The nonprofit Star Island Corporation has received two separate grants of $10,000 in support of preservation work being done this year on the circa-1800 Gosport Chapel, one of the iconic buildings located on Star Island and visited by thousands each summer.
Star Island received a $10,000 grant from the 1772 Foundation in cooperation with the NH Preservation Alliance. A separate $10,000 grant for this project was provided by the Cogswell Benevolent Trust. The grants will help pay for work on the exterior of the 222-year-old chapel.
Peter Squires, Star Island’s director of development, said, “We are grateful to these funders for their tremendous support of the island and the important work of preserving its historic facilities. Gosport Chapel is a simple, stone meeting house built in 1800 on the highest point of Star Island. Gifts like these ensure that Star Island’s most prominent structures will continue to be used and enjoyed by visitors each year.”
Star Island is set to open for the season in mid-June with a full schedule of programs and conferences open to all.
Overnight stays at the Oceanic Hotel range from a couple of days to a week, and programs there focus on arts, history, international affairs, yoga, spirituality, music, writing workshops, birding, and ecology. Pricing is all inclusive and many of the conferences in July and August are intergenerational family camps associated with the Unitarian Universalist Church and United Church of Christ. Programming runs from June through September and registration is required. Overnight guests at the Oceanic Hotel are welcome to participate as much or as little as they desire in scheduled island activities and programs. Visit StarIsland.org for details.
Day visitors who travel by ferry can explore the island, but there may be some restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic.
Star Island is owned and operated by the nonprofit Star Island Corporation. It is the second largest of the nine small, rugged islands known as the Isles of Shoals located an hour's boat ride off the coast of NH and Maine. Star Island was originally among the traditional lands and waterways of the Abenaki, Pennacook and other Wabanaki Peoples. In the early 17th century it was established as the township of Gosport. In the 1600s, Star Island was a thriving commercial port that dominated the Atlantic fish market for a century and a half. Several buildings on the island remain from this era. The landmark Oceanic Hotel has welcomed guests since the 1870s and is one of the last of the original Grand Hotels in New England. About 15,000 visitors tour or stay on Star each year. Star Island is considered a model of environmental sustainability with a cutting edge waste treatment facility and one of the largest off grid solar arrays in New England.
Chapel services are a cherished tradition to this day on Star Island. Throughout the summer, at the close of each day, visitors gather at the foot of the hill and form a procession, carrying lanterns to evening chapel services, just as the Gosport villagers of long ago carried their whale-oil lamps up the same winding path. Inside the chapel, lanterns are hung on brackets from the walls, providing the only source of light. A trip to Star Island is like going back in time, and the iconic chapel is a fitting symbol of the unique experience enjoyed by visitors to the island.
Current Issue - May 2024