History
The island was first sighted in 1801; the name of its discoverer is unknown. An entry in Krusenstern's 'Hydrographie der grössern Ozeane' published in 1819 makes it clear, that the name 'Flint' does not stem from Capt. Keen in 1835, who in all probability already found the term on a navigational chart. Flint Island was claimed under the 1856 U.S. Guano Act but apparently never occupied. It was leased by the British to Houlder Brothers and Co., of London who carried out guano digging in the central part of the island from 1875 to 1880 under field manager John T. Arundel. The excavated areas have since filled with brackish water, forming two or three small lagoons. Coconut palms were planted on the island by Arundel in 1881 and copra was produced until 1891. The island was leased in 1911 to S.R. Maxwell and Co., Ltd. who employed 30 men and one manager to harvest copra from the approximately 30,000 coconut palms.
On January 3, 1908 a total eclipse of the sun was observed on the island by an expedition from the Lick Observatory in California. The observation point on the island was determined to be at 11°25′27″S 151°48′15″W / 11.42417°S 151.80417°W / -11.42417; -151.80417 latitude.
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