[4] Attractions include hiking trails, beaches, the Civil War-era Fort Warren, and Boston Light, the oldest lighthouse station in the United States.

The islands’ rich variety of resources, including shellfish, migratory birds, nut-bearing trees, fish, seals, and mammals like deer and raccoon, made them ideal places for temporary settlements.

Prehistoric people also practiced controlled burning, woodcutting, and plant collecting, using traditional subsistence methods that made minimal impacts on natural resources.

With inadequate shelter and food, about half of them died due to starvation or exposure while others were sold into enslavement in the West Indies.

Today, descendants of the Tribal Nations involved in King Philip's War meet yearly on Deer Island to commemorate their ancestors’ suffering.

Since the 17th century the islands have been locations for many institutions, including quarantine hospitals, almshouses, reform schools, military prisons, and internment facilities.

The park boundaries also include sites of former lighthouses and range lights that are no longer standing, some of which have been replaced by modern structures.

[21] Humpback, fin, minke, and North Atlantic right whales are occasional visitors to the harbor along with other marine mammals like porpoises and dolphins.

Native trees include eastern cottonwood, quaking aspen, northern red oak, bitternut hickory, and sassafras, among many others.

The partnership consists of individual members who represent a range of federal, state, city, and nonprofit agencies, including: Apart from the representative for the Coast Guard, who is appointed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, all the members of the partnership are appointed by the Secretary of the Interior after consultation with the appropriate agency or other body.

[31] Boston Harbor City Cruises offers ferry service from Long Wharf to Georges and Spectacle Islands.