Boston Harbor Islands Camping, I (Lovells)
THIS ENTRY, WRITTEN ON 19 July 2024, IS AN ANNIVERSARY REPOSTING OF AN EVENT THAT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN 17-19 July 2016. ONLY A FEW PICTURES WERE ABLE TO BE RECOVERED FROM OLD COMPUTERS, GOOGLE DRIVE, FACEBOOK, ETC. AND THEY ARE MOSTLY LACKING IN DESCRIPTIVE CONTEXT. WE WILL TRY TO RECALL WHAT HAPPENED, BUT PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR MEMORIES AREN’T AS GOOD AS THEY USED TO BE.
Harbor Islands Ferry
8:00 AM, Sunday, 17 July 2016
Fort Warren at George’s Island
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM, Sunday, 17 July 2016The ferry loops from Boston to Hull and stops at most the the public islands in the harbor. We had to get off the larger boat and wait for a smaller ferry to take us the quarter-mile over to Lovells. Perfect situation since we would have come over here anyway.
My mother took me to visit Fort Warren, presumably when I was about twelve years old. I can be seen wearing a Tower School tee-shirt. I never went to school there, but had one because of my God-Mother’s affiliation with it.
There is a lot of ‘history’ everywhere you look around Boston, but personally, I take great pride that my second-great-grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Parker, saw combat during the Civil War, and was discharged from service on nearby Gallops Island.
Notes on the pictures in order as they were described on my Facebook post, Spirit of Massachusetts:
“The western entrance to the fort. A sally-port can be seen in the far right.”
“Just getting started. The original passage was through a draw bridge as the rope-wheels can be seen in the wall.”
“Seeing over the ramparts, unnecessary”
“A walk along the many, many turret positions.”
“Then-and-Now photo (1985-2016): The tower my mother took the original photo from is now in disrepair and closed off. And I wasn’t posing, that just seems to be what I look like when I stop walking.”
“The well protected “Narrows Channel” between the fort on Georges Island and Lovells Island was the only serviceable passage for ocean going ships for hundreds of years.”
“The spirit of what’s old and what’s new. Vintage civil war era equipment and rules.”
“The belly of the beast. Actually, you need a flashlight to explore most of the fort. Scary as hell.”
“Play on an artillery shell or chill, something for everyone.”
“Then-and-Now photo (1985-2016): The cannon was apparently in the way of the ball field”
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“It was probably 1000 degrees. How was this shaded gazebo not being fought over?”
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“$10 Classic Steak & Cheese …add cheese $1.50 …LOL”
The trip my mother took me to Fort Warren when I was twelve was not my first time. I’m not sure on what occasion it was, but I was young, and I remember spitting on this Confederate marker and my mother chastising me for it. She did so, not for any love of those traitors but out of public decency. I despise the ‘recent’ vandalism/destruction of memorials of any type. Also, interestingly in 2016 it seems to be in a different location than when I was a child.
“The Commonwealth’s only Confederate memorial, a headstone which commemorates 13 southern soldiers who died while imprisoned during the Civil War at the fort was housed on the island until 2017. The headstone marker was installed in 1963 by the Boston Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Governor Charlie Baker called for the removal of the memorial in June 2017. The state subsequently covered over and removed the monument in October 2017 and stored it in the Massachusetts State Archives.”
Lovells Island
1:00 PM, Sunday, 17 July 2016
The only thing to know about Lovells Island is that you have to bring in your own fresh water. The walk from the dock to the site we chose was about a third-mile and the five-gallon heavy duty ‘military style’ water container we brought weighed a little over 40 lbs. Even though we had a cooler with wheels and a beach cart, I chose to carry the water to not risk breaking them. Thank God that was before I realized I had high blood-pressure or it may have been a tough.
The campsite has to booked through Reserve America and we took the second to the last along the beach. I no longer remember the number, the image is too blurry, and you can’t find it on the website because since the covid pandemic the DCR has not yet [2024] opened up any island except for Paddocks.
If it is ever allowed again, we’ll take the same location. It was a perfect spot, nicely sheltered enough for privacy.
The Site
Night Life
Another Walk at Lovells Island
Morning, Monday, 18 July 2016
Beach
Afternoon, Sunday, 17 July 2016The west side of the island has a sandier shoreline than the rocky east, so we went for a swim there.
Lover’s Rock
3:00 PM, Sunday, 17 July 2016On top of the cliffs above the western side of the island, Lover’s Rock was the ‘shelter’ for Miss Sylvia Knapp and her fiancé when they were shipwrecked during a Blizzard in the winter of 1786. This is only known because they were found there in one-another’s embrace.
Unfortunately, according to Atlas Obscura’s article, Lover’s Rock of Lovells Island, reports that the rock eroded off the cliff in the winter of 2024. This news is completely devastating to me; I am so sad. It was a special spot where people could remember those they never knew. Without their rock, they very well may be lost.
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"A sloop, engaged in coasting between Damariscotta and Boston, Capt. John Askins, master, was driven on Lovell's island in Boston harbor. There were thirteen persons on board, twelve men and one woman, all of whom perished. Their bodies were found, and on the Thursday following brought up to town. Besides the captain, the persons lost were John Adams (or Adamson) of Medfield, two young men by the name of Cowell, a Mr. Grout of Sherburne, Samuel Ham of Durham, N. H., Miss Sylvia Knapp of Mansfield, Henry Read of Boothbay, Joseph Robeshaw of Wrentham, two men by the name of Rockwood, Capt. Oliver Rouse and a sailor belonging in Nova Scotia, whose name is unknown. All the bodies were soon found except those of Captain Rouse and John Adams, which were not discovered until the second day of January, more than three weeks after the disaster, when they were dug out of the snow and brought up to the town. Adams was buried the same day, under the direction of the coroner. Captain Rouse had been an officer in the American army in the revolution, and his body was conveyed to the house of his friend John McLane, on Newbury street, whence the interment took place on the evening of Sunday, the next day. The next year the Massachusetts Humane Society erected On this island a small house for the relief of shipwrecked mariners. It stood on the northwest side of the island, about sixty rods from the shore."
Source: Colonial Sense, 1786 Snow Storms (https://www.colonialsense.com : accessed 19 July 2024) Society Lifestyle > Signs of the Times > New England Weather.
Looking Up
Evening, Sunday, 17 July 2016We were already relaxing at the tent when there seemed to be something in the air, and the Coast Guard boats were noticeably more active than usual. A check of the radar told us we could be in for some weather. A thunderstorm did roll past us, but left as quick as it came, no worse for wear. Some others may not have fared so well, but not our circus.
The day continued, we had a great time grilling steak on the beach, and watched another beautiful sunset!
I created a YouTube video at the time that has been waiting in the unpublished section of my channel, now is as good a time as ever… I present, Batten Down the Hatches.
Bon Voyage
Tuesday, 19 July 2016
