Billingsgate Island facts for kids
Billingsgate Island was once a real island off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, USA. It was also sometimes called Bellingsgate Island. This island was home to a small community of people who fished and hunted whales. It was part of the town of Eastham, Massachusetts. For many years, Billingsgate Island had a lighthouse that helped ships find their way in Cape Cod Bay. Some local historians even call it the "Atlantis of Cape Cod" because it disappeared.
Today, the area is known as Billingsgate Shoal. It is just south of Great Island, near the entrance to Wellfleet Harbor. You can see the shoal from the mainland of Wellfleet at Jeremy Point when the tide is low. When the sandbar is showing, people use it for picnics and to collect shellfish. You can only get there by boat. Many birds, seals, and people who like to fish visit the shoal.
Contents
The Story of Billingsgate Island
How Billingsgate Island Formed
When the first European settlers arrived, they found many fish in Wellfleet Harbor. They named the area Billingsgate, like the famous Billingsgate Fish Market in London. In the 1600s, Billingsgate Island was about 60 acres (240,000 square meters) big. Before it became an island, it was a "point" or a piece of land sticking out, called Billingsgate Point. It was connected to the land to the north. The Mayflower settlers even wrote about this point in their records.
Later, before the 1800s, people dug a ditch between the point and the northern land. Over time, the ocean's tides and waves wore away the land. This erosion turned the point into its own island.
Early People and the Island Community
The Punonakanit people, who were part of the Wampanoag Federation, lived in this area. They lived peacefully with the European settlers. Sadly, the Punonakanit population became much smaller due to illness. It seems they died out in the 1800s.
At its busiest, in the early 1800s, Billingsgate Island had more than thirty homes. It even had its own baseball team!
The Lighthouses of Billingsgate
The first lighthouse on Billingsgate Island was built in 1822. In 1855, a big storm split the island in half. Because of this, a second lighthouse was built in 1858. This new lighthouse was made of brick and had a strong granite base. You can still find some of these foundation stones and scattered bricks on the shoal today.
The Island Disappears
The island kept shrinking because of erosion. The lighthouse itself was flooded in 1873, 1875, and 1882. The person who looked after the lighthouse died in the 1875 flood. In 1888, a long sea wall was built to protect the lighthouse. But the erosion continued very quickly.
In the early 1900s, the last families moved away from Billingsgate Island. Only the lighthouse keeper and a person who guarded the shellfish beds stayed. Many of the houses were floated across the harbor to Wellfleet on rafts. This saved them from being lost to the sea. Some of these houses are still standing today and are called "Billingsgate cottages." The 1858 lighthouse was left empty in 1915. A storm destroyed it in December of that same year. The very last light tower was taken down in 1922.
By the late 1930s or early 1940s, the island had been completely broken apart by the ocean. What is left today is just a sand bar. It is south of Jeremy Point in Wellfleet. You can only see it when the tide is low. It is covered with large granite blocks, a few bricks, and many shells.
Billingsgate in Books
Billingsgate Island has appeared in several books:
- The Disappearing Island (2000) is a children's book by Corinne Demas. It tells about a little girl and her grandmother visiting Billingsgate at low tide.
- The novel Cape Cod (1991) by William Martin features historical characters who lived on Billingsgate in the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s.
- Billingsgate Shoal (1982) is a mystery novel by Rick Boyer. In the story, a fishing boat gets stuck at Billingsgate. A diver sent to check it out dies in a strange way. This book was the first in Boyer's Doc Adams series and won an Edgar Award in 1983.
- Figure Away (1937) is a mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. It is set in a town called Billingsgate on Cape Cod in 1937. The author mentions that the island "had for many years rested beneath the waves of Cape Cod Bay."
Images for kids
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The Billingsgate Island lighthouse, 1895
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Billingsgate Island in 1974
