Bumpkin Island Map (click to enlarge)
Ruins of three historic sites are located on Bumpkin Island, part of Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. To reach them, take a left on the dilapidated paved trail at the end of the boat dock. This will take you to the west end of the island before curving back to the east. Upon arriving at a three way intersection about .15 mile into the hike, take the fork to the left. In another tenth of a mile are the ruins of a very large building that was once used as a mess hall for the military during World War I. There were fifty-six buildings constructed during the war, but this is the only one that survives.
Mess Hall from World War I on Bumpkin Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Mess Hall from World War I on Bumpkin Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
If you look through the windows, you can see the support columns that held up the roof. Do not venture inside because much of the vegetation is poison ivy.
Interior support columns for the roof of a former World War I mess hall on Bumpkin Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
The paved path becomes a grass trail just past the mess hall and forks once again. Stay right to get to the ruins of an old farmhouse from the 1800s. During World War I it was converted into a heat generating facility.
Farmhouse ruins on Bumpkin Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Farmhouse ruins on Bumpkin Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Entrance to an old farmhouse on Bumpkin Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Continue past the farmhouse on the grass path until it dead ends back into the paved trail a little farther down from the original fork. Take a right to reach the site of the Burrage Children’s Hospital that operated from 1901 through 1917, at which time hospital founder Albert Burrage donated Bumpkin Island to the United States Navy for the duration of World War I. The navy used the hospital as an administration building, and after the war it never reopened. The building burned down in 1946, and all that remains today are piles of bricks. However, it’s hard to tell just how big the hospital was because the bricks extend back and disappear into the vegetation. The island is full of poison ivy, so I don’t advise trying to see just how far back the bricks go.
Ruins of the Burrage Children’s Hospital on Bumpkin Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Ruins of the Burrage Children’s Hospital on Bumpkin Island, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Continue down the trail and you will soon be back at the fork where the loop around the historic sites began.
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Last updated on January 5, 2024
