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Cuttyhunk Island is the outermost of the Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts, located between Buzzards Bay to the north and Vineyard Sound to the south. Penikese Island and Nashawena Island are located to the north and east, respectively. The island has a land area of 2.35 km² (0.9065 sq mi, or 580 acres) and a population of 52 persons as of the 2000 census. It is the fourth largest in area of the Elizabeth Islands and home to the majority of the population of the town of Gosnold, Massachusetts. [1] History
Originally named Poocuohhunkkunnah (probably from the Wampanoag for “Point of departure” or “Land’s end”) by the native Wampanoag tribe, this island was renamed by explorer Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602. On March 6, 1602, Gosnold set out aboard the bark The Concord from Falmouth, England to plant a colony in the new world of America. Gosnold and his men landed near Kennebunkport, Maine, then on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Cuttyhunk. After exploring the islands for less than a month, The Concord returned to England. In 1606 the Elizabeth Islands were included by grant of the King to the Council of New England, which dissolved in 1635, after which the islands became the property of Alexander, Earl of Sterling. Sterling sold the islands to Thomas Mayhew in 1641, and in 1663 the Duke of York assumed proprietorship over them. In 1668, Mayhew sold Cuttyhunk to Philip Smith, Peleg Sanford, and Thomas Ward of Newport, Rhode Island. In 1688, Peleg Sanford acquired his partners’ rights in the island, and sold half of it to Ralph Earle of Dartmouth, who immediately sold his property to his son, Ralph Jr., who became the island’s first permanent settler. These men stripped the island of all of its lumber, leaving it bare and wind-swept. In 1693, Peleg Slocum purchased all of the holdings of Cuttyhunk, and became its sole owner. The Slocum family continued to live on Cuttyhunk for the next two hundred years. In 1858, William C.N. Smith, Thomas Nye, and Eben Perry bought Cuttyhunk from Otis Slocum for fifty dollars. In 1864, the town of Gosnold was incorporated, after many unsuccessful attempts. Other Notable Dates:
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