The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquired the land for the Nantucket National Wildlife Refuge in 1973 under the "Act Authorizing the Transfer of Certain Real Property for Wildlife or Other Purposes" from the U.S. Coast Guard. Part of a larger sand spit known locally as "Great Point," the refuge consists of an approximately 21-acre parcel of land at the tip of the spit that is accessible through the adjacent 1,117-acre Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge to the south.