Raccoon Island

Raccoon Island is located right off the coast of Houghs Neck.

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

Boston Harbor

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

MANAGED BY:

Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation

Raccoon 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. Rev. Joseph Henchey and Tereza Lopes, The Stigmatine North American Province, Volume One: Historical Background and First Foundations, 9, 176, last modified 2014. 
2. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report: Boston Harbor Islands National & State Park, Volume 1: Historical Overview, (Boston: National Park Service, 2017), 190; Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Cultural Landscape Report: Boston Harbor Islands National & State Park, Volume 2: Existing Conditions, (Boston: National Park Service, 2017), 197-199.