Racoon Island sits just off Hough’s Neck in the Hingham Bay. The island is about eight miles away from Downtown Boston and only has about four upland acres. Like other islands in the harbor, local indigenous people likely used the island seasonally for thousands of years before colonization.
Little is known about the history of Raccoon Island, which has also been referred to as “Sun Island." The origins of both names are unknown. According to some accounts, Bostonians used the island for recreational hangouts and camping in the 1880s. In the mid twentieth century, a Catholic Stigmatine order purchased the island, and ran a summer camp for boys.1 Connected to the Apostolic School in Waltham, the camp followed Catholic teachings. No buildings remain on the island, though the foundations of a house exist.
Today, the island is owned and operated by The Massachusetts Department Conservation and Recreation.2
Footnotes
1. The Stigmatine North American Province, : Historical Background and foundations, Last modified 2014,9,176.
2. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report: Boston Harbor Islands National & State Park,, (Boston: National Park Service, 2017), 190; Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report: Boston Harbor Islands National & State Park,, (Boston: National Park Service, 2017), 197-199.
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service