In Search of Charles Island
Charles Island has
fascinated many generations of Milford residents and visitors to the
area. Legends of Captain Kidd’s treasure, hearsay of a once thriving
resort, and the remnants of a religious retreat house imbue them with dreams of
riches and a curiosity about the past. Like the sparse and
storm-shattered remains of the structures that once graced the island, only
bits and pieces of its history survive. Reliable information about the Charles
Island is strewn about here and there and the historical landscape is littered
with misinformation, speculations and fictions.On Tuesday October 9 at
7:00 p.m. Michael Dooling, author of An Historical Account of Charles
Island, will speak at the Milford Library. Dooling re-constructed the
island’s history from a wide variety of sources including 17th century
maps, town records, news accounts & advertisements, 19th century
journals, personal recollections from visitors to the resort that thrived
there, photographs from its days as a religious retreat, etc. Combined they
offer a unique view of the island and a perspective that until now has been
lost with time.Dooling’s
interest in Charles Island began when he first visited there in 1969 and was
reinforced twenty-five years ago when he acquired a pamphlet from the Aquinas
Retreat House located on the island in the 1930s. Over the years, he clipped
numerous newspaper articles about Charles Island and accumulated other
published references. His book was published in 2006 and is now
out-of-print. He has written several other books including Milford Lost & Found; a true-crime work
titled Clueless in New England about three unsolved disappearances;
and a biography titled Seaworthy Timber: The Life and Times of New
England Sea Captain Aaron H. Wood.Michael Dooling is currently the Archivist at the Mattatuck Museum
in Waterbury and former News Librarian and historical writer for the Republican-American newspaper,
where he was an award-winning columnist. He has had a lifelong interest in
history, collects antiquarian books, and has written dozens of historical
articles over the past 20 years.
When:Tuesday, October 9, 2018 7:00 PM thru 08:30 PM
Where: Milford Public Library
57 New Haven Ave.
Milford, CT 06460