Abandoned Towns

Not a town · Fairfield County, Connecticut

Cuties Island

A rocky islet in Westcott Cove whose roofless stonework once passed for a lost colonial settlement. It was a 1950s cottage.

41°02′08″N 73°30′36″W
Not a town

Cuties Island was never a town. It is a small island off Stamford, named Vincent Island by the USGS, where one summer cottage was finished in 1950 and burned in 1959; its stone base and fireplaces are what visitors took for ruins (Wikipedia, read October 2026).

The label

Why Cuties Island is called a ghost town

A long-running ghost town directory lists Cuties Island as a ghost town. Its contributor found two roofless stone buildings and a flagpole on an uninhabited island off Shippan Point, could find no record of who built them, and guessed they dated from colonial times. The record does exist. Wikipedia, citing a 2010 Stamford Advocate article, says the island was bought in 1945 by Paul Hurlburt Smart, a Darien lawyer and sailor, who built a cottage on it, finished in 1950. The stone base and fireplaces of that cottage are what remains. One family's summer place is not a town, colonial or otherwise.

History

Cuties Island then

Paul Hurlburt Smart (1915-1979) bought the island in 1945 and finished his cottage in 1950. Fishermen and campers used the island without his permission, and in 1959, while he was away for several months, the house burned down. In 1965 he sold the island to Paul and Diane Daddona. Wikipedia's account rests on a Stamford Advocate story of October 7, 2010, headlined as the island being for sale; we could not read that article, and no later owner is given. The 1960 and 1987 USGS Stamford sheets below name it Vincent Island, a speck in Westcott Cove between Cummings Park and Greenway Island.

1945. Paul Hurlburt Smart of Darien buys the island.

1950. His cottage is finished.

1959. The house burns down while he is away.

1965. Smart sells the island to Paul and Diane Daddona.

2010. The Stamford Advocate reports the island for sale (October 7).

Today

What is there now

The island is uninhabited. Wikipedia describes the stone base of the house and several stone fireplaces still standing, a beach on the north shore and a rocky, slippery south shore; the directory entry, undated, describes two roofless stone buildings and a flagpole. We found no dated report of a visit. The island has been in private hands since 1945 by the published record, and it can be reached only by water, so we give no directions to it. It lies in Westcott Cove off Stamford's shore, between Cummings Park and Cove Island.

Historic maps

Cuties Island on USGS maps, 1960–1987

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the map point. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Cuties Island, 1960
Stamford sheet, 1960, 1:24,000 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map

Where Cuties Island is

Cuties Island is reached only by boat. It is private, so this page gives its position and no route.

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Questions

Common questions

Is Cuties Island a ghost town?

No. It was never a town. One summer cottage stood on it from 1950 until it burned in 1959, and its stone base and fireplaces are what is left.

Are the ruins on Cuties Island colonial?

No. A ghost town directory entry guessed so, but the stonework is the base and fireplaces of Paul Smart's cottage, finished in 1950.

Can you visit Cuties Island?

It is reachable only by boat and has been privately owned since 1945 by the published record. We give no directions to land on it.

Nearby

Ghost towns and sites near Cuties Island

Straight-line distance to other mapped sites in our Connecticut index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, Cuties Island, read October 29, 2026: the listing in Fairfield County, the two roofless stone buildings and flagpole, the colonial guess, the north-shore beach and rocky south shore.
  2. Wikipedia, "Cuties Island", read October 29, 2026: Vincent Island, Paul Hurlburt Smart and the 1945 purchase, the cottage finished in 1950, the 1959 fire, the 1965 sale to Paul and Diane Daddona, the remains, the position between Cove Island and Cummings Park, citing the Stamford Advocate, "For sale: Stamford island offers off-shore retreat," October 7, 2010.
  3. USGS Geographic Names Information System, Vincent Island (feature 210704), queried through The National Map geonames service October 29, 2026: the name, island class and coordinates.
  4. Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, Stamford 1:24,000 (1960, 1987) sheets.

Photo and map credits