The first documented English landing goes to Christopher Levett, whose crew of about 300 fishermen in six ships found the Shoals a barren camp site in 1623. Eventually a number of famous Seacoast families, including founder David Thompson, used the Shoals as a stepping stone to successful businesses on the mainland. After building Fort Star as early protection against Native Americans, the Isles industry thrived, rivaling other early ports like Boston for sheer volume of exported goods. In fact, the little islands are the result of a great glacier that scraped out an especially deep pocket of water. The first European owners of the region were very aware of both fish schools and the nearby fishing shoals.
Historians still disagree on the derivation.
Rich land speculators Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason were granted royal title to all the key colonies from Virginia to Maine. In fact, the potential profits were so great that the investors surgically divided their property down the center. Half the Isles of Shoals ended up in the royal province of New Hampshire, the other half in Maine. Some suggest the population may have risen to 1,000 residents. There, after much petitioning, they formed the town of Gosport which remained largely ungoverned.