History of Penikese Island

Penikese Island entered the historical record in 1602 AD when the English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold and some of his crew visited the island. Before colonial times, the Wampanoag tribe used Penikese for hunting, fishing, and shellfishing.

Ownership changed hands several times before the island was purchased by John Anderson, a wealthy NYC businessman, who used it for vacationing.

In early 1873, Louis Agassiz, the famous Swiss-American naturalist, persuaded Anderson to give him the island and $50,000 to endow a school for natural history where students would study nature instead of books. The school opened in July 1873, initially headed by Louis Agassiz. [1][2][3][4] Following his death in December, his son Alexander Agassiz ran the school. The school was closed following a fire in 1875, but some of the former students opened in 1888 the Marine Biological Laboratory, in nearby Woods Hole. Next, in 1890, Franklin William Hooper established the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island. Then, in 1892, David Starr Jordan, established Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station in California.
 
In 1904, following local opposition to two previously selected sites on the mainland, the state of Massachusetts purchased the island for $25,000 to use as a leprosy hospital to isolate and treat all Massachusetts residents with what we now call Hansen's disease. When opened, the Penikese Island Leper Hospital had five patients. After being open for 16 years, it was closed in 1921 and the thirteen patients were transferred to the federal leprosy hospital in Carville, Louisiana. 

From 1973 to 2011, the Penikese Island School, Inc, operated a non-profit private residential school for troubled boys. The school acted as an alternative to juvenile detention, and earned a reputation for its intimate size, quaint setting, and "choice and natural consequences" philosophy, attracting media attention and countless documentaries about the program. The school's mission served teenage boys who had not recovered in more traditional programs.

From 2012 to 2018, the Penikese Island School acted as stewards of the island and helped to facilitate the important ongoing work of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. In addition, during this period, Penikese Island School provided assistance to third-party non-profit organizations seeking to embrace the healing powers of Penikese Island to deliver youth-focused substance abuse treatment programs.

Today, the Penikese Island School, offers experiential environmental educational programs that deliver programing outside of the classroom with a focus on utilizing the natural island laboratory that is Penikese Island to make subjects interesting and meaningful.

Features
Originally tree covered, at some later time the tree cover was lost, and the island was later used for pasturing sheep. To this day, it remains primarily grass covered, but the island does have one of the largest glacial erratic boulders on Cape Cod.

The Penikese Island wildlife sanctuary with its crystal-clear waters, abundant bird populations, and a sense of quiet solitude remains unlike any other place on Buzzards Bay. 
 
Penikese Island is Owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is responsible for the conservation – including restoration, protection, and management – of fish and wildlife resources for the benefit and enjoyment of the public.

Penikese Island's grassy hills and rocky beaches serve as a critical nesting site for seabirds – particularly gulls and terns, including the endangered Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii). These birds are sensitive to disturbances, which makes remote Penikese Island an excellent place for them to breed.

Learn more about the Buzzards Bay Tern Restoration Project.