Triggs Island
Triggs Island is the second-largest island in Lake Wentworth, the quieter lake immediately east of Winnipesaukee, entirely within the town of Wolfeboro. It sits north of Stamp Act Island and close enough to the mainland that the crossing is a few minutes of rowing, which is exactly how island families used to do it.
This is a small, private cottage association rather than a market. Five original cottages went up around the perimeter in the early 1900s with the interior held as common land, and homes here pass down through families for generations rather than trading. A Triggs Island listing is a genuinely rare event, and the island rewards the buyer who understands what they are joining.
It is worth being clear about the water: this is Lake Wentworth, not Winnipesaukee. That means a quieter lake, less boat traffic, and a shoreline that behaves differently in price and in character from the big lake a few miles west.
Ministers, Car Horns, and a Future Supreme Court Justice
The island is named for Thomas Triggs, one of Wolfeboro's earliest settlers, who arrived in the late 1760s or 1770s, farmed in town, and ran a local mill. Benjamin Franklin Parker's 1901 History of Wolfeborough names him the original proprietor of "Triggs's Island" and records that it stayed in the family for generations, until the last of them died only a few years before the book went to press. Parker put the island north of Stamp Act and estimated it at roughly 20 acres, though later accounts give a smaller figure, so treat the number as approximate.
In 1905 the Triggs Island Association was organized by a group of Methodist ministers, reportedly from Rhode Island, and the island picked up its second name: Minister's Island. They built five cottages around the shoreline, kept the interior as common land for firewood, banned alcohol, and wrote a right of first refusal into the deeds so cottages would stay within the island families. There was no electricity and no telephone for years. Iceboxes were stocked with blocks cut from the lake each winter, and every family had its own car-horn code to honk from the mainland landing so someone would row over and collect them. When electricity was finally proposed, the members debated whether they even wanted it. It came in the end by underwater cable.
The island's most famous summer resident was William O. Douglas, appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1939. In his 1950 autobiography Of Men and Mountains he described diving from a dock on Triggs and swimming roughly two miles across Lake Wentworth to Stamp Act Island, deliberately confronting a fear of water left over from a childhood near-drowning. It became one of the book's best-known passages. His papers at the Library of Congress hold a dedicated Triggs Island file, and a separate folder labeled "Triggs Island litigation, 1927 to 1928" whose subject has never surfaced in the public record.
Drawn from Benjamin Franklin Parker's 1901 History of Wolfeborough, the Wentworth Watershed Association's 2021 oral history gathering, and the William O. Douglas papers at the Library of Congress (MSS18853).
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Getting There
Triggs is boat access only, but the crossing is short: the island sits close to the Lake Wentworth shore in Wolfeboro, and generations of families made it by rowboat. Most owners keep a small boat and a spot on the mainland side rather than a marina slip, which is one of the practical differences between a Wentworth island and a Winnipesaukee one.
The island is private, with no public dock, beach, or trail. Wentworth State Park on the north shore of the lake is the public beach island families have used for generations, and it is the easiest place to see the island from land. For anything on the water, Lake Wentworth is calmer and far less trafficked than the Broads.
Looking for a slip or mooring on the mainland side? See boat slips, marinas, and launches.
Frequently Asked Questions
In Lake Wentworth, just east of Lake Winnipesaukee, entirely within the town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. It is the second-largest island in the lake, sitting north of Stamp Act Island and close to the mainland shore.
No, and the distinction matters. Triggs is in Lake Wentworth, a separate and much quieter lake a few miles east of Winnipesaukee, though both sit in Wolfeboro. Less boat traffic, a smaller lake, and a different market.
Because the group that bought it and organized the Triggs Island Association in 1905 were Methodist ministers, reportedly from Rhode Island. Their rules shaped the island for decades, including a ban on alcohol and a right of first refusal in the deeds meant to keep cottages within the island community.
One of Wolfeboro's earliest settlers, arriving in the late 1760s or 1770s. He farmed in town, ran a local mill, and owned the island that took his name. Parker's 1901 History of Wolfeborough records that it stayed in the Triggs family for well over a century.
Douglas, a U.S. Supreme Court justice from 1939, summered on Triggs Island. In Of Men and Mountains he described swimming about two miles from a dock on Triggs across Lake Wentworth to Stamp Act Island to conquer a lifelong fear of water. His Library of Congress papers include a dedicated Triggs Island file.
It is a private island with a long-established cottage association, not a park. Enjoy it from the water, or from Wentworth State Park on the north shore of the lake, which is the public beach island families have used for generations.
Very rarely. This is a small association of cottages that have stayed in the same families for generations, in some cases since the Depression, and the deeds have historically carried a right of first refusal for fellow members. Any listing on this page is worth prompt attention, and if there is none, tell us you are watching.
New to island buying? Start with our island guide and the NH buyer's guide.
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