Charles Island

Charles Island is in Milford, CT about a mile off the Silver Sands State Beach. It is a very popular area for people to walk out on the sand bar in the summer during limited hours when the tide is low enough. The walk is about a mile and is very beautiful on a nice sunny day. The island is clear to see from Silver Sands State Beach year round as well.

Charles Island was once called "Poquahaug" meaning "cleared out" by the Paugussett Tribe. Later, it would be known as "Milford Island". It is said that at this island, there is buried treasure. It was said to be put there by Captain Kidd, a pirate who traveled with his other companions and landed in Milford where he laid his treasure. No one today has found it and in his honor, there is a "Pirate's Festival" every year in Milford to "hunt for buried treasure" around the town.

In the early 1850s, Elizur E. Pritchard, a businessman from CT, bought the island and created it as a summer resort with cherry trees and other greenery. He passed in 1860 where his daughter ended up taking over the resort and kept it running. Unfortunately, after the Civil War, there was very little excitement at the resort and it ended up closing. A fertilizer moved in and quickly had to close as well because so many people com-pained about the sell from the mainland. It also served as a tobacco plantation in 1657, and a Catholic men's retreat center in the 1920s and 1930s. Since everything failed, there are only tiny remains of the retreat center.

The state gained access of it in 1960 and is run by the Department of Energy and Environment Protection. Unfortunately, when the tide is too high, it is very dangerous and some people have drowned trying to go look for the buried treasure or see the island in general, which made the state gain access. It is a bird sanctuary today, and although people can go out and look at the island, people are not allowed to go onto the actual property. It is one of the state's largest remaining breeding colonies of heron and egret. The National Audubon Society provides nesting habitat for rare bird species as well, including snowy egret, long-eared owl, and least tern.

Finlay , Nancy. A Good Spot and a Healthy Place: A Short History of Charles Island , Connecticut History . February 19th 2020. Accessed December 12th 2021. https://connecticuthistory.org/a-good-spot-and-a-healthy-place-a-short-history-of-charles-island/.

About Milford , City of Milford Connecticut . Accessed December 12th 2021. https://www.ci.milford.ct.us/home/pages/about-milford.

Charles Island , Long Island Sound Study . Accessed December 12th 2021. https://longislandsoundstudy.net/2012/07/charles-island-milford-point/.