2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series


Great Brewster
Island

Bumpkin
Island

 Peddock’s
Island

Grape Island

Rainsford
Island

WATD’s Dave Skill takes you on a tour of the Boston Harbor Islands.
He calls them the hidden shores in our own backyard.

Email Dave Skill at DSkill@959watd.com

Great Brewster Island

AUDIO

Part 1 – Great Brewster Island – 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 2 – Great Brewster Island – 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 3 – Great Brewster Island – 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 4 – Great Brewster Island – 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

PHOTOS

Welcome to Great Brewster Island
Our guide, author Stephanie Schorow, tells visitors the history of Great Brewster Island
Beautiful flowers growing wild on Great Brewster Island
Suzanne from The Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands explains more of the Islands history
Plants grow wild on Great Brewster Island giving it the same look as in Colonial days
Part of the seawall on Great Brewster Island
A view of the water on a foggy day on Great Brewster Island
The saltmarsh on Great Brewster Island dries up in the summer months
A view of the highest point in the Boston Harbor Islands




One of the spits from Great Brewster Island approaches Little Brewster Island, home to Boston Light.
Blocks of granite that used to be part of the seawall on Great Brewster Island
Granite blocks that were torn away from the seawall on Great Brewster Island by the fury of Mother Nature
Great Brewster Island was used by the military to protect Boston Harbor with bunkers like this
A bird keeps watch over Great Brewster Island
      

 

Bumpkin Island

AUDIO

Part 1 – Bumpkin Island – 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 2 - Bumpkin Island – 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 3 – Bumpkin Island – 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

PHOTOS

During our boat ride to Bumpkin Island, we passed by Peddocks Island. The pier on Peddocks Island was used in the opening scene of the 2010 movie “Shutter Island”.

Our trip to Bumpkin Island began at the Fox Point Dock at UMass Boston on the Umass Boston vessel M/V Columbia Point. We were going to the island as part of a course sponsored by OLLI – the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UMass Boston.
A view of Spinnaker Island in the distance from Bumpkin Island. Spinnaker Island was formerly called, among other names, Hog Island and was used as a Nike missile site during the 1950′s.
Our tour guide, Nathan Robbins, describes what’s left of The Burrage Hospital, which opened in 1902, and took care of poor chidren from Boston who had physical disabiliti​es. The hospital treated many crippled and deformed children.
Visitors learn about the Islands history from Department of Conservati​on and Recreation Ranger Nathan Morris
Remnants of a Dining Facility( Mess Hall) on Bumpkin Island Used by the U.S. Government During World War I
One of the visitors ro Bumpkin Island from the OLLI program decides to take a dip in the water along the spit on Bumpkin Island.
On the North Side of Bumpkin Island, we find the shell of an old stone farmhouse
Another View of the Old Stone Farmhouse on Bumpkin Island
A view of Bumpkin Island from the M/V Columbia Point
Approachin​g Bumpkin Island on the M/V Columbia Point
The ruins of the Burrage Hospital on Bumpkin Island. The hospital was built with yellow bricks, terra cotta and limestone and had a green slate roof.

Grape Island

AUDIO

Part 1 – Grape Island - 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 2 - Grape Island - 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 3 – Grape Island- 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

PHOTOS

A view from Grape Island of the Windmill Near the Hull Landfill
Another View of the Remains of a Farmhouse Built on Grape Island During the 19th Century
This Foundation Was Part of a Farmhouse Built During the Early 19th Century

Approachin​g Grape Island by Boat from UMass Boston




An Old Willow Tree on Grape Island
Slate Island is Directly Across the Channel From Grape Island
A View of the Spit on Grape Island at High Tide
One of the Beautful Flowering Trees on Grape Island
Few Grapes are on Grape Island today; but There is a Grape Arbor
The Pier at Grape Island
The Grape Arbor and the Picnic Benches Are an Ideal Spot to Take a Break During a Tour of Grape Island.


Rainsford Island

AUDIO

Part 1 – Rainsford Island  - 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 2 - Rainsford Island  - 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 3 – Rainsford Island- 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

PHOTOS

Some of the oldest lilac bushes in the region can be found on Rainsford Island
A view of one of the drumlins on Rainsford Island
Part of the ruins of the ” Grecian Temple” on Rainsford Island
More ruins of the “Grecian Temple”
A view of the ruins of the “Grecian Temple” and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance
Some of the remaining ruins of the “Grecian Temple” hidden behind overgrown trees and branches
This little Island – just off Rainsford Island – was home to Portuguese Joe who was famous for lobsters and whiskey
Rainsford Island Historian Elizabeth Carella relates the stories of the island to visitors who arrived by ferry
The view, in the distance, of Moon Island (left) and Long Island (right) connected by a bridge seriously in need of repair
The view from above of the remains of a seawall on Rainsford Island that took a continual beating from Mother Nature
A view from Rainsford Island of the”eggs” that process sewage at the Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant in Winthrop
Erosion continues to take its toll on Rainsford Island

 


Peddocks Island

AUDIO

Part 1 – Peddocks Island  - 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 2 - Peddocks Island  - 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 3 – Peddocks Island- 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

Part 4 – Peddocks Island- 2011 Boston Harbor Islands Series

PHOTOS

Department of Conservation and Recreation Rangers Nathan Robbins and Colleen DelVecchio await visitors to Peddocks Island
This is all that’s left of the administration building for Fort Andrews on Peddocks Island
Enlisted soldiers lived in barracks like these at Fort Andrews on Peddocks Island
Barracks like this were used in the movie “Shutter Island”, that’s based on a novel by local author Dennis Lehane. In the movie, the windows were not boarded up. This building, like others on Peddocks Island, is currently being restored
Department of Conservation and Recreation Ranger Nathan Robbins gives visitors to Peddocks Island a guided tour One of the paved roads on Peddocks Island that were part of Fort Andrews The fire station at Fort Andrews Battery Cushing was one of two artillery batteries at Fort Andrews
Part of an artillery battery at Fort Andrews. During wartime, the trees we see today were not there, thus providing a clear path and shot to the harbor

 The Quartermaster’s building at Fort Andrews
  
Officers at Fort Andrews lived in quarters like this		 One of the artillery batteries at Fort Andrews where guns, mortars, rockets and missiles were located to facilitate battlefield communication and command and control
The church on Peddocks Island was used for religious services for the soldiers serving at Fort Andrews This style of wooden shurch was typical of churches on many military bases, but it is believed to be the only one still standing in the nation Several dozen “cottagers” – both seasonal and year-round – live on Peddocks Island where there is no electricity or running water. Cottagers use “green technology” like solar panels for their daily existence on the island One of the beaches on Peddocks Island. It’s like having your own private beach
The pier on Peddocks Island with Hull in the background. The pier on Peddocks Island was used in the movie “Shutter Island” The wind turbine in Hull near Hull High School A view of the mainland as two birds stand watch over Peddocks Island
Rangers Nathan Robbins and Colleen DelVecchio were my tour guides and wished me well as I headed home on the inter-island ferry to Hewitts Cove in Hingham
      

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