maintained a store where various goods such as leather, lead 

 pipe, tin, coal, wood, and other items were bought and sold. 

 The store acted also as a labor housing agency. Through efforts 

 of the business manager of the Guano Company, the Old Colony 

 Railroad was persuaded to extend its branch from Monument 

 Beach to Woods Hole. The establishment of well-organized 

 and reliable transportation to Boston was an important factor 

 in the future life of the community. 



The Pacific Guano Works was established by the shipping 

 merchants of Boston who were seeking cargo for the return 

 voyage of their ships (Pacific Guano Company, 1876). The guano 

 deposits of one of the Pacific islands seemed to furnish this 

 opportunity. As soon as the joint stock company was organized 

 in 185 9 with the capital of $1 million, arrangements were made 

 almost immediately by which the newly formed concern came 

 into possession and control of Rowland Island. This island is 

 located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at longitude 177° W., 

 a short distance north of the Equator, about 1, 500 miles true 

 south from Midway Island of the Hawaiian archipelago. At the 

 same time appropriate plant and docking facilities were built 

 at Woods Hole and 33 large sailing ships became available for 

 hauling guano. Unlike the well-known guano islands off the coast 

 of Peru, Howland Island is located in the zone of abundant rainfall. 

 Consequently, the guano deposits of the island were leached of 

 organic components and consisted of highly concentrated phosphate 

 of lime. 



Fertilizer produced by the company was made by restoring 

 the lost organic matter of the phosphate rock by adding the right 

 proportion of organic constituents which were obtained from 

 menhaden, pogy, and other industrial fish which abound in Cape 

 Cod waters. The rock was pulverized and purified by washing; 

 fish brought in by local fishermen were first pressed to extract 

 oil, and the residue digested with sulphuric acid, washed, and 

 dried. Acid was produced locally from sulphur imported from 

 Sicily, and the digestion of fish flesh was carried out in large 

 lead-lined vats. The plant was well equipped with machinery 

 needed for the process and even had a chemical laboratory where 

 chemists made the necessary analyses. Various sheds for storage 

 and drying, barracks for laborers, and a business office completed 

 the facilities. 



When the deposits of phosphate rock on Howland Island were 

 exliausted, the company acquired title to the Greater and Lesser 

 Swan Islands from the U. S. Government. These islands are 

 located in the Caribbean Sea at latitude 17° N. and longitude 83° W. 

 off the coast of Honduras. The islands are only 400 miles from 

 Key West, Florida, and 500 miles from New Orleans. They 

 contained good-quality phosphate rock and being much closer to 

 Woods Hole greatly reduced the voyage time and cost of delivery. 



