Thompson Island, Massachusetts
| Thompson Island | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Waters | Boston Harbor | |
| Geographical location | 42 ° 18 '54 " N , 71 ° 0' 37" W | |
|
||
| surface | 69 hectares | |
| Highest elevation |
Drumlin 24 m |
|
Thompson Island is an island in Boston Harbor in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . Located approximately 4 mi (6 km ) off the coast of downtown Boston , it is managed by the non-profit Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center . The island is open to visitors on Sundays in summer and otherwise only accessible by prior arrangement. The island is part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area .
The island is approximately 170 acres (0.69 km² ) in size. The highest point is a drumlin at 78 ft (24 m ) above sea level . Otherwise there are smaller hills and a salt marsh on the island . The soil is mixed vegetation covered, including hardwood , remains of pears - and apples orchards , ornamental trees and -hecken, open pastures , Rhus - groves , salt marsh grasses and lawns. There is also a soccer field .
history
In 1626, ie four years before the first Puritans reached the ostamerikanische coast, opened David Thompson a trading post for trade with the Neponset - Indians on the island that now bears his name. Thompson was a Scot who oversaw the settlement activities of Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason near Portsmouth , New Hampshire . In the following two centuries, the island was leased to various families for farming .
Boys School (1833-1975)
In 1833 the Boston Asylum for Indigent Boys moved to the island and merged with the Boston Farm School Society to form the Boston Farm and Trade School in 1835 . In 1956, the name was changed to Thompson Academy , which specialized as a boarding school to prepare its exclusively male students from the Boston area for college and at the same time continued the traditions . During very turbulent times, the school was a model for a successful integration policy based on friendship and brotherhood . Several hundred boys from all walks of life attended the school each year from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. They took it to the leagues of private schools in part, participated in important municipal service projects in Boston, kept links with local colleges and universities and helped to preserve the island and the school building in good condition. The boys and their teachers regularly used the Pilgrim III and its successor Pilgrim IV boats to get from the island to the city and back.
In 1971 a fire destroyed the main building of the school, which continued to operate for four years and then had to close. Many Thompson Academy graduates later studied at prestigious colleges and universities in the United States and abroad.
Outward Bound (1994-present)
In the early 1990s, David Manzo , John Verre , Edward F. Kelley, and Peter Willauer developed a comprehensive program called Citybound to treat adults with disorders of their emotions or behavior on Thompson Island.
The Willauer School , an outward bound school, was active from 1994 to 2006. Today the Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center owns the island and operates a variety of Outward Bound programs that bring over 5,000 students and 3,000 adults to the island annually. The programs are funded by donations and income from the Thompson Island Conference Center .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Explore Thompson Island. (No longer available online.) In: Boston Harbor Islands. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012 ; accessed on January 8, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Don Aucoin: FOR LIVES IN TURMOIL, AN ISLAND OF CALM. In: Boston Globe . April 30, 1990, accessed January 8, 2012 (English, paid article).
Web links
- Official website of Thompson Island
- Thompson Island in the Boston Harbor Islands Visitor's Guide
- Thompson's Island Collection. Records, 1814-1990 (Bulk, 1814-1977). In: Joseph P. Healey Library, University of Massachusetts Boston . Retrieved January 8, 2012 .