Charles Island (Connecticut)
| Charles Island | ||
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| Waters | Long Island Sound ( Atlantic Ocean ) | |
| Geographical location | 41 ° 11 '28.3 " N , 73 ° 3' 18" W | |
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| surface | 5.7 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 15 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
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Charles Island is a now uninhabited island in Long Island Sound off the coast of Milford, Connecticut , USA . The treasure of the pirate William Kidd is said to be hidden there.
geography
The approximately round island has an area of approx. 57,000 m² and is located in Long Island Sound about one kilometer from the beaches of Milford. The highest point of the fairly flat island is about 15 meters above the tide line. When the tide is particularly low , a raffle is open that can be used to reach Charles Island on foot. The island, which is now densely overgrown, is, however, a nature and bird sanctuary and may not be entered from May to September.
history
Early history
The island's first European explorer is Adriaen Block , a Dutch merchant captain who explored and mapped Long Island Sound in November 1613. His notes formed the basis for the earliest map of Connecticut and Rhode Island by the Dutch cartographer Willem Blaeu, published in 1614 . It is debatable whether Charles Island is already marked on it. The map shows several reef rocks or islets lying in the sound between today's New Haven Harbor and the mouth of the Housatonic River , which are drawn under the collective term "Archipelagus".
The island was then part of the tribal area of the Paugussett Indians who lived in western Connecticut. According to tradition, it is said to have served the Sachem Ansantawae as a summer residence.
In 1639 a group of Puritans from nearby New Haven, led by Reverend Peter Prudden, bought a large area at the mouth of the Housatonic River from the Indian tribe and founded the city of Milford. Charles Island was acquired by the farmer Charles Deal, who planted tobacco there with little success . The island is named after him.
After his death in 1685, the island finally fell into the hands of his family members living in England, who, however, cared little about their inheritance. The island went wild.
The Captain Kidd legend
There are numerous myths of pirate buried treasure on the east coast of the United States. One of them, which has stubbornly held its own for over three hundred years, is the story of the pirate William Kidd's gold treasure on Charles Island. In contrast to many other treasure stories that have remained rather indefinite, this one has historically understandable roots.
On January 30, 1698, Kidd and his crew captured the Armenian merchant ship Quedagh Merchant , which was loaded with gold, silver, precious silks and other valuable goods. At the beginning of June 1699 he arrived in Long Island Sound, meanwhile accused of piracy and wanted by the British authorities. A small portion of stolen gold hidden Kidd on the coast of Long Iceland upstream Gardiners Iceland . The treasure was excavated after Kidd's arrest in 1699.
Then Kidd ran at Block Island , where a crew member lived. Then he sailed on to Boston , where the ship - according to contemporary reports fully unloaded - arrived on July 1, 1699. What happened during this passage, and where most of the Quedagh Merchant's precious cargo remained, is still the subject of much speculation. Historical correspondence shows that Kidd was in Milford. The deserted and overgrown Charles Island in front of the harbor entrance of Milford may have been an ideal hiding place for treasure.
In the following centuries, countless soldiers of fortune ransacked the island with no tangible result. The last treasure hunt was in 1992 using ground penetrating radar . Although several promising objects were located, the authorities did not issue excavation permits. The island is now under nature protection and further exploration is prohibited.
Hotel island
In 1835 Major John Harris, a wealthy merchant from nearby New York City , bought the island and built a comfortable two-story mansion with several outbuildings. The terrain was cleared and an ornamental garden was created. In 1853 the Prichard family bought the island and turned the house into a hotel. The complex was soon known as the Ansantawae Hotel as an exclusive address for summer vacation . According to local newspaper advertisements, the island had a large swimming pool fed with sea water, an aquarium with a trained seal that performed tricks, a covered promenade and a well-tended garden with a fountain. There was a ferry service with steam boats that ran several times a day to the surrounding towns on the coast. The reasons why the hotel closed in 1868 can no longer be traced.
fish factory
The next owner was the George W. Miles Company, which built a factory to produce fish oil and fertilizers from fish waste. This led to conflicts with the residents of Milford because of the noise and smell nuisance. A citizens' initiative with more than 300 petitioners was formed and legal proceedings were pending. In 1886 the factory had to close due to financial difficulties.
The American Yacht Club (AYC) , founded by the financier and railroad magnate Jay Gould and some of his wealthy friends in New York, was looking for a suitable plot of land for a marina and a representative clubhouse in 1887 . Charles Island was shortlisted as a location. It is not known why the plans were ultimately not implemented; the location was probably too far from New York City. In any case, the club was located at Milton Point in Rye (New York) , where it is still based today.
Another plan from the early 20th century that was not carried out was the construction of an amusement park on the island, which was to be accessed via the artificially raised and widened tombolo with a narrow-gauge railway.
During the First World War , fear of German submarines spread on the east coast of the USA . The US Coast Guard intended to develop the island into a submarine defense base with searchlights , radio station and a coastal battery . Whatever the reason, the base was never built.
Spiritual center
From 1927 Dominicans from nearby New Haven settled on the deserted island. They set up a spiritual center for lay Catholics, especially for young people, and built an initially wooden, later stone church, small wooden huts for living, farm buildings and several open-air altars . The grand opening was on August 4, 1930. The center was named Aquinas Retreat Center, after St. Thomas Aquinas . On September 21, 1938, the Great New England Hurricane hit Milford and Charles Island. The storm and tidal waves destroyed the buildings erected on the island. The Aquinas Retreat Center was abandoned. Some remains of the stone buildings and foundation walls can still be seen today.
Nature reserve
After the Second World War , Charles Island was owned by the United Illuminating energy company. He intended to build a nuclear power station there in the 1950s , but the plans were not carried out. The state of Connecticut acquired the island in 1981 and declared it a nature reserve in 1995. Breed on the now-lush island blue herons , egrets , snowy egret , night heron and the belonging to the Ibisvögeln brown glossy ibis in key populations.
Picture gallery
The raffle, with Milford's Walnut Beach in the background
Bank zone overgrown with sedges
North bank
Forest in the interior of the island
Literature and Sources
Extensive source material (newspaper clippings and advertisements, posters, photos) is available in the Public Library in Milford, Connecticut . The history of Charles Island is in the book by
- Michael C. Dooling: An Historical Account of Charles Island, Carrollton Press, Ohio, 2006, ISBN 0-9627424-1-4
summarized.
The youth book by
- Kathleen M. Schurman: Kidd's Kidds, Authorhouse Verlag, Bloomington (Indiana), ISBN 1420803492
depicts the exciting search of a gang of children for the treasure of William Kidd on Charles Island in a novel-like manner.
Individual evidence
- ^ New Haven Register, September 15, 1992: No Kidding: Island Holds Gold, Treasure Hunter Insists .
- ^ The Hartford Courant, March 31, 1917: To Fortify Charles Island
- ^ Michael C. Dooling: Milford - Lost and Found . The Carrollton Press, Middlebury CT 2009, p. 72, ISBN 978-0-9627424-2-2