West Chop

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2005 aerial view of West Chop.
2005 aerial view of West Chop.
"The Cedars," a turn-of-the-century hotel at West Chop, as it appeared in the early 1900s.
"The Cedars," a turn-of-the-century hotel at West Chop, as it appeared in the early 1900s.

West Chop is a residential area located in the town of Tisbury, Massachusetts on the north end of the island of Martha's Vineyard. It is a peninsula surrounded on the North and West by Vineyard Sound and on the East by Vineyard Haven Harbor. A lighthouse, West Chop Light, stands at the north end of the chop. It is accessible by car from Vineyard Haven by two roads, Franklin Street and Main Street.

West Chop has no obvious commercial businesses or stores, although it has its own zip code (02573) and a seasonal post office. It also has a private seasonal country club, the West Chop Club, and a nine-hole golf course, Mink Meadows Golf Club. There is also a small graveyard, the West Chop cemetery.

West Chop has been a popular summer resort area since the late 1800s, and has been the summer home to many notable residents, including Panama Canal engineer Gen. George W. Goethals[1][2][3], Yale president and U.K. ambassador Kingman Brewster, Jr.[4], United States Secretary of the Air Force James Douglas[5], composer George Chadwick[6], and New Jersey senator Frank Lautenberg[7].

In the 1890s, a steamboat wharf with regular steamship landings from the mainland, two hotels, a bowling alley, a billiard hall, and tennis courts existed at the West Chop summer colony[8], but today only the club's tennis courts and small private docks remain.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Flemish-American heroes
  2. ^ 1914 Map of Vineyard Haven, Mass. - Section #2C: East of Main Street, South of Crocker Ave., North of Owen Park
  3. ^ Vineyard Gazette Online
  4. ^ From Martha's Vineyard National Bank to Around West Chop
  5. ^ From Martha's Vineyard National Bank to Around West Chop
  6. ^ From Martha's Vineyard National Bank to Around West Chop
  7. ^ Martha's Vineyard Hotel, Martha's Vineyard Inn, Martha's Vineyard Bed and Breakfast, Thorncroft Inn, Marthas Vineyard Island, (800)-332-1236
  8. ^ Hough, Henry Beetle. Martha's Vineyard, Summer Resort 1835-1935. (Tuttle Publishing Co., 1936)

[edit] References

  • Hough, Henry Beetle. Martha's Vineyard, Summer Resort 1835-1935. (Tuttle Publishing Co., 1936)
  • [1] West Chop Lighthouse
  • [2] Maritime History of Massachusetts
  • [3] The Lighthouses of Martha's Vineyard


This Massachusetts state location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.