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List of islands of Massachusetts

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Rainsford Island is part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, a National Recreation Area situated among the islands of Boston Harbor of Boston, Massachusetts

The islands of Massachusetts range from barren, almost completely submerged rocks in Massachusetts Bay (e.g. Abbott Rock, first on the list below) to the large, famous and heavily visited Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

The recent history of Massachusetts' islands includes creation by flooding, connection to the mainland and subsumption into new land. Several islands existed as hills in western Worcester County and eastern Hampshire County until the 1930s, when the Swift River was dammed amid controversy to create the Quabbin Reservoir to meet demand for water in the Boston metropolitan area. Castle Island, Deer Island and Nut Island, all in Boston Harbor, have been attached to the mainland and remain islands in name only. Castle and Nut Islands now form the ends of peninsulas due to land reclamation, while Deer Island was attached to Winthrop Peninsula by the New England Hurricane of 1938. Governors Island and Apple Island now constitute the land underneath the runways and tarmacs of Logan International Airport and are included in this list despite their disappearance. Many of the Boston Harbor islands that are located under Logan's flight paths are part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

Although most of the islands are in or near the Atlantic Ocean, several islands in western Massachusetts are found in the Connecticut River and a few others are surrounded by natural or man made lakes, ponds and wetlands.

Name Municipality County Populated? Terrain Notes
Abbot Rock Salem Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Abiels Ledge Wareham Plymouth uninhabited barren minor rock
Abnecotants Island Nantucket Nantucket uninhabited barren minor island / wetland
Alden Island Duxbury Plymouth inhabited? residence minor island / wetland
Aldridge Ledge Boston Suffolk uninhabited barren minor rock
Alleghany Rock Tisbury Dukes uninhabited barren minor rock
Allen Rock Edgartown Dukes uninhabited barren minor rock
Allen Rock Salisbury Essex uninhabited barren minor rock / wetland
Amrita Island Bourne Barnstable inhabited residential area
Angelica Rock Fairhaven Bristol uninhabited barren minor island, privately owned
Anuxanon Island Lakeville Plymouth uninhabited heavily forested
Apple Island Boston Suffolk uninhabited commercial use part of the Logan Int'l Airport complex
Archer Rock Marblehead Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Averills Island Topsfield Essex uninhabited forested wetland
Babson Ledge Gloucester Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Bachelor Island Gosnold Dukes uninhabited barren minor rock
Badgers Rock Salisbury Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Bagwell Island Ipswich Essex uninhabited barren minor island / wetland
Bailey Flat Westport Bristol uninhabited barren minor island
Bakers Island Salem Essex inhabited residential area isolated community
Bar Rock Westport Bristol uninhabited barren minor rock
Bar Rock Scituate Plymouth uninhabited barren minor island
Baret Island Gosnold Dukes uninhabited barren minor island
Barrel Rock Cohasset Norfolk uninhabited barren minor rock
Barstow Rock Mattapoisett Plymouth uninhabited barren minor rock
Bartlett Rock Rockport Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Bartlett Rock Marshfield Plymouth uninhabited barren minor rock
Bartletts Island Marshfield Plymouth inhabited residential area wetland
Barton Island Gill Franklin uninhabited forested minor island
Bass Ledge Nantucket Nantucket uninhabited barren minor rock
Bass Rock Ipswich Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Bass Rock Nahant Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Bass Rock[1] Quincy/Weymouth Norfolk uninhabited barren minor rock
Bassetts Island Bourne Barnstable inhabited residential area isolated community
Bates Island Webster Worcester uninhabited forested minor island
Bates Rock Scituate Plymouth uninhabited barren minor rock
Bear Island Foxborough Norfolk inhabited? residence? isolated (residence?)
Bear Island Scituate Plymouth uninhabited heavily forested minor island
Bearse Rock Barnstable Barnstable uninhabited barren minor rock
Beaver Island Rowe Franklin uninhabited heavily forested
Bemo Ledge Gloucester Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Bench Rock Barnstable Barnstable uninhabited barren minor rock
Bents Ledge Dartmouth Bristol uninhabited barren minor rock
Big Pine Island Westport Bristol uninhabited forested?
