Marblehead resident seeks island name change

MARBLEHEAD – Gene Record wants to set the record straight.Record wrote to the selectmen two weeks ago asking to have the name of Brown’s Island changed to Crowninshield Island.Historically Marbleheaders have called the five-acre Little Harbor island, located at the entrance to Doliber Cove, Brown’s Island in honor of the family that owned the island from 1797-1918.The Massachusetts Trustees of Reservations, described by Record as “the oldest statewide land conservation organization in the country,” call it Crowninshield Island in honor of Louise duPont Crowninshield, a pioneer in America’s historic preservation movement from 1925 until her death in 1958. Crowninshield summered at Peach’s Point and the family donated the island to the trustees in 1955. Record notes that the Crowninshields purchased the island from the Browns for $1 in 1918.On their Web site the trustees refer to the island, which has a small beach, a field, a wooded area, walking trails, an outcropping of granite and views of Ft. Sewall and Marblehead Harbor, as a “modest coastal island.”While the trustees list it as Crowninshield Island they never had the name officially changed by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a federal office maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey to make sure that people don’t call a five-acre island by two different names, and the Board on Geographic Names doesn’t approve a request for a name change unless it comes from local government.In his letter Record, a relative of the Crowninshields, mentioned their generous support of Marblehead institutions and asked the selectmen to send in their support.Selectmen referred the letter to the Historical Commission for their advice.Changing the name on paper may be easier than changing it in the public’s perception, however.”It’s always going to be Brown’s Island to a lot of people,” said Selectman Harry Christensen.