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Destinations » North America » United States » Massachusetts » Martha’s Vineyard » City Guide: Historical Background

Martha’s Vineyard, MA » Historical Background

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The recorded history of Martha's Vineyard begins in 1524, when Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed by and may have landed, for he left a map of the island, labeled Luisa. It was Bartholomew Gosnold's expedition for Sir Walter Raleigh in 1602 that left the next written record. Two men from the expedition went ashore and reported on "the incredible store of vine and the beautie and delacie of the sweet soile." They also visited with Wampanoag natives ashore and found "our health and strength…renewed and increased." Gosnold named the island Martha's Vineyard for the prolific vines and, historians believe, his young daughter.

Forty years later, in 1641, the Rev. Thomas Mayhew of Watertown, Massachusetts purchased the island, along with Nantucket and the Elizabeth Islands, from two English noblemen for 40 pounds. The next year he sent his son with a group of settlers to establish the town of Great Harbour, which became today's Edgartown. These settlers found a large and economically stable native population of about 3,000 living in permanent villages.

Relations between the first settlers and their Wampanoag neighbors were peaceful. By 1660 there were about 85 Europeans living among the natives, earning their living by farming and fishing. The Mayhew family, which from that time forth became an integral part of island history, wanted to share their religion. The Wampanoags initially declined the offer, but eventually became curious. When a native named Hiacoomes expressed an interest, Mayhew invited him into his home and instructed him in English and Christianity. Hiacoomes, in return, taught Mayhew the native language.

Change was in the air though, for the world outside this small island was unsettled. There were more visitors from off the island and some stayed, challenging the Mayhew government, while Baptists and Methodists arrived to make converts from the established Congregational Church. By 1670, a fully organized Indian church had become active with Hiacoomes as pastor. Like the mainland towns, Martha's Vineyard had its "Praying Town" and schools had been established. But the native population had started to decline, partly because of disease brought by outsiders.

There was progress on the Island, despite the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The settlers fished, built boats, trapped schools of fish with wires, harpooned offshore whales, and developed related industries. Most island men were engaged in some marine activity, which included sailing on coastal schooners, packet boats and clipper ships, which traded in world ports. Also the Vinyarders were building larger ships to catch whales in deeper waters. The golden age of whaling, which last from 1790 to about 1890, had begun.

During the 19th Century, the waters around the island were some of the most traveled in the world. Sails of packet boats and fishing vessels were constantly parading on the horizon. Side wheelers paddled in visitors and freight. Steamers chugged in and out of the island's harbors. On one day in April 1889, anchored between East Chop and West Chop were five tugs, 54 schooners, one brig, five barges and many smaller craft. Some 60,000 sails passed by the island each year during daylight hours.

By 1914, with the opening of the Cape Cod Canal, Martha's Vineyard had reached its zenith as a marine center. The increasing movement of goods by rail began to take its financial toll. So many of the locals turned to another way of earning a living: catering to tourists.

Today, there are six towns on the island, and about 14,000 year-round residents. Come summer, island visitors increase the population to an estimated 85,000, not counting day-trippers.

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