Edgartown, Massachusetts

The Edgartown Village Historic District is a historic district encompassing the traditional center of Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The district is roughly bounded by Water St. (North and South) and Pease's Point Way (North and South), and encompasses some 500 acres (200 ha). The buildings within the district primarily represent the period of Edgartown's growth in the 19th century, featuring the elaborate houses of wealthy ship captains, as well as significant public buildings such as the Dukes County Courthouse and Jail, the Federated Church, and the Whaling Church. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Edgartown was settled after the area was granted in 1641 to Thomas Mayhew, having previously been occupied by the Wampanoag people, and was incorporated in 1671, when Martha's Vineyard was part of New York. Only portions of First Period construction have survived in Edgartown; one example is the Captain D. Fisher House on North Water Street (c. 1704). Most of the 18th century houses that survive are vernacular in their construction methods; the Thomas Cooke House (c. 1765) is a typical Georgian five-bay house with a central chimney. Edgartown's heyday during the 19th century was roughly during the second quarter of the 19th century, when the whaling industry dominated its economy. As a result, a large portion of its architecture is in the most popular style from that time, the Greek Revival. However, side-hall plans that were typical of this time in other parts of Massachusetts were uncommon here, Most of the buildings from this period were cottages of one and a half stories, with modest styling such as corner pilasters. The Fisher House on Morse Street is probably the most elaborate Greek Revival house in the village. Because of the decline in the whaling industry and the village economy, there are comparatively few Victorian period buildings. Between 1895 and about 1930 a number of summer houses were built, predominantly in Colonial Revival styling.

The Black Dog is a restaurant and tavern in Vineyard Haven on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The restaurant was founded in 1971 and became well known for its souvenir T-shirts featuring the logo of the eponymous black dog. They subsequently expanded to sell other products with the same logo.

Edgartown is a census-designated place (CDP) comprising the primary settlement in the town of Edgartown, Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The CDP also includes the neighborhood of Clevelandtown. Edgartown was first listed as a CDP after the 2010 census with a population of 1,107

The Edgartown School is located on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Current enrollment stands at about 348. The school mascot is the Eagle. This school has a well-developed enrichment program which includes NAL, The math program "EPGY", Edgartown readers, KMO, etc. and mock trial. In February 2006 the boys' varsity basketball team won the island championship. In 2008 the girls' softball team won the island championship. The school recently built a new building, replacing the old red brick one of 50 years. The two school buildings are connected by the gym. The basketball team of 2008 came in second place. The volleyball team came in first place in 2008. In 2012, the lady's basketball team claimed first place. Also, in 2013 both the girls' and the boys' basketball teams won first place in the tough championships. 2013: Edgartown Boys vs Charter Boys. In 2014 the boys' basketball team came up just short in a final against Tisbury by a score of 47-33

Edgartown Harbor Light is a lighthouse located in Edgartown, Massachusetts, United States, where it marks the entrance to Edgartown Harbor and Katama Bay. It is one of five lighthouses on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The first lighthouse, a two-story wooden structure that also served as the keeper's house, was constructed in 1828. It was demolished, and replaced by the current cast-iron tower, in 1939. Originally located on an artificial island 1/4 miles (~ 400 meters) from shore, the lighthouse is now surrounded by a beach formed, since 1939, by sand accumulating around the stone causeway connecting it to the mainland.

Katama ( kə-TAY-mə) is a residential area in the town of Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the south shore of the island of Martha's Vineyard. It is bordered on the west by Edgartown Great Pond, on the east by Katama Bay (separating Katama from the island of Chappaquiddick) and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The word "Katama" comes from a Wampanoag word meaning "crab-fishing place." The terrain is a flat outwash plain, characterized by sandy soil and few trees. It is sometimes referred to as the "Great Plains."

Katama Airpark (FAA LID: 1B2) is a public airport in the Katama section of Edgartown, Massachusetts, in Dukes County on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The airport, owned by the Town of Edgartown, has three runways, averages 22 takeoffs and landings per day, and has one aircraft based on its field. Katama is one of three airports on the island. The main airport Martha's Vineyard Airport (MVY) is the only one with commercial service and handles the majority of the island's general aviation traffic. The third airport is the smaller Trade Wind Airport, a grass airfield in Oak Bluffs.

