The New International Encyclopædia/Elizabeth Islands
ELIZABETH ISLANDS. A group of 10 small inlands belonging to Massachusetts, lying southwest of Barnstable County and between Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard Sound (Map: Massachusetts, F 5). They form the town of Gosnold, Dukes County, and cover 14 square miles. The islands, of which Naushon and Nashawena are the two largest, have a fine climate and scenery and afford excellent fishing. They are popular summer resorts. Permanent population, in 1900, 164. On Cuttyhunk Island the foundations of the first English colony of New England were laid in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold, only to be abandoned the same year.