Smuttynose Island

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Smuttynose Island (formerly "Smutty-nose") is one of the Isles of Shoals, located six miles off the coast of New Hampshire but actually in the state of Maine. It was named by fishermen, seeing the island at sea level and noticing how the profuse seaweed at one end looked like the "smutty nose" of some vast sea animal.

The island is best known for the murders which occurred there. On 6 March 1873, two Norwegian women, Karen and Anethe Christensen, were strangled and one struck with a hatchet. A third woman, Maren Hontvet, escaped and hid on the island at a place now called "Maren's Rock." Maren, the only witness to the murders, identified a German fisherman, Louis Wagner, as the killer. Wagner was tried, convicted and, although he maintained his innocence, was hanged. Despite an airtight case, so vehement was his denial that people long believed he was innocent. [1] The story of the murders was told by Celia Thaxter in her account A Memorable Murder [2] and in the novel by Anita Shreve, The Weight of Water.

Smuttynose Island is also the source of the name of the Smuttynose Brewing Company of Portsmouth, NH.