Jump to content

User:Eggishorn/sandbox/Sippican Harbor

Coordinates: 41°41′35″N 70°44′49″W / 41.69306°N 70.74694°W / 41.69306; -70.74694
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sippican Harbor
Sippican Harbor view
LocationPlymouth County, Massachusetts
Coordinates41°41′35″N 70°44′49″W / 41.69306°N 70.74694°W / 41.69306; -70.74694
Part ofBuzzards Bay
Ocean/sea sourcesAtlantic Ocean
Basin countriesUnited States
DesignationNational Estuary
SettlementsMarion, Massachusetts

Sippican Harbor is a natural harbor and inlet on the northwest coast of Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts within the boundaries of the town of Marion. From prehistory to the present, humans have used this body of water as a food resource, industrial location, and recreational venue.

History

[edit]

The Native Americans of Southeastern Massachusetts were the first people to utilize the resources of Sippican Harbor. The Wampanoag people gathered shellfish and fished in Buzzard's Bay and its inlets and some of their descendents claim the right to continue such fishing today.[1] Archaeological remnants of quahogs, anadromous fish and other remains have been found on Little Neck at the head of the harbor.[2] This was also the location of the first permanent European settlement in the area in 1678 when 29 Pilgrim families moved the 20 or so miles from Plymouth Plantation in the aftermath of King Phillip's War.[2]

By the colonial era, Sippican Harbor became the site of extensive saltworks. Seawater from the harbor was pumped into shallow pans erected on the shoreline and either boiled off via wood fires or left to evaporate in the sun. Ships from the harbor were used extensively in the coastal salt trade.[2]

After ___, salt production declined. The harbor was then used as a site for shipbuilding, particularly for the New England whaling trade. Many whaling ships began their voyages from Sippican Harbor and whaling captains brought wealth to the town.

Whaling declined in the late 19th century, and had stopped altogether by 19__. Other trade also slowed, to be replaced by vacationers. By 19__, summer visitors were coming to the area for sailing, fishing and bathing in Sippican Harbor. Notable visitors from this time include President Grover Cleveland and future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Cleveland spent __ summers from __ to __ in the area, and enjoyed fishing in the harbor from a small dinghy he would row himself. [1][http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/19990215/NEWS/302159993}

Dr. McDonald and a valet help support Franklin D. Roosevelt on a dock overlooking Sippican Harbor

In the summers of 1925 and 1926, Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to Marion to recover from his paralytic illness in the care of Dr. William McDonald who had devised a treatment regimen intended to restore some function to polio victims' limbs.[3] McDonald included regular swimming exercises in Sippican Harbor's waters as part of Roosevelt's regimen and the future President believed that the swimming was beneficial. Roosevelt in fact maintained a swimming and water exercise regimen for the rest of his life to cope with his paralysis.[4] During these treatments, Roosevelt promised McDonald that the doctor would be the first official visitor to the White House once Roosevelt became President.[5]

Roosevelt would later return make the harbor his starting point for a well-publicized post-polio sailing trip he made with the yacht Amberjack II to Campobello Island.[2] [3] [4]

Franklin D. Roosevelt sailing aboard the Amberjack II sailing from Sippican Harbor.

In the post-WWII era, the harbor is primarily used for recreational activities.

Geology

[edit]
Large glacial erratic boulder on the campus of Tabor Academy on the shore of Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts

Like Cape Cod and the larger Buzzards Bay, the geology of the harbor is dominated by glacial influences.[6] The Laurentide Ice Sheet formed the Buzzards Bay and Sandwich morraines, forming the east and southern limits of the bay. As the ice sheet retreated, it formed Glacial Lake Cape Cod and outwash plains. Drainage from this lake and directly from the ice sheet formed outwash plains, dominated by sand and gravel sediments. This drainage and a process called spring sapping (where the head of a valley is cut further and further backwards by each spring thaw) cut valleys through these sediments. Sippican Harbor is a relict valley of these processes. See https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70017557 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0169555X9490068X https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1220/ofr2014-1220-title_page.html and https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/capecod/glacial.html and http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/53/8/1127 and http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/czm/program-areas/seafloor-and-habitat-mapping/publications/ and http://buzzardsbay.org/geo8-06/w1c-05.pdf http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/student/martin1/laurentide.html https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/capecod/index.html

Geography

[edit]

Sippican Harbor is oriented along an northwest/southeast axis, with Little Neck at the head of the harbor and the mouth at the southeastern end between Converse Point and Butler Point.[7] Bird Island sits between these points at the mouth of the harbor supporting Bird Island Light and a large tern colony.

Despite the similar names, Sippican River does not discharge into Sippican Harbor. Discharges in the harbor are through surface runoff, tidal creeks and saltmarshes along the less-developed sections of shoreline, especially at the northwestern limit of the harbor.

