Govenors Island

On the left is Governor’s Island, the fourth largest island at 504 acres. It’s another of the islands with a road bridge to the mainland, and is one of the most famous islands on the lake. The island was originally part of a royal land grant to the colonial governors of Massachusetts. At the start of the Revolutionary War, the governor escaped to Nova Scotia and the island was united to the state of New Hampshire. IN the early 1800s, the island was purchased by Eleazar Davis, an early settler of the town of Gilford. Eleazar gave the island to his son, Nathaniel, to keep him busy and out of trouble. The scheme worked. Nathaniel settled down, founded the village of Davisville and renamed the island Davis island. Succeeding generations were not as successful, though, and the village deteriorated. Fire eventually destroyed the old governor’s mansion in 1870. In 1880, the island was acquired by Stillson Hutchins, a prominent politician and founder of the Washington Post. He restored the mansion and made other improvements to the island. Over the years, the island has been broken up into individual lots and has attracted numerous celebrities; including the staff of the German embassy prior to world war one. The island is a beautiful and exclusive colony and has the distinction of the highest concentration of million dollar real estate in the region.

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