Island in the Atlantic off the SE coast of Massachusetts, USA; part of Duke's County; area 280 km²/108 sq mi; chief town, Edgartown; former whaling and fishing centre; summer resort; so called because the first English settlers found an abundance of wild grapes growing here.
Martha's Vineyard (including nearby Chappaquiddick Island), is an 89.48 square mile (231.75 km²) island off the southern coast of Cape Cod and is often known simply as "the Vineyard". Located in the American commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Vineyard makes up most of Dukes County, Massachusetts (the rest of the county consists of Cuttyhunk and the other Elizabeth Islands and the island of Nomans Land). consequently, a special dialect of sign language, Martha's Vineyard Sign Language, developed on the island.
History
Originally (and still) inhabited by the Wampanoag Indians, Martha's Vineyard was known in their language as Noepe, or "land amid the streams". It was named Martha's Vineyard by the English explorer, Bartholomew Gosnold, who sailed to the island in 1602. Thus for a time Martha's Vineyard was officially named Marthas Vineyard, but the Board reversed its decision in the early 20th century, making Martha's Vineyard one of the few placenames in the United States today with a possessive apostrophe.
English Settlement had its orgins in the purchase of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands by Thomas Mayhew of Watertown, Massachusetts. Mayhew worked through the claims of two English "owners" of the islands and during his lifetime had friendly relations with the Wampanoags on the island in part because he was careful to honor their land rights as well.
The younger Mayhew began a relationship with Hiacoomes, an Indian neighbor, which eventually led to Hiacoomes' family converting to Christianity. During King Phillip's War later in the century the Martha's Vineyard band did not join their tribal relatives in the uprising and remained armed, a testimony to the good relations cultivated by the Mayhew's as the leaders of the English colony.
Indian literacy in the schools founded by Mayhew and taught by Peter Folger, the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin, was such that the first Native American graduates of Harvard were from Martha's Vineyard, including the son of Hiacoomes.
In 1683, Dukes County, New York was incorporated, including Martha's Vineyard.
Like the nearby island of Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard was brought to prominence in the 19th century by the whaling industry, sending ships around the world to hunt whales for their oil and blubber.
The linguist William Labov wrote his MA essay on changes in the Martha's Vineyard dialect of English.
The island received international notoriety on July 18, 1969, when Mary Jo Kopechne was killed when a car driven by U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy drove off the Dike Bridge (also spelled Dyke Bridge). The bridge connected Chappaquiddick Island (which is next to the Vineyard and generally thought of as part of it) with an isolated barrier beach.
On November 23, 1970, in the Atlantic Ocean just west of Aquinnah, Simas Kudirka, a Soviet seaman of Lithuanian nationality, attempted to defect to the United States by leaping onto a U.S. Coast Guard cutter from a Soviet ship.
Martha's Vineyard received further unwanted infamy on July 16, 1999 when a small plane crashed off its coast, claiming the lives of pilot John F.
Martha's Vineyard received more world-wide attention when U.S. President William J.
In 1974, Steven Spielberg filmed the movie Jaws on Martha's Vineyard.
Distressed over redistricting, in 1977, Martha's Vineyard tried to secede from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts along with the island of Nantucket to become the nation's 51st state .
On March 5, 1982, John Belushi died of a drug overdose in Los Angeles, California, and was buried four days later in Abel's Hill Cemetery in Chilmark.
In the summer of 2000, an outbreak of tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, resulted in one fatality and brought piqued the interest of the CDC who wanted to test the island as a potential investigative ground for aerosolized Francisella tularensis. Over the following summers, Martha's Vineyard was identified as the only place in the world where documented cases of tularemia resulted from lawn mowing.
Political geography
Martha's Vineyard is made up of six towns:
Tisbury, including the main village of Vineyard Haven in the town center Edgartown, which includes Chappaquiddick Island Oak Bluffs, often mistakenly referred to as Oaks Bluff West Tisbury, the "Athens" of the island. Vineyard Haven The West Chop Club, West ChopAccess
Martha's Vineyard is located approximately 3 miles off the southern coast of Cape Cod. There is regularly scheduled air travel (in season from June-October) from Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC to the Martha's Vineyard Airport.
Residents
Locals refer to Martha's Vineyard as "The Island" or "The Vineyard" and its residents as "Islanders" or "Vineyarders".
Its relatively small year round population has led to a very activist citizenry who are highly involved in the Island's day to day activities.
Due to its many high profile residents, movie stars, politicians, writers and artists also band together in fundraisers and benefits to raise awareness for the fragile ecosystem of the Vineyard.
The best known celebrities that live or frequently visit "The Island" are president Bill Clinton, comedian and talk show host, David Letterman, and musician Carly Simon.
Martha's Vineyard has also been or is home to a number of artists and musicians including Evan Dando, James Taylor, Willy Mason, and Unbusted, and Kahoots.
