The Isles of Shoals, a rugged archipelago consisting of nine small islands, lie off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine, about ten miles from the mouth of Portsmouth Harbor. The early inhabitants of the Shoals gave some of the islands earthy, descriptive names: Star, Hog and Duck Island. Others were named after people or places: White, Seavey, Lunging (corrupted from Londoner's) and Malaga. Smuttynose Island is thought to have been named such because it resembled the "smutty nose" of neighboring Hog Island; or perhaps it was due to a smutch of black seaweed that covers the rocks at one end. The word Shoals itself refers to schools of fish, rather than rocky reefs.
Although the Shoals were familiar to fishermen from the sixteenth century on, they were first charted by Samuel Champlain in 1605. In 1614, Captain John Smith , explored the Isles of Shoals and named them "Smyths Iles" - after himself. The name didn't stick.
During the next several centuries, the Shoals were occupied primarily by fishermen whose primary product was "dunfish," a type of dried cod. However, during this time, the islands were also a favorite base for some of the most notorious pirates of the era. It is documented that in 1720 Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, took his fifteenth wife to Smuttynose Island for their honeymoon. With the sudden appearance offshore of the British fleet, Mr. Teach fled and left his young bride behind. He never returned, and she remained to live among the inhabitants of the Shoals until her death fifteen years later. It is said that her ghost still haunts the rocky shores of Smuttynose.
In the nineteenth century, several grand seasonal hotels were built on Appledore, Smuttynose and Star Island. The only one that survives, the Oceanic Hotel on Star Island, has served since 1916 as a non-denominational religious retreat and conference center.
The Isles of Shoals were home to Celia Thaxter, who was one of the nineteenth century's most renowned American poets. Although her poetry has slipped into obscurity, her prose account of life on the islands - Among the Isles of Shoals - is still regarded as a classic.
At its peak, the population of the Shoals was several hundred. Today, the human inhabitants are limited to residents of a few houses and the marine research lab on Appledore Island, and visitors and staff at the Star Island retreat.
Today, the Shoals are a popular destination for sport fishermen and tour boats out of Portsmouth Harbor.
Click on Smuttynose Island to find out about Smuttynose Island, including the notorious murders that took place there.
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