With its 50th anniversary this summer, the Sippican Historical Society Museum is revisiting icons of Marion’s past. To get the celebration started, the museum recently opened an exhibit on the rich history of Marion’s Bird Island.

The history of the island has always been of popular interest in Marion, said Kimberly Teves, Executive Director of the museum.

“We’ve been accumulating items on Bird Island for years and years. It was time to launch an exhibit. It’s something we’ve always wanted to revisit,” Teves said.

While gathering artifacts and photographs of the island’s past, Teves and Curator Pete Smith uncovered a number of surprising finds.

The lighthouse, built on the island in 1819 for $4,040, served as a beacon guiding ships into port for 114 years until it was taken out of service.

During its heyday in the 1800s, the lighthouse had more than a dozen keepers. One of which was  convicted pirate William S. Moore, who was also rumored to have murdered his wife on the island.

Another find is an old linen duster worn by Charles A. Clark, a keeper of the lighthouse from 1872 to 1891, Teves said.

Lighthouse keepers were required to wear dusters while working with the lamp so that the lens would be dust free.

Hurricanes and other storms have taken a toll on the island. Since the lighthouse was constructed, the island has decreased in size from five acres to only one.

“It went from a place of many buildings and was vastly inhabited to nothing now,” Smith said. “The storms we’ve had just washed it away.”

Other artifacts on display include a logbook of all the vessels that passed through the harbor in 1866, a brass bell used as an emergency signal on the island, postcards, and a number of photographs.

Today, the island serves as home to endangered roseate terns. The island serves as the largest breeding colony of the terns in the U.S.

The exhibit will be on display until the summer, which happens to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the museum.

“We have so many summer visitors. A lot of them come to town on boats and pass Bird Island,” Teves said. “[The exhibit] is an interesting look at it.”

For more photos of the exhibit, check out the photo gallery.