Everything about Deer Island Massachusetts totally explained
Deer Island is part of the
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Although still an island by name, Deer Island has in fact been connected to the mainland since the former
Shirley Gut channel, which once separated the island from the town of
Winthrop, was filled in by a
hurricane in 1938. Today Deer Island is best known as the location of the
Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant, whose 150
foot tall egg-like
sludge digesters are major harbor landmarks.
The island has a permanent size of, plus an
intertidal zone of a further 80 acres. Two-thirds of the island's area is taken up with the waste water plant, which treats sewage from 43 nearby cities and towns, and is the second largest such plant in the
United States. The remainder of the island consists of park land surrounding the treatment plant, and offers walking, jogging, sightseeing, picnicking, and fishing.
It was once leased to
Sir Thomas Temple (1614-1674), a British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia, and said to be a descendent of the renowned
Lady Godiva of
Coventry although this descent was debunked by
E. A. Freeman in the 19th century . Sir Thomas Temple was also the uncle of
John Nelson (1654-1734), a New England trader and statesman, who owned neighboring
Long Island in Boston Harbor which at one time was also known as "Nelson's Island".
Over the years, Deer Island has had several different uses. During
King Philip's War (also known as Metacomet's War) in the 1670s, it was used as a place of
internment. Christian
"Praying Indians" were moved from
Marlborough and
Natick inspite of the efforts of
John Eliot, the minister of
Roxbury, to prevent it. Most went to Deer Island, but at least one colony was sent to Long Island.
During the winter of 1675-76 some 500
American Indians were held on the island and, without adequate food or shelter, many died. In the middle of the 19th century, the island was the landing point for thousands of refugees from the
Irish Potato Famine, many sick and poverty-stricken.
In 1847, a hospital was established to treat incoming immigrants, and during the following two years approximately 4,800 men, women, and children were admitted. Many recovered and went on to new lives, but more than 800 died.
In 1850, an
almshouse was built to house
paupers. It became the
Suffolk County jail and is mentioned in
Sylvia Plath's poem "Point Shirley."
The first sewage treatment plant was constructed on Deer Island in the late 19th century, and expanded in the 1960s. The current plant dates from the 1990s.
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