Big Quamino Rock Cohasset Norfolk uninhabited barren mid-size rock
Big Ram Island Westport Bristol uninhabited barren wetland
Big Rock Tisbury Dukes uninhabited barren minor rock
Billingsgate Island Wellfleet Barnstable uninhabited barren abandoned settlement
Bird Island Marion Plymouth uninhabited barren minor island / has tower structure
Black Rock Fairhaven Bristol uninhabited barren minor island / has beacon structure
Black Rock Nahant Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Black Rock Beverly Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Black Rock Gloucester Essex uninhabited barren minor rock / wetland
Black Rock Gloucester Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Black Rock Boston Suffolk uninhabited barren minor rock
Blind Rock Barnstable Barnstable uninhabited barren minor rock
Blue Fish Rock Marshfield Plymouth uninhabited barren minor rock
Blueberry Island Winchendon Worcester inhabited residential area
Boohoo Ledge Manchester-by-the-Sea Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (Boston Harbor) Suffolk inhabited National Recreation Area U.S. Coast Guard station / compilation of islands
Boutwell Island Groton Middlesex uninhabited state forest J Harry Rich State Forest
Boynton Island Gloucester Essex inhabited? residence? wetland
Brace Rock Gloucester Essex uninhabited barren large rock
Brant Island Mattapoisett Plymouth inhabited residential area
Brant Rock Marshfield Plymouth uninhabited barren large rock
Briggs Rock Westport Bristol uninhabited barren minor rock
Brimbles Salem Essex uninhabited barren minor rocks
Brooklyn Rock Fairhaven Bristol uninhabited barren minor rock
Brown Island Marblehead Essex abandoned private conservation land (Trustees of Reservations)
Browns Island Newbury Essex uninhabited barren minor island / wetland
Brush Island Oak Bluffs Dukes uninhabited barren minor island
Brush Island Cohasset Norfolk uninhabited barren minor island
*Buck Rock Manchester-by-the-Sea Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Buckthorn Rock Cohasset Norfolk uninhabited barren minor rock
Bull Island Gosnold Dukes inhabited? residence?
Bull Island Essex Essex uninhabited barren minor island / wetland
Bumpkin Island Hingham Plymouth inhabited? state park ruins / Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Burnham Rocks Gloucester? Essex uninhabited barren minor rocks
Button Island Hingham uninhabited forested minor island / Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Calf Island Boston uninhabited state park ruins / Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Calf Islands Boston uninhabited state park ruins / compilation of islands / Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Canary Island Hatfield uninhabited heavily forested
Canoe Rock Westport Bristol uninhabited barren minor rock
Cape Cod Barnstable Barnstable inhabited thickly settled towns and villages, heavily forested, wetlands forested, minor and major rock
Carr Island Salisbury Essex uninhabited wetland State Wildlife Management Area
Carrick Island Petersham uninhabited forested
Castle Rock Nahant Essex uninhabited barren mid-size rock
Caswell Rock Marblehead Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Cataumet Rock Falmouth uninhabited barren minor rock
Cedar Island Dartmouth uninhabited heavily forested minor island / wetland
Cedar Island Gosnold Dukes uninhabited barren minor island
Cedar Island Wareham uninhabited barren minor island
Cemetery Island Clinton uninhabited heavily forested
Chaces Island Newbury/Newburyport uninhabited barren
Channel Rock Barnstable Barnstable uninhabited barren minor rock
Channel Rock (Nantucket Sound) uninhabited barren minor rock
Chapman Island Petersham uninhabited barren
Chappaquiddick Island Edgartown Dukes inhabited residential area large island
Checkerberry Island Webster Worcester uninhabited barren minor rock
Children's Island Salem Essex inhabited Summer Camp, property of YMCA
Childs Island Medfield uninhabited heavily forested minor island / wetland
Chittenden Rock Cohasset Norfolk uninhabited barren minor rock
Choate Island Essex
Chubb Island Beverly uninhabited barren mid-size rock
Church Rock Barnstable Barnstable uninhabited barren minor rock
Church Rock New Bedford uninhabited barren minor rock
Clapps Island Marion Plymouth uninhabited barren minor island
Clark Island Otis/Tolland uninhabited state forest Tolland State Forest
Clark's Island Plymouth inhabited residential area
Cleveland East Ledge Falmouth location of Cleveland East Ledge Light barren minor rock
Cleveland Island Mashpee Barnstable uninhabited heavily forested minor island
Cleveland Ledge Mattapoisett Plymouth uninhabited barren minor rock
Cobble Island Webster Worcester inhabited residence isolated residence
Coffin Rock Falmouth Barnstable uninhabited barren minor rock
Commissioners Ledge Boston Suffolk uninhabited barren minor rock
Common Island Duxbury uninhabited barren minor island / wetland
Cone Rock Barnstable Barnstable uninhabited barren minor rock
