Martha's Vineyard
Six towns on an island where everyone once signed.
- Year-round population
- About 20,500
- Summer population
- More than 200,000
- First settlement
- 1642, Great Harbor
Then
- Before 1600s
The Wampanoag call the island Noepe.
- 1602
Bartholomew Gosnold's expedition arrives; the island is probably named for his mother-in-law, Martha.
- 1642
Thomas Mayhew's son founds the first settlement at Great Harbor, later Edgartown.
- 1700s–1900s
Hereditary deafness is so common that hearing and deaf islanders alike use Martha's Vineyard Sign Language.
- 1800s
Whaling makes Edgartown prosperous, until petroleum undercuts whale oil by 1870.
- 1974
Steven Spielberg films Jaws in Menemsha and Chilmark.
Now
The island's six towns are Tisbury, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah, home of the Wampanoag and the clay cliffs. Oak Bluffs has been a summer haven for African American families since the early 1900s.
More than half the island's homes are seasonal, and life is expensive for year-round workers.
10 tide stations around Martha's Vineyard
- Cedar Tree Neck4.6 mi
- Martha's Vineyard GPS Buoy4.7 mi
- Vineyard Haven, Vineyard Hvn Hbr5.9 mi
- Menemsha Harbor, MA6.6 mi
- Edgartown7.0 mi
- Oak Bluffs7.1 mi
- Squibnocket Point7.9 mi
- Gay Head9.7 mi
- Wasque Point, Chappaquiddick Island10.2 mi
- Nomans Land12.2 mi