Midway Island
Midway Island is in need of a coordinator. If you might be interested please contact us by using the link to the left.
As a military island, Midway once boasted a population of about 3000; it now has 120 after the US withdrew the naval base. Midway is now an official bird sanctuary; its current residents include the white gooney, black gooney, frigate bird, booby bird, fairy tern, brown noddy, black noddy and the mynah bird. The islands are being cleaned up by a skeleton crew whose job it is to eliminate waste material, greet visitors and encourage the many birds that populate the island. Former residents retain a strong bond with their island home and have created a special page dedicated to its memory and the people who used to live there.
Midway History
Discovered on 5 July 1859 by Captain N C Brooks, the island was named Middle Brook Islands. On 28 August 1876, Captain William Reynolds of the USS Lukawana took formal possession of the islands and renamed them Sand Island and Eastern Island. With no native populace, Midway's history may be traced through records in Hawaii. Click here to read more of Midway Island's history.
Midway Islands Maps
Situated in the Northern Pacific, Midway consists of Sand Island (three miles wide) and Eastern Island (about one mile). Brooks Channel separates Sand Island from Eastern Island, while there are two tiny islands that lie between these, named Gooney Island (after the Gooney bird) and Spit Island. Foul Ground marks the outer perimeter. The outer harbor was named Welles Harbor by Captain William Reynolds, after the Secretary of the US Navy and he named the Seward Roads, after the US Secretary of State, 1876.