Coney Island Salem Essex abandoned light growth, small salt marsh minor island
Coney Island Rock Salem Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Conspiracy Island Berkley uninhabited light growth minor island
Cooks Island Kingston uninhabited barren minor island
Cormorant Rock Salem Essex uninhabited barren mid-size rock
Cormorant Rock Mattapoisett uninhabited barren has beacon / minor island
Corn Island Essex Essex uninhabited forested minor island / wetland
Corys Island Westport Bristol uninhabited barren
Cove Ledge Manchester-by-the-Sea Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Crescent Island Foxborough Norfolk uninhabited heavily forested minor island
Cross Farm Hill Ipswich Essex uninhabited barren minor island / wetland
Cross Island Essex Essex inhabited residential area wetland / privately owned
Crow Island Fairhaven Bristol inhabited residence minor island
Crow Island Rock Manchester-by-the-Sea Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Crowninshield Island Marblehead Essex abandoned small pine forest Trustees of Reservations property
Cunningham Ledge Boylston uninhabited minor island
Cuttyhunk Island Gosnold Dukes inhabited residential area large island
Dartmouth Rock Dartmouth uninhabited barren minor rock
David Rock Gloucester Essex uninhabited barren
Davids Island Weymouth uninhabited barren minor rock
Davis Neck
Dead Neck Barnstable Barnstable uninhabited barren
Dean Island Essex Essex uninhabited forested minor island / wetland
Decatur Rock New Bedford uninhabited barren minor rock
Deer Island Amesbury inhabited? commercial use? minor island
Deer Island Boston Harbor uninhabited Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Den Hill Island
Devils Foot Island Falmouth uninhabited barren minor island
Devilsfoot Island Medfield uninhabited forested minor island / wetland
Dighton Rock Berkley uninhabited state park minor rock / Dighton Rock State Park / Massachusetts' (official) state explorer rock
Dilly Island Essex Essex uninhabited barren minor island / wetland
Dodge Rock Rockport Essex uninhabited barren minor rock
Dogfish Ledge Westport Bristol uninhabited barren minor rock
Dole Island Newbury uninhabited nat. wildlife refuge minor island / wetland / Parker River National Wildlife Refuge
Dolphin Rock Swampscott uninhabited barren minor rock
Dread Ledge Swampscott uninhabited barren minor rock
Dry Salvages Rockport Essex uninhabited barren compilation of islands
Duck Island Barnstable Barnstable uninhabited barren minor island / wetland
E Island Newton Middlesex uninhabited forested minor island / wetland
Eagle Island Salem Essex uninhabited light growth minor island
Egg Rock Nahant Essex uninhabited very light growth major rock
Elizabeth Island Arlington Middlesex uninhabited forested minor island
Fish Island New Bedford
Fox Island Waltham Middlesex uninhabited forested minor island
Gallops Island Boston Suffolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Gerry Island Marblehead Essex
Georges Island Boston Suffolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Gooseberry Island Salem Essex uninhabited light growth minor island
Governors Island Boston Suffolk
Grape Island Weymouth Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Great Bank
Great Brewster Island Boston Suffolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Great Egg Island
Great Flat
Great Island Wellfleet Barnstable uninhabited Great Island Trail [2]
Great Misery Island Salem Essex uninhabited/abandoned nature preserve (Trustees of Reservations) minor island
Green Island Boston Suffolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Gull Island Gosnold Dukes
Gunning Island Westport Bristol
Hales Island Haverhill
Halfmoon Flat Westport Bristol
Halfway Pond Island Plymouth uninhabited? research natural area (The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts) minor island
Hangman Island Quincy Norfolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Hog Island Essex Essex uninhabited? spruce forest, wetlands location site for The Crucible (1996 film)
Holy Island Ipswich Essex
House Island Manchester-by-the-Sea Essex
Kettle Island Manchester-by-the-Sea Essex
Langlee Island Hingham Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Little Brewster Island Hull Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Little Calf Island Hull Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Little Island
Little Misery Island Salem Essex
Little Quabbin Island
Little Ram Island
Little Salvages
Long Beach Rock
Long Island Boston Suffolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Lovell's Island Boston Suffolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Marblehead Rock uninhabited large rock
Martha's Vineyard Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, West Tisbury Dukes inhabited year round residential/commercial Well-developed summer attraction
Middle Brewster Island Boston Suffolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Middle Ground
