Administered as part of American Samoa since 1925, the island is subject to an ongoing territorial dispute between Tokelau and the United States.

[2] It has not been permanently inhabited since 2008, but continues to be visited by members of the Jennings family, scientific researchers, and amateur radio operators.

[2] Swains Island was long believed to have been first charted on 2 March 1606 by Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, a Portuguese navigator who sailed for Spain.

On that date, he reckoned an island at 10°36′S 171°W, and his ship's historian named it Isla de la Gente Hermosa (Spanish for 'island of the beautiful people'), after its inhabitants.

[15][16][2] Captain William L. Hudson of the USS Peacock sighted Swains Island on 1 February 1841, during the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–42.

Swain of Nantucket who stated to me at Tahiti that he had seen it in passing—and in consequence of its being a considerable distance in latitude from, and not agreeing in size or character with the island described by Queros—in addition to this in view of it being peopled with a beautiful race—it is uninhabited and perhaps we are the first that have ever set foot upon it—thus much for its name.

[18][19] Other evidence suggests Obed Swain of whaler Jefferson of Nantucket, who was at Tahiti when the United States Exploring Expedition was there with the USS Peacock.

[2] The village of Etena (meaning 'Eden')[25] in the south contains the former residence of the Jennings family, also built in the 1880s but abandoned after a cyclone severely damaged it in 2005.

[28] Like other areas of its coastline, the United States claims a 200 nautical miles (370 km) exclusive economic zone around Swains Island, making up about a third of the U.S. EEZ in the South Pacific.

[29] The island has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding population of white terns.

The island is also home to coconut crabs, as well as several non-native invasive species, including Pacific rats and feral cats.

[31] In 2022, the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources received a grant to help eradicate non-native predators from Swains Island.

[33] Predator species, such as barracudas, jacks, and snappers, are also found near Swains Island, and sharks and humphead wrasse are frequently seen in its nearshore waters.

[38]: 22–23 Whalers from New England began visiting the island as early as 1820 to load fresh water from the atoll's lagoon.

[2]: 1 Captain William L. Hudson of the USS Peacock sighted the island on 1 February 1841, during the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–42.

[2]: 6 [25] In 1856, an American, Eli Hutchinson Jennings (14 November 1814 – 4 December 1878), arrived on Swains with his Samoan wife, Malia, who was from Upolu.

Originally from Long Island in New York, Jennings came to the Pacific as a whaler, eventually settling in Samoa where he became involved in local struggles over lineage after the death of Tamafaiga.

[40] Swains was considered a semi-independent proprietary settlement of the Jennings family (although under the U.S. flag), a status it would retain for approximately 70 years.

[41] Jennings also played an instrumental role in helping Peruvian "blackbird" slave ships depopulate the other three Tokelau atolls.

[41]: 52 [43] The demand came despite the HMS Egeria noting during its 1889 cruise through the Union and Phoenix Islands that the American flag was flying over Swains.

[44] Jennings paid, but brought the matter before the U.S. State Department and his money was ultimately refunded in 1911 when the British government conceded that Swains was an American possession.

The United States decided to give the right of administration jointly to Eli's daughter Ann and son Alexander.

[50] In 1953, labor troubles arose on Swains when Tokelauan-hired workers decided to claim "squatters' rights" to the atoll by virtue of having lived on it year-round.

In response, Alexander Jennings evicted 56 workers and their families from the island, leading the governor of American Samoa to intervene.

[68] In February 2005, Cyclone Percy struck the island, causing widespread damage and virtually destroying the village of Taulaga, as well as the old Jennings estate at Etena.

[70] A United States Coast Guard visit in March 2007 listed 12 to 15 inhabitants, and showed that the island's trees had largely survived the cyclone.

[71] Due to its remoteness, Swains Island is considered a separate amateur radio "entity"[72] and several visits have been made by ham operators.

Eventually the ARRL decided to approve Swains Island as a new "entity" based on the separation distance between it and American Samoa.

Every two years, Swains Islanders send one delegate to the lower house of the American Samoan territorial legislature.

[54][55] Styling themselves "leaders" or "proprietors", members of the Jennings family ruled Swains Island virtually independent of any outside authority from 1856 to 1925.