The island is the largest of a small cluster of islands marking the southeastern extent of Muscongus Bay. To its northwest is Benner Island, from which it is separated by a relatively narrow channel, and to the east, across a wider channel, is Burnt Island (not to be confused with Burnt Island in Boothbay Harbor, where
Burnt Island Light is located). The geographic features match those described in
James Rosier's account of the 1605 exploratory expedition of
George Waymouth, in which landing and exploration of an island is made. In 1979, the island was purchased by
Betsy Wyeth, wife of painter
Andrew Wyeth. The island had lost its full-time residents when it was purchased by Wyeth and had become "a seasonal home for two fishing families living in decaying houses on the fringe of the fast-encroaching spruce forest". Betsy Wyeth died in 2020 and the island (and its neighbor Benner Island) were acquired by
Colby College in 2022 as "an interdisciplinary study center." ==Archaeological site==