Milk Island Rockport Essex
Monomoy Island Chatham
Monohamsett Island
Moon Island Quincy Norfolk uninhabited training facilities Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Morris Island
Mount Zion Island Petersham uninhabited forested in Quabbin Reservoir; access not permitted[3]
Muskeget Island Nantucket Nantucket uninhabited dunes, marsh 2 buildings; inaccessible by most boats
Nantucket Nantucket Nantucket inhabited year round residential, commercial Well-developed tourist attraction
Nashawena Island Gosnold Dukes inhabited year round Privately owned
Naushon Island Gosnold Dukes inhabited year round Privately owned
Newton Island Southborough
Nixes Mate Boston Harbor uninhabited granite rock navigation aid / Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Nomans Land Chilmark
Nonamesset Island Gosnold Dukes
Nut Island Quincy Norfolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Onset Island Wareham
Osterville Grand Island Barnstable Barnstable
Outer Brewster Island Hull Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Palmers Island
Park Island
Parker Hill Island
Pasque Island Gosnold Dukes
Peddocks Island Boston Harbor Suffolk inhabited ruins Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Penikese Island Gosnold Dukes
Pierce Island
Pine Island
Plum Island Newburyport, Newbury, Ipswich, and Rowley Essex inhabited residential, commercial and wildlife sanctuary Plum Island State Park at southern tip
Popes Island
Popponesset Island Mashpee
Prince Head
Raccoon Island Boston Harbor Suffolk uninhabited gravel/rock Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Ragged Island Hingham uninhabited plants/trees Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Rainsford Island Boston Suffolk Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Ram Island Salisbury Essex uninhabited wetlands and trees State Wildlife Management Area
Roger Island
Round Island Hull
Sampsons Island Barnstable Barnstable uninhabited scrub pine, oak, sand, marsh Mass. Audubon wildlife sanctuary[4]
Sanford Flat Westport Bristol
Sarah Island Hingham Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Sea Ledge
Seal Island Mattapoisett
Seal Island Newbury
Seymour Island Plymouth (in Billington Sea) uninhabited? forested minor island
Shag Rocks Boston Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Sheep Island[5] Weymouth Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Sipson Island Orleans inhabited Pleasant Bay, Cape Cod, private
Sipson Meadow
Slate Island[6] Weymouth Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Snake Island Winthrop Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Southworth Island Petersham
Spectacle Island Boston Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Spinnaker Island Hull
Stall Hill Island Taunton
Stevens Island Petersham
Straitsmouth Island Rockport Essex location of Straitsmouth Island Light
Strong Island Chatham
Tenpound Island Gloucester Essex
Tern Island Chatham
Thacher Island Rockport Essex
The Graves unincorporated area inhabited barren major rock / privately owned / aid to navigation / Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Thimble Island Boston uninhabited barren Rock outcrop in the Dorchester Bay is the middle shaft of the old sewer tunnel under Dorchester Bay between Moon Island and Columbia Point[7]
Thompson Island Boston uninhabited, used by Outward Bound forested, marshland Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Tilden Island Marshfield Plymouth
Tinker's Island Salem Essex inhabited sparse growth
Tobys Island Bourne Barnstable
Tuckernuck Island Nantucket yes, summer scrub oak/heath ~35 houses, no roads or electricity
Uncatena Island Gosnold Dukes
Veckatimest Island Gosnold
Walker Hill Island Hardwick
Washburn Island Falmouth Barnstable
Weepecket Islands Gosnold Dukes
West Island Fairhaven Bristol
Whites Flat Westport Bristol
Wickets Island Wareham
Woodbridge Island Newburyport

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Bass Rock is federally recognized and is designated as an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, referenced in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which is developed by the USGS in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN), according to the USGS website. Bass Rock's designated number on the GNIS is either #617550 Archived 2005-12-10 at the Wayback Machine, #613293, or #614043 .
  2. ^ Great Island Trail, National Park Service
  3. ^ "Quabbin Reservoir Watershed System" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  4. ^ "Sampsons Island Wildlife Sanctuary".
  5. ^ Island Facts: Sheep Island - Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)
  6. ^ Island Facts: Slate Island - Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)
  7. ^ "Moon Island and the Old Boston Drainage System". Boston Harbor Beacon. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
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