Gallops Island
Gallops Island, also known as Gallups Island, is an island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. It is situated between Georges Island and Long Island, and is just over 6 miles (9.7 km) from downtown Boston. The island has a permanent size of 23 acres (93,000 m2), plus an intertidal zone of a further 28 acres (110,000 m2), and is composed of one large drumlin, reaching an elevation of 79 feet (24 m) above sea level. The island has a rocky beach and offers long vistas from the top of its grassy bluffs. Gallops Island is closed until asbestos remediation is completed.[1]
The island is named after John Gallop, one of Boston Harbor's first pilots, who lived on the island. Since then the island has been occupied by a restaurant and inn and a quarantine station. During the Civil War the island was occupied by a military camp housing 3,000 Union soldiers,[2] and during World War II it was occupied by a radio school and a school for bakers and cooks.[1] During World War I, Gallops Island was used as an infirmary for thousands of American soldiers who contracted "Spanish influenza" and pneumonia. Many died every day, to be replaced by new arrivals.
The island contains a collection of ornamental trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants that date back to its earlier uses, with additional trees being planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Photographs from the 1940s show that a tree lined street extended the length of the island. Although the buildings have been demolished, the pathways and foundations still exist and are lined with privet hedges and surrounded by fruit, shade and coniferous trees, including lilacs, mock-orange, snowberry, and forsythia. Also present are self-sown sumac, poplar, poison ivy, and bayberry. The vegetation has been badly damaged in recent years by the island's population of rabbits.[1]
Gallops Island was closed in 2000 due to the presence of asbestos-containing building debris from former military uses. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has determined that the island will be closed to the public until visitors can be welcomed back safely.[3] As of August 2010, it was predicting a re-opening no earlier than 2015, presuming remediation funding could be obtained.[4]
References
- ^ a b c "Gallops Island Factsheet". Boston Harbor Islands Partnership. Archived from the original on 2006-06-27. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
- ^ Large number of Civil War soldier's on Gallop Island
- ^ "Boston Harbor Islands". Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ Harmon, Lawrence (2010-08-15). "Gallops Island: Paradise lost". The Boston Globe.
42°19′34.03″N 70°56′22.30″W / 42.3261194°N 70.9395278°W / 42.3261194; -70.9395278
- v
- t
- e
- Abnecotants Island
- Adams Island
- Amrita Island
- Angelica Rock
- Apple Island
- Averills Island
- Bachelor Island
- Bakers Island
- Bar Rock (Scituate)
- Baret Island
- Barton Island
- Bassetts Island
- Bates Island
- Beaver Island
- Big Pine Island
- Big Quamino Rock
- Billingsgate Island
- Bird Island
- Black Rock
- Blueberry Island
- Boston Ledge
- Brant Island
- Brant Rock
- Bumpkin Island
- Busta Rhymes Island
- Button Island
- Calf Island
- Carrick Island
- Castle Rock
- Cemetery Island
- Chappaquiddick Island
- Children's Island
- Childs Island
- Choate Island
- Chubb Island
- Clark Island
- Clark's Island
- Cleveland Island
- Cobble Island
- Coney Island
- Conspiracy Island
- Cormorant Rock (Marblehead)
- Corn Island
- Cove Ledge
- Crow Island
- Crowninshield Island
- Cuttyhunk Island
- Decatur Rock
- Deer Island (Amesbury)
- Dole Island
- Egg Rock (Concord)
- Egg Rock (Nahant)
- Elizabeth Islands
- Fish Island
- Gallops Island
- Georges Island
- Gooseberry Island
- Governors Island
- Grand Island
- Grape Island (Weymouth)
- Grape Island (Ipswich)
- Great Brewster Island
- Green Island
- Gull Island
- Hales Island
- Hangman Island
- Holy Island
- House Island
- Langlee Island
- Little Brewster Island
- Long Island
- Lovells Island
- Marblehead Rock
- Martha's Vineyard
- Middle Brewster Island
- Misery Islands
- Monomoy Island
- Moon Island
- Muskeget Island
- Nahant
- Nantucket
- Nashawena Island
- Naushon Island
- Nixes Mate
- Noddle's Island
- Nomans Land
- Nonamesset Island
- Nut Island
- Onset Island
- Outer Brewster Island
- Pasque Island
- Peddocks Island
- Penikese Island
- Plum Island
- Popponesset Island
- Popponesset Spit
- Raccoon Island
- Ragged Island
- Rainsford Island
- Sampsons Island
- Sarah Island
- Shag Rocks
- Slate Island
- Snake Island
- Spectacle Island
- Spinnaker Island
- Stall Hill Island
- Tewksbury Rock
- Thacher Island
- The Graves
- Thompson Island
- Three and One-half Fathom Ledge
- Tinker's Island
- Tuckernuck Island
- Uncatena Island
- Veckatimest Island
- Washburn Island
- Weepecket Islands
- West Island
- Wickets Island
- Winter Island
- Cape Ann
- Cape Cod
- Castle Island
- Charles River Peninsula
- Charlestown Neck
- Columbia Point
- Deer Island
- Houghs Neck
- Humarock
- Pemberton Point
- Popponesset Peninsula
- Ram Head
- Rocky Point
- Rose Point
- Salem Neck
- Shawmut Peninsula
- Wings Neck
- World's End
This article about a location in Boston is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e