Falkner Island (also called Faulkner's Island) is a crescent-shaped island located in Long Island Sound 3 miles (5 km) off Guilford,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The island has been visited by the Native Americans for thousands of years. Its

Quinnipiac Quinnipiac is the English name for the Eansketambawg (meaning "original people"; ''cf.'' Ojibwe: '' Anishinaabeg'' and Blackfoot: ''Niitsítapi''), a Quiripi-speaking Native American nation of the Algonquian family who inhabited the ''Wamp ...

name is "Massancummock", meaning "the place of the great fish hawks". In 1641, Henry Whitfield and the founders of Guilford purchased the island from the

Mohegan The Mohegan are an Algonquian Native American tribe historically based in present-day Connecticut. Today the majority of the people are associated with the Mohegan Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe living on a reservation in the east ...

tribe's

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...

Uncas Uncas () was a ''sachem'' of the Mohegans who made the Mohegans the leading regional Indian tribe in lower Connecticut, through his alliance with the New England colonists against other Indian tribes. Early life and family Uncas was born n ...

, as part of a transaction for the land east of

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

. Purchased by the Stone family in 1715, it remained in the family until it was sold to the government in 1801. The Falkner Island Light was constructed in 1802 and commissioned by President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

. The light is the second oldest in Connecticut and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The lighthouse was automated in 1978, and continues to operate as a navigational aid to the nearby

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following t ...

. The island is part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge and has the fifth-largest colony of nesting roseate terns in the northeastern United States. Much of the island's land mass has been lost to

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

, down to about from its original . The

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

reinforced the eastern boundary to slow the advancing deterioration.

Name origins

The first recorded name of the Falkner Island was coined by the Native Americans. The island name in

was "Massancummock" meaning "the place of the great fish hawks". The Quinnipiac name did not refer to possession, but instead the usage or resources of the island. The identity of the first European explorer is unknown, but it was likely the Dutch explorer

Adrian Block Adriaen (Arjan) Block (c. 1567 – buried April 27, 1627) was a Dutch private trader, privateer, and ship's captain who is best known for exploring the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during four v ...

who sailed through Long Island Sound around 1614. The United States government credits Block as the discoverer. Early English settlers called it "Falcon Island", likely stemming from the Native American name. Helander writes that the island was probably named for the

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

, but the English translation to "Falcon" suggesting the presence of the peregrine falcon was one of "simple ignorance". The island's name on Dutch maps was "Valcken Eylandt". The name later evolved to Faulkner Island, perhaps as a result of the Faulkner family who lived on the island in the 1700s. When the island was transferred to the U.S. government in 1801, the deed states the name as "Faulkners". The

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal govern ...

changed and established "Falkner Island" as its name in 1891. However, the name change is not universally recognized and "popular usage" and the Faulkner's Light Brigade that conserves the island's lighthouse use "Faulkner"; including publications.

History

Falkner Island has been the site of human activity for thousands of years. An archaeological survey performed on the island from 1997-1998 found a quartz projectile point of the Squibnocket triangle variety which dates to 1000-3000 B.C. The study was conducted by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

and the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

as part of the erosion control project; it was required by law under the

National Historic Preservation Act The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 54 U.S.C. 300101 ''et seq.'') is legislation intended to preserve historic and archaeological sites in the United States of America. The act created the National Register of Historic ...

because the island is on the

. The findings were published in the Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut in 2001. In 1994, John P. Menta's ''The History of the Quinnipiac Indians'' identifies Falker Island as the site of ceremonial and religious practices, but that these practices are still unknown. According to Bruchac's ''Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back'' the island was not a permanent settlement, but was likely used for fishing and hunting trips in the summer. European contact occurred in the first half of the 1600s. A map in the possession of Reverend Henry Whitfield from a 1639 deed shows the island and the

name of "Massancummock". In 1641, Whitfield and the founders of Guilford purchased the island from the

tribe's

, as part of a transaction for the land east of

. Uncas acquired the land when he married the daughter of the Hammonassett sachem, Sebequanash. At some point in the 1600s, Andrew Leete was an owner of the island. In 1715, Caleb and Ebenezer Stone purchased the island and it remained in the Stone family until 1801. In 1800, Noah Stone sold it to a distant relative named Medad Stone for $158.34 (). On May 12, 1801, Medad Stone sold the island to the government for $325 (). Joel Helander, a historian, notes that Medad Stone and the government were likely openly communicating about the island. The United States Congress appropriated $6000 in March 1801 for the lighthouse, prior to the government's acquisition of the property. It was inhabited throughout the 1700s through 1976, with the Faulkner family and various lightkeepers of the Falkner Island Light. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, the British forces landed on the island and told the keeper's wife, Thankful Stone, that they had nothing to fear as long as they kept the light burning. Later, the keeper, Solomon Stone, had to put the light out per order of the New London customs inspector. The British threatened to blow up the lighthouse and Stone got an order to relight the lighthouse. In 2008, the generator house for the light was renovated to be a summer house for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service interns who study the endangered roseate terns. The erosion control project was completed, but

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 ...

and

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

greatly reduced the breeding habitat of the terns to just . Erosion threatens the island's very existence, it is believed that it was around eight acres in 1639 before being reduced to 5.70 acres by 1818. By 1987, the total area has fallen to 2.87 acres and it was projected that it could lose another 12 inches each year until the lighthouse crumbles into the sea around 2026.

Falkner Island Light

The Falkner Island Lighthouse was constructed in 1802 and commissioned by President

. The lighthouse has had three keeper's houses throughout its service life, the first erected in 1802 and rebuilt in 1851 and again in 1871. The keeper's house burned in 1976 and the lighthouse was repaired and automated in 1978. The Faulkner's Light Brigade has undertaken the restoration and preservation of the lighthouse since 1991, with the last major restoration work being completed in March 2011. Access to Falkner Island and the light is restricted during the nesting season of the roseate terns, from May to August. The Falkner Island Lighthouse is the second oldest extant lighthouse in Connecticut and is listed on the

Wildlife

In 1985, the island became part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge after it was acquired from the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

. According to the Connecticut Audubon Society, "it currently supports over 95% of the nesting

Common Tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migrator ...

s in Connecticut. It is the site of one of the ten largest Roseate Tern (~45 pairs) colonies in Northeastern North America, and is the only regular nesting location for this federally endangered species in the state." Also living on the island is the

American oystercatcher The American oystercatcher (''Haematopus palliatus''), occasionally called the American pied oystercatcher, is a member of family Haematopodidae. Originally called the "sea pie", it was renamed in 1731 when naturalist Mark Catesby observed the ...

, with one to two breeding pairs noted each year. Although the erosion control project was completed,

and

greatly reduced the breeding habitat of the terns to just . In spring 2014, the dock damaged by Hurricane Sandy was scheduled to be rebuilt.

References

External links

Faulkner Lighthouse Brigade
{{authority control Guilford, Connecticut Coastal islands of Connecticut Long Island Sound Landforms of New Haven County, Connecticut Uninhabited islands of Connecticut