Isles Of Shoals

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 "Smiths 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 end of the mid - 1800s, new hotels attracted a summer colony of writers and artists, chief of whom was Celia Thaxter (1835-1984). The islands have supported religious conferences since 1897 and marine research since 1928.