U.S. Unincorporated Possessions
Bajo Nuevo Bank (Petrel Islands)
1634
Reef first shown on Dutch maps.
1654
Named Bajo Nuevo Bank.
1660
Re-discovered by the English.
22 Nov 1869
Claimed by U.S. by James W. Jennett (also called Petrel Islands).
8 Sep 1972 Bajo Nuevo is specifically not mentioned by U.S. in list of guano
islands renounced to Colombia.
Territorial Dispute: Claimed
by Jamaica and possibly Honduras (until 20 Dec 1999); Colombia considers Bajo Nuevo Bank apart
of the Providence Archipelago in the intendancy of San Andres y Providencia.
Baker Island
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Map
of Baker Island
|
Population: Uninhabited;
visited annually by US Fish
and Wildlife Service (2007)
Capital: None
(Meyerton 1935-1942) |
1818
Discovered by U.S. Capt. Elisha Folger of the whaling ship
Equator,
named New Nantucket Island.
Aug 1825 Resighted by U.S. Capt. Obed Starbuck of the Loper.
1832
Renamed by Baker Island by U.S. Capt. Michael Baker.
14 Aug 1839
Claimed for the U.S.
16 Aug 1857
Annexed by U.S.
1886 - 1934
Annexed by Britain.
1934
Reclaimed by U.S. (unincorporated territory).
3 Apr 1935 - 7 Feb 1942 Colonized by U.S.
1 Sep 1943 - May 1944 Occupied
by U.S. military forces (Baker Naval Air Station).
27 Jun 1974
Administered by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as
Baker and Howland Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
6 Jan 2009 Part of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
Heads of the Baker, Howland and Jarvis Colonization Scheme
1935 - 1937
William "Bill" T. Miller
1937 - 7 Feb 1942
Richard "Dick" B. Black
Island Commanders
1 Sep 1943 - 1943 Willis Augustus Lee
(b. 1888 - d. 1945)
c.1943 W.J. Jennings
1943 - May 1944 ....
Guantanamo Bay: see under Cuba
Howland Island
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Map
of Howland Island
|
Population: Uninhabited;
visited annually by US Fish
and Wildlife Service (2007)
Capital: None
(Itascatown 1935-1942) |
1822
Discovered by U.S. Capt. George B. Worth on whaling ship Oeno
named Worth Island.
9 Sep 1842
Resighted by U.S. Captain George Netcher aboard Isabella and renamed
Howland Island for the ship's lookout, Mr. Howland,
who first
spotted the island.
5 Feb 1857
Annexed by U.S.
1886 - 1935
Claimed by Britain.
1935
Claimed by U.S. (unincorporated territory).
30 Mar 1935 - 31 Jan 1942 Colonized by U.S. (see Baker
Island).
2
Jul 1937 Amelia Earhart
left Lae, New Guinea, headed for Howland Island,
but was never seen again.
Sep 1943 - May 1944 Occupied
by U.S. military forces (Howland Naval Air Station).
27 Jun 1974
Administered by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as
Baker and Howland Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
6 Jan 2009 Part of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
Island Commanders
Sep 1943 - May 1944 ....
Jarvis Island
|
Map
of Jarvis Island
|
Population: Uninhabited;
visited annually by US Fish
and Wildlife Service (2007)
Capital: None
(Millersville 1935-1942)
|
21 Aug 1821
Discovered by U.K. Capt. Brown in the Eliza Francis, who named
it Jarvis Island for the owner of the vesel. 28 Oct 1856
Claimed for U.S.
27 Feb 1858
Annexed by U.S.
3 Jun 1889
Annexed by Britain.
1935
Claimed by U.S. (Javis Island)(unincorporated territory).
13 May 1936 - 27 Jun 1974 Administered by U.S. Department
of the Interior.
26 Mar 1935 - 7 Feb 1942 Colonized by U.S. (see Baker
Island).
1 Jul 1957 - 31 Dec 1958 Occupied by U.S. scientists
during International
Geophysical Year (IGY).
27 Jun 1974
Administered by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as
Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuge.
6 Jan 2009 Part of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
Station Chief for IGY
1957 - Nov 1958
Otto H. Hornung
(d. 1958)
Johnston Atoll
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![[Unofficial Flag of Johnston Atoll]](um-jq.gif) -
Adopted 2 Nov 2001 Unofficial
2 Sep 1796 U.S. brig Sally, commanded by Joseph Pierpoint, grounded on a shoal
near Johnston Island, but gave no name to the
land.
