Monday, January 5, 2015

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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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/400th-anniversary-of-john-smiths.html
Copyright (c) 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

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