Charles Island

About

located off of Silver Sands state beach has a long and mysterious history. It was a point of conflict between the English settlers and the Wepaowag Indians, who regarded the island as sacred ground, connected with spirits. Following the defeat of the tribesmen, the Chief put a curse on the island, pronouncing "Any shelter will crumble to the Earth, and he shall be cursed" About 25 years after the defeat of the Wepauwags, the notorious pirate Captain Kidd, who knew the islands reputation, is known to have buried part his treasure on the island, and treasure hunters from around the country still look for this stash today. It is told that in 1850 two men found the treasure, only to run away from the island screaming about a "screeching, flaming skeleton descending from the sky" They spent the remainder of their lives in an asylum. At the end of the 18th century, a monastery was built on the island. After the monks moved in, dismissing the curse as "pagan savagery" and "Indian folklore", a series of mysterious deaths, suicides, and bouts of insanity, and subsequent intensifying hauntings forced them to abandon the monastery. The crumbling ruins can still be seen today. In the 1950s…