400th Anniversary of John Smith's "Discovery" of New Hampshire

This monument is located in Rye Harbor State Park, New Hampshire, 

and the Isles of Shoals are visible just six miles off shore.  

This new monument was dedicated August 14, 2014. 

ISLES OF SHOALS

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About six miles offshore, these nine rocky

islands served Europeans as a fishing station

before the first mainland settlements were made

in 1623.  Capt. John Smith (1580 - 1631) named

the group "Smith's Isles" in 1614.  The codfish

that "shoaled" or schooled there in huge

numbers were a prized delicacy that supported

300 to 600 inhabitants before the revolution.

By the mid-1800s, new hotels attracted a

summer colony of writers and artists, chief of

whom was Celia Thaxter (1835 - 1894).  The

islands have supported religious conferences

since 1897 and marine research since 1928.

2006

MAP FROM CAPT. JOHN SMITH'S 1614 EXPEDITION

ORIGINS OF NEW ENGLAND

John Smith's map and widely read book

"A Description of New England"

detailed the region's teeming fishing

banks, abundant game, clean rivers,

vast forests and native people.  The book

had a major influence in the subsequent

wave of English migration to these

shores.  The map guided the Pilgrims

to "Plimoth" in 1620 and led John

Winthrop to "The River Charles" and

the founding of Boston in 1630

ISLES OF SHOALS

Six miles from this point lie the Isles of

Shoals.  Possibly named for the bountiful

"schools" of fish surround them, the

nine islands were home to a prosperous 

fishing community for over 150 years.

On Star Island, the other obelisks

were erected on anniversaries of 

the 1614 voyage. In 1864 A monument

was build to honor Capt. John Smith, and

in 1914 a 46.5 foot monument was

dedicated to Reverend John Tucke.

COMPASS ROSE

FROM JOHN SMITH'S MAP

JOHN SMITH (1580 - 1631)

In 1614 Captain John Smith, who seven

years earlier was a founder of the 

Jamestown settlement, returned to 

America and explored and mapped the

local coastline from Penobscot Bay

to Cape Cod.  He was the first European

to map the Isles of Shoals, which

he named "Smith's Iles".  While that

name did not endure, with the consent

of King James I, "Admirall" Smith

named this region "New England".

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Copyright (c) 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo