How did Stellwagen Bank get its name?
Stellwagen Bank was named for the person who first mapped it in its entirety. Knowledge of shallow areas at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay had been around for many centuries. In fact, maps from the early 1700s showed an area called Barren Bank at what is now known as the southwest corner of the bank. Middle Bank (covering a good portion of Stellwagen Bank) was drawn on several 19th century maps. In 1854, Henry S. Stellwagen, a Lieutenant of the US Navy, on loan to the Coast Survey, was sent to Massachusetts with the task of mapping potential lighthouse positions. In the course of his work, he realized he had discovered a feature not represented on any official maps. Over the course of several months in 1854, he mapped the bank and its surrounding waters. The following year an official map was released detailing this feature. The U.S. Coast Survey, recognizing the importance of the find and the work of Henry Stellwagen, named the geological feature after the man who officially documente