10 Dec 1807
Re-discovered by U.K. Capt. Charles J. Johnston on HMS Cornwallis,
named Johnston Island.
19 Mar 1858
Claimed by U.S. (unincorporated territory).
19 Jun 1858
Claimed by Kingdom of Hawaii (Kalama Island).
27 Jul 1858
Annexed by U.S.; re-annexed by Hawaii (not recognized by U.S.).
12 Aug 1898
Hawaii under U.S. rule; Johnston remains separate.
29 Jul 1926
Administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture as a bird refuge.
29 Dec 1934
Administered by U.S. Navy.
15 Aug 1941
Johnston Island U.S. Naval Air Facility
1 Jul 1948
Administered by U.S. Air Force.
1 Jul 1973
Administered by the U.S. Defense Nuclear Agency (later called
Defense Threat Reduction Agency).
30 Jun 1990 - 12 Apr 2001 U.S. Army Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS).
1 Oct 1999 - 1 Jan 2004 Administered by U.S. Air Force.
1 Jan 2004
Island turned over to Fish and Wildlife Service
as Johnston Atoll Wildlife Refuge; in the interim Johnston Atoll
and the three-mile Naval Defensive Sea around it remain under
the jurisdiction and administrative control of U.S. Air Force.
6 Jan 2009 Part of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
Owner
1866 - 1885
Kalama Wilkinson
(d. 1885)
Island Commanders
1934 - 1942
....
Nov 1942 - Jul 1943 Richard P. Ross, Jr.
Jul 1943 - Mar 1944 Bruce T. Hemphill
Mar 1944 - 1944 August F. Penzold, Jr.
1944 - 2000 ....
2000 - 2001
James L. Pasquino
c.2002
Timothy Bridges
200. - 200.
Mark Hostetter
200. - 2004
Eric Sassi
Kingman Reef
14 Jun 1798
Discovered by U.S. Capt. Edmund Fanning (Dangerous Reef).
29 Nov 1853
Re-sighted by U.S. Capt. W.E. Kingman.
18 Aug 1856
Claimed by U.S. (Danger Reef)
10 May 1922
Annexed by U.S. (Kingman Reef)(unincorporated territory).
29 Dec 1934
Administered by U.S. Navy.
18 Jan 2001
Administered by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as
Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge.
6 Jan 2009 Part of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
Midway Islands
-
-
Adopted 29 May 2000 Unofficial
8 Jul 1859
Discovered by U.S. Capt. N.C. Middlebrooks, though he was most
commonly known as Capt. Brooks, of the sealing
ship Gambia.
Islands named the "Middlebrook Islands" or the
"Brook Islands.
28 Aug 1867
Annexed for U.S. by Capt. William Reynolds on U.S.S. Lackawanna,
the name changed to "Midway" some time after this
(unincorporated territory).
1903
U.S. Navy assumes control and names the Commercial Pacific
Cable
Company island custodian.
20 Jan 1903
U.S. Commercial Pacific Cable Co. opens a cable station.
1904 - 1908
U.S. Marine detachment garrisons Midway to protect the cable
station.
4 Feb 1941 - 31 Oct 1996 Administered by U.S. Navy.
1 Aug 1941 U.S. Naval Air Station Midway
4-6 Jun 1942 Battle of Midway, attempted Japanese invasion.
29 Jul 1942 U.S. Naval Operating Base Midway Islands
13 Jan 1969 U.S. Naval Facility Midway Island
Oct 1978 - 30 Sep 1993 U.S. Naval Air Facility Midway Island
22 Apr 1988
Midway Atoll is designated as an overlay National Wildlife Refuge.
31 Oct 1996
Administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as
Midway Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Superintendents of the Cable Station
Apr 1903 - 190.
Ben W. Colley
1906 - 1921
Daniel Morrison
1921 - 1940
....
Island Commanders
Jun 1940 - Jul 1940 Samuel
G. Taxis
Jul 1940 - 29 Sep 1940 Kenneth W. Benner
29 Sep 1940 - 14 Feb 1941 Harold C. Roberts (d. 1945)
14 Feb 1941 - 1941 Robert H. Pepper
1941 - 1 Aug 1941
Bert A. Bone
Commanding Officers
1 Aug 1941 - 1942
Cyril Thomas Simard
1942 - 31 Oct 1996
....
