Author Michael C. Dooling has revised and expanded his Milford history book An Historical Account of Charles Island. Originally published in 2006, his book relates the history of what is arguably the most storied island in Long Island Sound. He traces the history from native inhabitants through European discovery, the legend of Captain William Kidd’s treasure, the 19th century resorts, a prize fight gone bad, the Aquinas Retreat in the 1930s, and fictional stories that used the island and backdrop.
New material includes shipwrecks off the island, its place in the history of flight when Gustave Whitehead of Bridgeport used it as a testing site for one of his flying machines long before the Wright Brothers made their first flights, testing of a torpedo by the U.S. Navy, the Hermit of Milford Beach, a rumrunner who paid his debt to God, the backstory of a nudist colony proposed for Charles Island and a mysterious woman in white who purportedly walks the tombolo that connects the island with the shore.
Michael is lifelong Connecticut resident and the author of four other historical books and dozens of historical articles. He is former news librarian, historical writer, and columnist for the Republican-American. He is also former archivist at the Mattatuck Museum where he created several historical exhibits relating to local history including: In Search of Charles Island, Signature Moments (highlights from the museum’s autograph collection), What a Woman! Rosalind Russell, and Men of Letters: Presidential Signatures from the Fay Vincent Collection.
Author Michael C. Dooling has revised and expanded his Milford history book An Historical Account of Charles Island. Originally published in 2006, his book relates the history of what is arguably the most storied island in Long Island Sound. He traces the history from native inhabitants through European discovery, the legend of Captain William Kidd’s treasure, the 19th century resorts, a prize fight gone bad, the Aquinas Retreat in the 1930s, and fictional stories that used the island and backdrop.
New material includes shipwrecks off the island, its place in the history of flight when Gustave Whitehead of Bridgeport used it as a testing site for one of his flying machines long before the Wright Brothers made their first flights, testing of a torpedo by the U.S. Navy, the Hermit of Milford Beach, a rumrunner who paid his debt to God, the backstory of a nudist colony proposed for Charles Island and a mysterious woman in white who purportedly walks the tombolo that connects the island with the shore.
Michael is lifelong Connecticut resident and the author of four other historical books and dozens of historical articles. He is former news librarian, historical writer, and columnist for the Republican-American. He is also former archivist at the Mattatuck Museum where he created several historical exhibits relating to local history including: In Search of Charles Island, Signature Moments (highlights from the museum’s autograph collection), What a Woman! Rosalind Russell, and Men of Letters: Presidential Signatures from the Fay Vincent Collection.