The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Isles of Shoals

ISLES OF SHOALS, a group of islets in the Atlantic ocean, 10 m. S. E. of Portsmouth, N. H.; pop. in 1850, 131; in 1860, 152; in 1870, 94. Their names are Appledore or Hog island, Haley's or Smutty Nose, Malaga, Cedar, Duck, Gosport or Star, White, Seavey's, and Londoner's. Malaga is permanently connected with Haley's by a breakwater, and at low water Cedar is also connected with Haley's, and Seavey's with White. Star, White, Seavey's, and Londoner's islands form part of Rockingham co., N. H., and constitute the town of Gosport; the others belong to York co., Me. The three largest are Appledore, containing about 400 acres; Star, 150 acres; and Haley's, which with Cedar and Malaga comprises 100 acres. On White island, the western-most except Londoner's, is a lighthouse (lat. 42° 58' N., lon. 70° 37' 20" W.), with a revolving light 87 ft. above sea level, and visible 15 m. The islands consist of rugged ledges, and contain little vegetation. A steamer runs daily from Portsmouth in summer, accommodating the numerous visitors who resort hither to enjoy the sea air and the facilities for boating and fishing. On Appledore there is a large hotel, with the private residence of the proprietors. Star island contained nearly all the inhabitants, and had a church, a school, a monument to Capt. John Smith, erected in 1864, and the ruins of an old fort; but in 1872 a company bought out the inhabitants, and have built a large hotel for the accommodation of summer visitors. Haley's island has a wharf, a public house, and a few buildings. The islands are believed to have been discovered by Champlain in 1605. They were visited by Capt. John Smith in 1614, who called them Smith's islands, but the name was not retained. They were early visited by fishermen, and the fisheries have been the chief support of the inhabitants. During the revolution most of the inhabitants, who for more than a century had numbered from 300 to 400, removed to the mainland. — Mrs. Celia Thaxter, who resides on Appledore, and whose father was for six years keeper of the lighthouse on White island, has published a volume descriptive of the islands (“Among the Isles of Shoals,” Boston, 1873), and a number of poems illustrative of them.