Navassa Island
Adopted 7 Dec 2001 Unofficial
|
Map
of Navassa Island
|
Population: Uninhabited;
note: transient Haitian fishermen
and others camp
on the island
(2007)
|
1504
Discovered by Spanish explorers, named Isla de Navaza.
18 Nov 1857
Claimed for U.S. by Capt. Peter Duncan (Navassa Island)
(unincorporated territory).
1903 - 1917
Dependency of U.S. Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
17 Jan 1916
U.S. government formally reasserts sovereignty.
1917
Administered by U.S. Coast Guard.
16 Jan 1997
Administered by U.S. Department of Interior.
3 Dec 1999
Administered by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as
Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Territorial Dispute: Claimed
by Haiti, source of subsistence fishing.
Palmyra Atoll
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![[Reconstructed World War II Flag of Palmyra Atoll]](um-palmy.gif) -
1941 - 1947 Unofficial
|
-
![Palmyra Atoll (U.S. Minor Outlying Islands) Unofficial flag]](um-plmyr.gif) -
from 7 Dec 2001 Unofficial
|
|
Map
of Palmyra Atoll
|
Population: 4 - 20 Nature Conservancy staff and US Fish and Wildlife
staff (2007)
|
13 Jun 1798
Probably sighted by U.S Capt. Edmund Fanning aboard the Betsy.
7 Nov 1802
Discovered by U.S. Capt. Sawle aboard Palmyra,
named Palmyra Island.
15 Sep 1840
Visited by U.S. Capt. Scott aboard the Samarang.
19 Oct 1859
Annexed by U.S. (Palmyra Island).
15 Apr 1862
Claimed by Kingdom of Hawaii
(annexed 18 Jun 1862).
1889
Annexed by Britain.
7 Jul 1898
Annexed by U.S. following annexation of Hawaii.
14 Jun 1900
Part of U.S. Territory of Hawaii.
Aug
1911
Judge Henry E. Cooper of Honolulu acquired title to the
island and
used it for growing coconuts. He
sold all but two islets to Leslie
and Ellen Fullard-Leo in Aug 1922. When the judge died in 1929
his two islets (Home Islands) were passed to his
heirs.
21 Feb 1912
Formally claimed by U.S. (as part of Hawaii).
21 Oct 1921
Reclaimed for U.S. by Admiral W.H.H. Southerland
aboard West Virginia.
Nov 1939 - 1947
Occupied by U.S. military forces
15 Aug 1941
Palmyra U.S. Naval Air Station.
12 May 1947 U.S. Supreme Court restores Palmyra to the Fullard-Leo family.
21 Aug 1959
Hawaii becomes a state; but Palmyra remains as an Incorporated
Territory of the U.S. administered by U.S. Department of
Interior.
Jan 2000
Palmyra Atoll purchased by the Nature Conservancy for about $30
million. The Conservancy manages the atoll as a nature preserve
(taking possession 20 Nov 2000).
18 Jan 2001
The lagoons and surrounding waters within the 12 nautical mile
U.S. territorial seas were transferred to the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service (Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge).
6 Jan 2009 Part of Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
Island Commanders
Nov 1939 - Oct 1941
....
Oct 1941 - Jul 1942 William C.
Van Ryzin (b. 1914 - d.
2002)
Jul 1942? - Dec 1942 John C. Miller(?)
1942 - 1947 ....
Serranilla
Bank
1510
Serranilla Bank first shown on Spanish maps.
8 Sep 1879
Claimed by the U.S (located two hundred ten miles north
northeast of Nicaragua).
8 Sep 1972 Serranilla Bank specifically not mentioned by U.S. in list of guano
islands renounced to Colombia.
Territorial Disputes: Colombia
has not directly claimed Serranilla Bank but is on record as considering the
bank apart of the Providence Archipelago in the intendancy of San Andres y
Providencia; Honduras may have asserted its own claim over Serranilla (until
20 Dec 1999); also possibly claimed by Nicaragua, Honduras and Jamaica.
Wake Island: see separate Wake
Island
page
© Ben Cahoon
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