Scenic landmarks, stores and locations
Chilmark
Menemsha Harbor (sunset location of the island) Menemsha Pond (great for sailing of kayaking) the Bite ( #10 in nation fry shack) Remnants of the JAWS boats Lucy Vincent Beach (LVB) Arabella Boat tours Larsens Fish Market The Homeport Squid row Menemsha Deli The GalleyEdgartown
Edgartown Lighthouse The Wharf The Wharf Restaurant Mad Martha's Ice Cream Murdick's Fudge Dock Street Cafe Outerland (formerly The Hot Tin Roof) The Movie Theatre Edgartown Books The Chappy Ferry (as seen in the movie Jaws) Edgartown Yacht Club Edgartown Harbor Edgartown Seafood The Bike Shop Mad Max Boat Tours The Seafood Shanty The Sun Dog Letoile RestaurantKatama
Right Fork Diner at the Edgartown Air Field South Beach Katama General Store Mattakesett The Farm Institute The Boat Landing Katama Bay (popular for kayaking)Oak Bluffs
The Flying Horses Carousel (The oldest operating carousel in the United States) The Island and Strand Movie theatres Gingerbread Cottages Oak Bluffs Harbor Martha's Vineyard Ferry dock (Transport to Woods Hole, MA) Oak Bluffs Public Library East Chop Lighthouse Tabernacle Gazebo Hiawatha ParkWest Tisbury
Alley's General Store Summer IMPers performances at the Grange HallDick's Bait and Tackle
Lambert's cove beach (LCB) tri town dankAll Towns
The Black DogAnnual events
Edgartown
4th of July fireworks Edgartown Ghost Tour 12 Meter Boat Race at the Edgartown Yacht Club (Featuring many winning America's Cup boats) Year end sale at Candy Bazaar.Oak Bluffs
Illumination Night Oak Bluffs Harbour Festival July and August fireworks Oak Bluffs Ghost Tour Juneteenth Celebration at Oak Bluffs School, June 17th, 2006 Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament (covered on ESPN)Martha's Vineyard's success in Hollywood
Martha's Vineyard and the nearby Chappaquiddick Island played a major role in the sets of the movie Jaws. If you look hard enough in the movie you will be able to spot many of Martha's Vineyard's landmarks. The Inkwell is about a 16-year-old boy coming of age on Martha's Vineyard in the summer of 1976.
Also in the movie Stuck On You, the main characters are from Oak Bluffs.
Also on the television show Gilmore Girls there is an episode titled "A Vineyard Valentine" that takes place on the vineyard, however there are no recognizable landmarks.
The popular movie Sabrina, starring Harrison Ford, has several scenes filmed on Martha's Vineyard
Tourism
The Vineyard grew as a tourist destination primarily because of its very pleasant summer weather (during summers, the temperature rarely breaks 90°F) and many beautiful beaches.
Wealthy Boston sea captains and merchant traders formerly created estates on Martha's Vineyard with their trading profits. Today, the Vineyard has become one of the Northeast's most prominent summering havens, having attracted celebrities like The Clintons, Tom Welling, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jake Gyllenhaal and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ted Danson and Mary Steenbergen, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Peter Simon, Alfred Eisenstadt, Dan Aykroyd , Jim Belushi, and Donna Dixon, Spike Lee, Michael J.
Martha's Vineyard is one of the traditional resorts of U.S.'s African-American upper class. The center of black culture on Martha's Vineyard is the town of Oak Bluffs, where many African American celebrities own houses.
The island now boasts a year-round population of about 15,000 people in six towns; Martha's Vineyard Airport links the island to the mainland with scheduled air carrier service from US Airways and Cape Air.
The island has been designated an official American Viticultural Area and is home to the winemaker Chicama Vineyards in West Tisbury.
Other popular attractions include the annual Illumination festival in Oak Bluffs;
Genetic deafness and sign language
A high rate of genetic deafness was documented in Martha's Vineyard for almost two centuries.
Mixed marriages between deaf and hearing spouses comprised 65% of all deaf marriages in the late nineteenth century, (higher than the US average of 20%) and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language was commonly used by hearing residents as well as deaf ones until the middle of the twentieth century.
In the twentieth century, tourism became a mainstay in the island economy. Consequently, as intermarriage and further migration further joined the people of Martha's Vineyard to the mainland, the island community more and more resembled the wider community there.
The last deaf person born into the island's sign language tradition, Katie West, died in 1952, but a few elderly residents were able to recall MVSL as recently as the 1980s when research into the language began.
Education
Martha's Vineyard is served by Martha's Vineyard Public Schools.
Five of the six towns have their own elementary schools, while Aquinnah residents are closest to Chilmark's elementary school.
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, which is located in Oak Bluffs, serves the entire island.
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10 months ago
Does anyone recall an establishment called the Sea Horse Diner? It had a large wooden carved SeaHorse outside it on a post.