-16- 



began digging vats in the peaty sod in what is now Stage 

 Island Pool. A large ditch was dug around the vats and a 

 dike was constructed across Bar Head Creek to Stage Island. 

 Water was pumped by six windmills into the vats where it was 

 evaporated by the heat of the summer sun. As the water 

 evaporated the salt crystals would accumulate on the sides 

 of the vats. This operation had a considerable impact on 

 the area, for besides the windmills, dikes, and vats, gravel 

 was hauled from Bar Head to build a seawall to protect the 

 vats from unusually high tides. This venture was extremely 

 short-lived, for operations ceased during the summer of 

 1830. 



Another more profitable enterprise which had somewhat 

 less impact on the island was the digging of sand from Sandy 

 Point for use in making cement (Waters, 1918; Kilborn, 

 personal communication) . Boats would be grounded at low 

 tide, the crew would then quickly fill their ship with sand 

 using wheel-barrows and be completely loaded before the next 

 high tide (Waters, 1918). According to Kilborn (personal 

 communication) , four generations of Doles sold sand from 

 Sandy Point receiving at one point $33 for 350 tons. 



In addition there were other smaller impacts on the 

 vegetation, including the occasional burning of the salt 

 marsh grass and the beach grass on the dunes. Also, the 

 cranberries which grow in the wet hollows between the dunes 

 were harvested and sold commercially, and the beach plums 

 which abound on the island were picked by residents from all 

 the surrounding towns (Kilborn, personal communication). 



Through the joint efforts of the Federation of Bird 

 Clubs of New England and the Massachusetts Audubon Society, 

 approximately 1,200 acres (480 ha) at the southern end of 

 the island were purchased between 1930 and 1936 to form the 

 Annie Brown Wildlife Sanctuary (Griscom, 1955) . The 

 sanctuary was established to protect the many birds that 

 frequented the island, for this was a very popular hunting 

 area. But according to Griscom (1955), even after the 

 establishment of the sanctuary it was difficult to 

 completely eliminate hunting in the area. The creation of 

 the Annie Brown Wildlife Sanctuary proved to be an important 

 step in the preservation of the southern portion of the 

 island . 



In 1942 the United States Government acquired the land 

 included in the Annie Brown Wildlife Sanctuary to form the 

 Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Muck, 1945). With 

 the acquisition of an additional 3,050 acres (1,220 ha) on 

 both the island and the mainland, the refuge has grown to 

 include some 4,650 acres (1,860 ha). Approximately 2,900 

 acres of the southern portion of the island are included 

 within the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. A few 

 years later some 120 acres (50 ha) at the extreme southern 

 tip of the island became a State Park of the Commonwealth of 

 Massachusetts, effectuating the preservation of the entire 



