Moon Island (Massachusetts)

Moon Island is an island in Quincy Bay, in the middle of Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. It is the location of the Boston Fire Department Training Academy, and Boston Police Department shooting range. All of the land on the island is owned by the City of Boston but the island is under the jurisdiction of Quincy, Massachusetts.^[1] It is also part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

The causeway to Moon Island did not exist before the late 1870s and there was no bridge across Western Way to Long Island until the construction of the Long Island Viaduct in 1951. This bridge was closed October 8, 2014.^[2] The sand spit from Thompson Island to Squaw Rock on Squantum was a clam bar until the sewage outflow from Moon Island backed up into the local waters. Native Americans summered in this area for thousands of years and consumed the prevalent mollusks.

Another two bars pointed from Moon Island toward Squantum, following the general path of the new causeway. In early years, the land where UMass Boston and the Kennedy Memorial are located was open water. The area around Marina Bay was salt marsh leaving a much wider mouth to the Neponset River.

In colonial times, Moon Island was recorded as having 20 acres (81,000 m²) of land mass that was used as pasture. This land was connected at very low tides by two sand bars. The proper approach to this island in the late 19th century was from the Quincy Bay side. There was a 100-foot (30 m) hill on the northerly side. Early inhabitants called the island, "Munning's Moone," or "Mennen's Moon," and is also recorded as "Moon Island" and "Moon Head".

Today, Moon Island consists of 44.5 acres (180,000 m²) and is connected to Squantum by a two-lane roadway over the causeway. Moon Island is owned by the City of Boston and is no longer available for public access or use. As with many of the other islands in Boston Harbor, municipal and federal authorities have obtained ownership of Boston Harbor islands over the centuries. Most have never returned to private ownership or use.

Access to the causeway leading to Moon Island is controlled by the Boston Public Health Commission Police at a guardhouse at its southern end, and permission to enter the island must be obtained in advance since it is a restricted area.