Boston Harbor Islands

Boston Harbor was shaped by various islands and headlands, and together its 34 islands and peninsulas encompass a broad span of the region's cultural and natural history. American Indians sought out the islands for food, ritual, and recreation for thousands of years. Since the 1600s, European newcomers used them for purposes ranging from fishing settlements to harbor defense sites. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, beginning Boston's Emerald Necklace in 1886, observed that the harbor had made the city, while the islands and headlands made the harbor. Each island has its own natural environment, evokes a distinct mood, and tells its own story of the past, yet all share the unusual quality of being both places apart and facets of the city's maritime character. After a determined partnership effort to restore the health of the harbor and reclaim the islands from exploitation, twelve diverse islands became ready for exploring and twenty-two more remained as island wilderness, offering historical landscapes with structures from the 1800s as well as natural refuge close to the city.

Boston, Massachusetts · United States