Endangered Species

[edit]

Bird Island is an important bird colony. It is the larger of two area islands that host half of North America's breeding pairs of the endangered Roseate terns (Sterna dougallii).[8] Bird Island is now a protected location which allows no human activity except for approved researchers[9] and restoration efforts under the National Estuary Program and Superfund have lead to increasing numbers. [9]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts lists the Northern diamondback terrapin (Malacletnys terrapin) as state-endangered, and the shores of Sippican Harbor are an important nesting site for these turtles.[10] Genetic studies of this population show low levels of genetic diversity, raising concerns for the long-term viability of the population within Massachusetts.[11]

Like many other locations in coastal Massachusetts, the area covered by common eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds has been reduced. Eelgrass beds are of vital ecological and economic importance and provide a habitat for fish (including juvenile cod (Gadus morhua)), a substrate for shellfish, a crucial component of sediment and shoreline stabilization.[12] Bodies of water with a reduction or loss of eelgrass beds show a reduction in both the number of fish and shellfish and in the diversity of marine species.[13]

Maritime Activity

[edit]

Sippican Harbor is currently the home port for the SSV Tabor Boy, the sail training ship of Tabor Academy.[14] This schooner began life over 100 years ago as pilot boat in the North Sea and was the subject of a PBS documentary: Tabor Boy: 100 Years at Sea.[15][16] The harbor is also the starting point for the biennial Marion-to-Bermuda sailing race held in odd-numbered years. The race is an amateur offshore racing event to the island of Bermuda, a distance of 645 nautical miles (1,195 km).[17] The most recent race was held starting June 9, 2017.[18]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Cuddy, Don (2 April 2011). "Wampanoag shellfisherman takes Mattapoisett to court over enforcement incident". SouthCoast Today. New Bedford, Massachusetts. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Rosbe, Judith Westlund (2002). Maritime Marion Massachusetts. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2366-6.
  3. ^ Cross, Robert (2014). Sailor in the Whitehouse: The Seafaring Life of FDR. New York: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781557503183.
  4. ^ Berish, Amy. "FDR and Polio". FDR Presidential Library & Museum. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  5. ^ Tripp, H. Edmund (1991). Reflections on a town : a timeless photographic and anecdotal record of over three centuries of Marion, Massachusetts. Marion, Mass: Sippican Historical Society.
  6. ^ Newman, Donna. "Geologic History Of Cape Cod, Massachusetts". Glacial Cape Cod. United States Geologic Survey. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  7. ^ Dutton, Geoffrey; Edwardes, Alistair (2006), "Ontological Modeling of Geographical Relationships for Map Generalization" (PDF), The 9th ICA Workshop on Generalization and Multiple Representations, Vancouver, Washington: researchgate.net
  8. ^ "Endangered Roseate Tern Statistics for Buzzards Bay". Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program. Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  9. ^ a b Carolyn Mostello (25 April 2013). "Buzzards Bay Tern Restoration Project". Energy and Environmental Affairs. Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Endangered Species/Biodiversity Conservation". Lloyd Center for the Environment. Lloyd Center for the Environment. 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  11. ^ McCafferty, S. Shawn; Shorette, Amanda; Simundza, Julia; Brennessel, Barbara (June 2013). "Paucity of Genetic Variation at an MHC Class I Gene in Massachusetts Populations of the Diamond-backed Terrapin (Malacletnys terrapin): A Cause for Concern?". Journal of Herpetology. 47 (2): 222–226. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  12. ^ Costello, Charles T.; Kenworthy, William Judson (March 2011). "Twelve-Year Mapping and Change Analysis of Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Areal Abundance in Massachusetts (USA) Identifies Statewide Declines". Estuaries and Coasts. 34 (2): 234–242. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  13. ^ Hughes, Jeffrey E.; Deegan, Linda A.; Wyda, Jason C.; Weaver, Melissa J.; Wright, Amos (April 2002). "The Effects of Eelgrass Habitat Loss on Estuarine Fish Communities of Southern New England". Estuaries. 25 (2): 235–249. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  14. ^ "S.S.V. Taboy Boy". Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  15. ^ WSBE. "Tabor Boy: 100 Years at Sea". bird on the wire. No. 17 December 2014. WSBE Rhode Island PBS. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  16. ^ Naylor, Donita (26 December 2014). "Tabor Boy, a hundred-year-old sail-training schooner, is subject of a PBS documentary". Providence Journal. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  17. ^ "Marion Bermuda Yacht Race". Bermuda Attractions. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  18. ^ Wilson, Talbot (23 May 2017). "Over 50 boats for Marion Bermuda Race". Scuttlebutt Sailing News. Retrieved 11 March 2018.

See Also

[edit]
[edit]

Sippican Historical Society http://sippican.pastperfectonline.com/ images 2006.013.174, 2004.007.010, 2004.008.050 2008.015.093

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Eggishorn/sandbox/Sippican_Harbor&oldid=1079658273"