Edgartown Village Historic District

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Edgartown Village Historic District
Photo courtesy of mvlandscapes.com
Located on the island of Martha's Vineyard, the Edgartown Harbor Village Historic District covers an area of about 150 acres and contains approximately 500 buildings, exhibiting a mix of commercial, residential and industrial land uses. The vast majority of the district's buildings are wood-frame houses of the 19th and early 20th centuries designed by local builders and carpenters, as well as shipbuilders and whaling captains. Only five masonry buildings exist in the district, all of which are constructed of red brick. Architectural styles that are well-represented include vernacular timber-frame houses and cottages, the Federal style and the Greek Revival style. Less common, but equally significant are examples of later styles such as the Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts. The district possesses significant historic associations with the early settlement of Martha's Vineyard visible in the Captain D. Fisher House (circa 1704) on North Water Street, the Coffin-Dunham House on South Water Street and the Thomas Cooke House (circa 1765) on Cooke Street.

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Dr. Daniel Fisher house, Edgartown Village Historic District
Photo courtesy of Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust

Edgartown was the island's center for whaling activities, reaching its height between 1820 and 1865. Between 1835 and 1845 alone, 110 whaling captains built homes and lived in Edgartown. Other maritime-related industries, including fishing, salt manufacturing and candle making also strengthened the local economy during this period. The largest single maritime-related enterprise which grew up around whaling was the production of whale oil and candles by Dr. Daniel Fisher & Company. This company became Edgartown's largest industry in 1850 and the success is evident in the elaborate Greek Revival dwelling built for Dr. Daniel Fisher on Main Street. The affluence and influence of the area's ship captains is apparent in the extensive number of captains' houses, public buildings and churches that also were built during this period. Particularly noteworthy examples are the Captain Holmes Smith House on South Summer Street and the Captain Abraham Osborne House on Main Street (both circa 1840), the Dukes County Courthouse (1859) and the County Jail (circa 1860s), the Federated Church (1828) and the Whaling Church (1842).


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Edgartown Village Historic District
Photo courtesy of Betsy Friedberg, Massachusetts Historical Commission
At the time the whaling industry was in the last stages of decline, Martha's Vineyard's popularity as a summer resort was beginning in earnest. The first "summer cottages" appeared in Edgartown Village in the early 1880s, although the largest number and most lavish examples were built between 1895 and 1920. Edgartown and all of Martha's Vineyard gained widespread recognition as a resort community between the late 1920s and the early 1940s, when bungalow cottages and Colonial Revival style buildings began to appear as infill among the earlier buildings in the district. The Edgartown Village Historic District remains a popular resort area today.

The Edgartown Village Historic District is located in Edgartown on the southeastern side of the island of Martha's Vineyard, which lies approximately five miles off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts. It is situated on the west side of Edgartown Harbor and with exception of a small area extending out along Main Street, the majority of the district is bounded by Water St. and Pease's Point Way. The Edgartown Village Historic District is publicly accessible. For further information visit the city's website. Private residences are not open to the public.

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