Chappaquiddick Island ( CHAP-uh-KWID-ik; Massachusett language: Noepetchepi-aquidenet; colloquially known as "Chappy”) is an island and occasional peninsula off the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard. Norton Point, a narrow barrier beach, connects Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick between Katama and Wasque (). Breaches occur due to hurricanes and strong storms separating the islands for periods of time. The two islands were connected as recently as January 1, 2026. While both land forms have mostly been connected to one another in modern history, Chappaquiddick is nevertheless referred to as an island. Visitors come to the isolated island for beaches, cycling, hiking, nature tours and birding, and the Mytoi Gardens, a small Japanese garden created amidst the native brush. Two fire trucks are stationed on the island from Edgartown. Chappaquiddick Road and Poucha Road, both paved, provide access to sandy, woodland roads, trails, and shorelines. Chappaquiddick became internationally known following an incident of the same name in 1969, when U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy accidentally drove his car off the island's Dike Bridge into Poucha Pond. Kennedy's 28-year-old passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, suffocated inside the car.

The Vineyard Golf Club on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, opened in 2002 and uses no synthetic pesticides, fertilizers , or herbicides making it the only organic golf course in the U.S. that uses organic turf management.

Mytoi (pronounced mee-toy) is a small Japanese garden in an open pine forest on Chappaquiddick Island, in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The Trustees of Reservations owns and maintains the property. The garden has a small pond with an island that is reached by an arched footbridge. The Trustees of Reservations acquired the property in 1976 as a gift from Mary Wakeman and extended it in 1981.

The Chappaquiddick incident occurred on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, United States, sometime around midnight between July 18 and 19, 1969, when Mary Jo Kopechne died inside the car driven by U.S. senator Ted Kennedy after he accidentally drove off a narrow bridge into Poucha Pond. Kennedy left a party on Chappaquiddick Island, off the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard, at 11:15 p.m. on July 18. He stated that his intent was to immediately take Kopechne to a ferry landing and return to a hotel in Edgartown, but that he made a wrong turn onto a dirt road leading to a one-lane bridge. After his car skidded off the bridge into the pond, Kennedy swam free and maintained that he tried to rescue Kopechne from the submerged car, but could not. Kopechne's death could have happened any time between about 11:30 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday. An off-duty deputy sheriff stated he saw a car matching Kennedy's license plate at 12:40 a.m. Kennedy departed from the crash site and failed to report the incident to the police until after 10 a.m. on Saturday. In the meantime, a diver retrieved Kopechne's body from Kennedy's car shortly before 9 a.m. that same day. At a court hearing on July 25, Kennedy pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident and received a two-month suspended jail sentence. In a televised statement that same evening, Kennedy said that his conduct immediately after the crash had "made no sense to me at all" and that he regarded his failure to report the crash immediately as "indefensible." A January 5, 1970, judicial inquest concluded that Kennedy and Kopechne had not intended to take the ferry and that Kennedy had intentionally turned toward the bridge, operating his vehicle negligently, if not recklessly, and at too high a speed for the hazard which the bridge posed in the dark. The judge stopped short of recommending charges, and a grand jury convened on April 6, returning no indictments. On May 27, a Registry of Motor Vehicles hearing resulted in Kennedy's driver's license being suspended for sixteen months. The Chappaquiddick incident became a national news item and influenced Kennedy's decision not to run for U.S. president in 1972 and 1976. Later, it was said to have undermined his chances of ever becoming president. Kennedy ultimately decided to enter the 1980 Democratic presidential primaries but earned only 37.6% of the vote, losing the nomination to incumbent president Jimmy Carter.

Wasque (, "way-squee") or Wasque Beach is a 200-acre (0.81 km2) nature reserve on Chappaquiddick Island, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The site was established as a reservation for the public in 1967 and is one of five conservation areas on "the Vineyard" managed by the Trustees of Reservations. Wasque contains a sandy strand the Boston Globe calls "a magnificent beach." Travel + Leisure named Wasque Beach the number one beach in New England and WHDH-TV reports "It's pristine, serene, and rain or shine, it's a beach-goers' delight." Off the shore of Wasque Beach is Katama Bay, "a vast and pristine salt water bay that includes many acres of productive shellfish beds."