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Edgartown Harbor Light

Lighthouses completed in 1828Lighthouses completed in 1939Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in MassachusettsMartha's VineyardNational Register of Historic Places in Dukes County, Massachusetts
Tourist attractions in Edgartown, MassachusettsUse American English from July 2025Use mdy dates from January 2025
EdgartownLight2006Dawn
EdgartownLight2006Dawn

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.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Edgartown Harbor Light (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Edgartown Harbor Light
North Water Street,

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Latitude Longitude
N 41.390847222222 ° E -70.503022222222 °
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Edgartown Harbor Light

North Water Street 121
02539
Massachusetts, United States
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Edgartown Village Historic District
Edgartown Village Historic District

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.

Chappaquiddick incident
Chappaquiddick incident

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.