converted into a day camp.
The Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston is a system of reservations, parks, parkways and roads under the control of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) in and around Boston that has been in existence for over a century. The title is used by the DCR to describe the areas collectively: "As a whole, the Metropolitan Park System is currently eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places", as outlined on the department's website. The DCR maintains a separate Urban Parks and Recreation division to oversee the system, one of five such divisions within the department—DCR's Bureau of State Parks and Recreation manages the remainder of Massachusetts state parks. Direct design and maintenance functions for the parkways and roads within the system are provided by the DCR Bureau of Engineering.
The Harbor Defenses of Boston was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Boston, Massachusetts from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coast artillery forts and underwater minefields. The command originated circa 1895 as the Boston Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Boston in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Boston in 1925.
