Out from Marblehead Harbor are many islands, some of which were discussed last week. Moving east, Toms Rocks form a long ledge, visible at low tide. In the 1600s, Tom Moore of Salem got permission to set up fish flakes on Marblehead Neck, where he had a fish-salting-and-drying operation. At some point on his way back and forth, he smashed up against these rocks and was drowned. This was memorable enough to name the rocks after him.

A quarter mile beyond Marblehead Light is Marblehead Rock. It is two islets, connected at low water. It is unoccupied, home to seabirds only. The islands called rocks are mostly that: not large enough to ever have been inhabited. Moving east, Halfway Rock is half way between Cape Ann and Boston. It is impressive, three miles out in the Atlantic Ocean and 40 feet high. It was the custom for out-going fishermen and sailors to throw coins at Halfway Rock to insure good luck and a safe return. It also attracted boys who wanted to retrieve those coins, although this was discouraged because it was dangerous, and it might undo the sailors luck.

Cat Island, or Childrens Island, has been discussed before, but to summarize briefly: In 1633, the island was owned by a tailor from Salem named Richard Cotta. The island takes its name from him. It was the location of a controversial and ill-fated smallpox hospital just before the American Revolution. In the 19th century, a hotel was built on the island that became so popular with summer visitors from Lowell that the island was called Lowells Island for a time. When the hotel failed, part of the remaining structure was used to build childrens tuberculosis hospital and sanitarium, and that is when it became Childrens Island. The hospital remained until 1946. Childrens Island is now home the a summer day camp run by the Lynch-van Otterloo YMCA.

Eagle Island is to the northeast. It is surrounded by shoals and covered with shrubbery. It was noted for wild parsnips in the 18th century, though none appear to grow there anymore. The Gooseberries are two small islands southeast of Bakers Island where gooseberry bushes grew. China trade ships out of Salem stopped there to load up on rocks for ballast. The rocks were thrown in the Pearl River in China when the ships were loaded with cargo for the return voyage.

Bakers Island is the largest island off Marblehead at 60 acres. Governor Winthrop called it Bakers Island in 1630, but with no mention of why or who Baker might be. Bakers Island lies directly in the path of all shipping trade, and in the 1770s two lighthouses were erected, one large and one small. They were known affectionately known as Mr. and Mrs.

Further out are both Great and Little Misery islands. Both were used to graze cattle and sheep, which at one time could walk from one island to the other at low tide. The islands were first called Moultons Misery, after Captain Moulton was shipwrecked there.

Great Misery was the site of many Harvard class reunions and the setting for an elaborate turtle-meat dinner given by the East India Marine Society of Salem. Members of this group had to have captained ships that had sailed around both Capes, and they were well known for their parties and celebrations.

In the early 1900s, Great Misery became quite a social place, with lots of summer homes, a tennis court and an airplane landing strip. But its popularity faded in the 1920s, and one of the summer homes was cut in half and moved to Marblehead Neck, where it still stands on Flint Street. A suspicious fire in 1926 burned down all the rest of the houses, and now the islands, owned by the Trustees of the Reservations, are available for day trippers and picnickers, where they can see the stone foundations where the summer colony stood.

Heading back in to Marblehead Harbor, the sailor passes Coney Island, an acre and a half of rocks and grass. Close in to Marblehead Harbor are Gerrys Island and Browns or Crowninshield Island, which have already been discussed. At the east end of Gerrys Island is Jacks Rock, named for the black servant of Marbleheads early 18th-century Parson Barnard, who liked to fish there.

Originally posted here:

MARBLEHEAD 101: The other islands off Marblehead