Looking toward the Thimble Islands from the mainland in Branford, Conn.
“….Situated in Long Island Sound,
Connecticut’s Smith Island is among that state’s famed Thimble
Islands, a cluster of landmasses named for the thimbleberry,
cousin to the black raspberry. During the Revolutionary War,
the Thimbles were deforested to rid the sound of hiding
places for British ships. …’’
— From “Hymn to Life,’’ by Timothy Donnelly
Information as edited from Wikipedia, a little bit of which may be outdated:
The inhabited Thimble Islands have a total of 81 houses: 14 islands have only one, one (Governor) has 14, (Money) has 32, and the rest have between two and six. The houses are built in a variety of styles, ranging from a 27-room Tudor mansion, with tennis and basketball courts and a caretaker's residence on 7.75 acres, on Rogers Island, to small summer cottages built on stilts or small clusters of buildings connected by wooden footbridges. Some of the houses almost cover a small island, while Money Island, at 12 acres, has a village of 32 houses, a church and a post office building, concealed among tall trees. Some of the houses were once occupied year-long, but now are only used in the summer. Their exposure makes them dangerous places to be during hurricanes.
The exclusivity of the houses has made them expensive, thus dividing residents between local families who have owned their homes for generations, and more recent residents who tend to be rich.
