Martha's Vineyard

This stunning volume illustrates the history of the island from whaling hub to summer paradise with more than 200 vintage images.

 


During the nineteenth century, seafaring industries dominated the economy of Martha's Vineyard, with busy harbors hosting thousands of ships as they put in for refitting, supplies, and crew members. As the whaling boom diminished, religious revivalism and then tourism brought more and more summer visitors. By the twentieth century, the now familiar yearly cycle of quiet winters alternating with enormous bursts of activity and population in the summers was well established.


 


Bonnie Stacy, chief curator of the Martha's Vineyard Museum, has selected images from the museum's extensive photograph collection to illustrate the history of the island. This collection, donated through the generosity of islanders and visitors over the course of more than ninety years, represents an invaluable record of the Vineyard from the 1840s to the present day.