Martha's Vineyard

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 U.S. 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). It was home to one of the earliest known deaf communities; consequently, a special dialect of sign language, Martha's Vineyard Sign Language, developed on the island. The island is now primarily known as a summer colony, though its year-round population has grown quite considerably since the 1960s.

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. Gosnold's mother-in-law as well as his daughter, who died in infancy, were each named Martha. The original name of the island was Martin's Vineyard (after the captain of Gosnold's ship, John Martin); many islanders up to the 1700s called it by this name.

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 discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania produced a cheaper source of oil for lamps and led to an almost complete collapse of the industry by 1870. After the Old Colony railroad came to mainland Woods Hole in 1872, summer residences began to develop on the island. Although the island struggled financially through the Great Depression, its reputation as a resort for tourists and the wealthy continued to grow. There is still a substantial Wampanoag population on the Vineyard, mainly located in the town of Aquinnah. Aquinnah (which means "land under the hill" in the Wampanoag language) was formerly known as Gay Head but was recently renamed its original Indian name.

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. As a foot bridge, it was intended for people on foot and bicycles, as well as the occasional emergency vehicle when conditions warranted them. Currently, four wheel drive automobiles are allowed to cross the reconstructed bridge.

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. In what is known as a signficantly embarrassing incident in modern American history (prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union), the Coast Guard allowed a detachment of KGB agents to board the cutter, and subsequently arrest Kudirka, taking him back to the then-Communist Soviet Union.

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. Kennedy, Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette and her sister, Lauren Bessette. Kennedy's mother, former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, maintained a home in Aquinnah (formerly Gay Head) until her death in 1994.

Martha's Vineyard received more world-wide attention when U.S. President William J. Clinton spent vacation time on the island during his presidency, along with his wife, future US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter Chelsea. While the Clintons have made the Island famous in recent years, during the 1800's another famous President Ulysses S. Grant was also a summer visitor, staying in a Gingerbread cottage in the Methodist campground in Oak Bluffs.

In 1974, Steven Spielberg filmed the movie Jaws on Martha's Vineyard. Spielberg selected island natives Christopher Rebello for the part of Sheriff Brody's oldest son Michael Brody and Jay Mello for the part of the younger son Sean Brody. Scores of other island natives appeared in the film as extras. Later, scenes from Jaws 2 and The Revenge were filmed on the island as well. In June, 2005 the island celebrated the 30th anniversary of Jaws with a weekend long "JawsFest".

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. On his gravestone is the quote: "Though I may be gone, Rock 'N' Roll lives on". Due to the many visitors to his grave and the threat of vandalism, his body was moved elsewhere within the cemetery. Many people visit his grave and in the summer it is often littered with beer cans, joints and other "tokens" for Belushi.

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. The research may prove valuable in preventing bioterrorism.

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

Chilmark, including the fishing village of Menemsha

Aquinnah, formerly known as Gay Head.

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. Tourism, over development, politics and many other subjects are of keen interest to the community. Keeping the balance between the much needed tourist economy and the ecology and wildlife of the island is of paramount importance.

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.

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

Edgartown

Martha's Vineyard Buyer Agents
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
The Bike Shop
Mad Max Boat Tours
The Seafood Shanty
The Sun Dog

Katama

Right Fork Diner at the Edgartown Air Field
South Beach
Katama General Store
Mattakesett
The Farm Institute
The Boat Landing
Katama Bay (Great for Kayaking)
Plenty of Bike Paths

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

All Towns

The Black Dog
SplitRock Real Estate, LLC ~ Martha's Vineyard Exclusive Buyer Agents

Annual 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)

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 see many of Martha's Vineyard's landmarks in the movie. The stores and Chappy ferry in Edgartown are particularly visible. Even now, years after the filming of the movie, residents will tell you what it was like to be an extra in the movie. The casting crew of the movie took most of their extras from the residents of the Island.

The Inkwell is a 1994 romance-comedy-drama film, directed by Matty Rich. This movie stars Larenz Tate, Joe Morton, Suzzanne Douglass, Glynn Turman, and Vanessa Bell Calloway. The Inkwell is about a 16-year-old boy coming of age on Martha's Vineyard in the summer of 1976.

Tourism

The Vineyard grew as a tourist destination primarily because of its very pleasant summer weather (during summers, the temperature never 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, attracting celebrities like the Tom Welling Clintons, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Theodore M. DeBettencourt, Ted Danson and Mary Steenbergen, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Peter Simon, Alfred Eisenstadt, Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon, Spike Lee, Michael J. Fox, William F. Buckley, Alan Dershowitz, former US Senator Bill Bradley, Diana Ross, Beverly Sills, Art Buchwald, Walter Cronkite, Dorothy West, Mike Wallace, David Letterman, David McCullough, the late Katherine Graham, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the late Princess Diana.

Martha's Vineyard is one of the traditional resorts of U.S.'s African-American upper class. Due to a long history of racial harmony on the island, many black families started vacationing there a century ago. The center of black culture on Martha's Vineyard is the town of Oak Bluffs, where many African American celebrities own houses. Its main beach has been dubbed "The Inkwell" by African-American residents.

The island now boasts a year-round population of about 15,000 people in six towns; in summer, the population swells to 100,000 residents, with more than 25,000 additional visitors coming and going on ferries every day. The most crowded weekend is July 4. In general, the summer season runs from June to the end of August, correlating with the months most American children are not in school. 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; Katama Farm in Tisbury; and the Flying Horses in Oak Bluffs, the oldest carousel in the United States.

Genetic deafness and sign language

A high rate of genetic deafness was documented in Martha's Vineyard for almost two centuries. The island's deaf heritage cannot be traced to one common ancestor and is thought to have originated in the Weald, a region in the English county of Kent, prior to immigration. Researcher Nora Groce estimates that by the late 1800s, 1 in every 155 people on the Vineyard was born deaf (0.7 percent), almost 20 times the estimate for the nation at large (1 in 2,730, or 0.04 percent). Groce, Nora Ellen (1985). Everyone here spoke sign language: Hereditary deafness on Martha's Vineyard, Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674270401

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%). Lane, Harlan L., Richard C. Pillard and Mary French. Origins of the American Deaf-World: Assimilating and Differentiating Societies and Their Relation to Genetic Patterning. Sign Language Studies 1.1 (2000) 17-44. Online. Accessed via Project Muse on April 23, 2006 and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language was commonly used by hearing residents as well as deaf ones until the middle of the twentieth century. Bahan, B., and J. Poole-Nash. "The Signing Community on Martha’s Vineyard". Unpublished address to the Conference on Deaf Studies IV. Haverhill, Mass. 1995. Quoted in Lane 28 This allowed deaf residents to smoothly integrate into society.

In the twentieth century, tourism became a mainstay in the island economy. However, jobs in tourism were not as deaf-friendly as fishing and farming had been. 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.

The linguist, William Labov, wrote his MA essay on changes in the Martha's Vineyard dialect of English. The 1963 study is widely recognised as a seminal work in the foundation of sociolinguistics.