Island's Storied Past

Children's Island has been home to a popular YMCA summer camp for kids for 55 years. But the site has an incredible history. It was first known as Catt Island, named after a Salem tailor who grazed his sheep there in the 1600s.

At the height of a small pox outbreak in the 1770s, Essex Hospital -- an inoculation site -- was built on the island. During the Revolutionary War, British soldiers reportedly cut down trees on the island so they could get a better view of Marblehead Harbor. To this day, the island has very few trees.

A resort hotel catering to mill workers opened on the island in the 1850s. The Lowell Island House boasted 100 rooms and a huge dining area. It remained open for about 30 years and was later converted into the Children's Island Sanitarium for sick and handicapped children.  That hospital closed in 1946.

The island lay unused until 1955 when the YMCA bought the island for $12,000 and opened its summer camp. It has been welcoming children from around the North Shore and beyond ever since.