List of islands of Massachusetts

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

See also

References

  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, #613293, or #614043.
  2. ↑ http://www.mass.gov/dcr/waterSupply/watershed/maps/quabsystem.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Sampsons/index.php
  4. ↑ Island Facts: Sheep Island - Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)
  5. ↑ Island Facts: Slate Island - Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)