Time Machine Terms
May 9, 1952
Piratical Visitor to Barbary Coast
For more than a century, only one dwelling house stood in what is now the settlement of Eastville, on the eastern shore of Vineyard Haven harbor. The laying out of streets there did not begin until after 1834 - and the growth from then on was partly due to the influence of the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting at what is now Oak Bluffs, in 1835. The camp meeting landing was at Eastville.
May 9, 1952
Open Door Club Finds Its Niche: For 12 Years It Has Played An Important Role
Twelve years ago a group of men and women, domestic employees, who came to Edgartown, formed a club to provide a means of social contact which was otherwise lacking,. and to make possible pleasant use of leisure time. Fer the past five years the membership has been sixty-five. The idea of the club came from Louise Hayer of EngLwood, N. J. and has been improved upon by Edna and James Smith.
April 4, 1952
Marine Hospital Closes Its Doors and an Epoch Also
The United States Marine Hospital at Vineyard Haven ceased functioning on Tuesday, April 1, and on Wednesday afternoon the last patient was discharged.
February 29, 1952
A Momentous Week for the Clan of Cronig
Next week is a momentous one in the history of the Clan of Cronig, Vineyard Haven, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the market business by the elder of the family, Sam Cronig.
January 19, 1951
Electrification of Gay Head Is Progressing
Good progress on the electrification of Gay Head is reported by James M. Lumbert, superintendent of the Cape & Vineyard Electric Company. All the wire has been run, except for the tap and spur into the East Pasture. Of course this does not mean the end of the job for the linemen, who must now retrace their steps, tie the wire on the insulators, and make other finishing touches.
September 29, 1950
First Woman Jurors in the State Courts
For the first time in the history of the commonwealth, women sat on the jury of state court as superior court convened in Edgartown Tuesday for a three-day September term. Women were represented on both of the juries impaneled at the session.
Women have sat on juries in federal courts in this state, but so far as any state court is concerned, the Vineyard this week made history. Both Judge Vincent Brogna of Newton, who presided, and District Attorney Maurice M. Lyons of New Bedford, made formal recognition of this fact.
September 8, 1950
E.Y.C. Ball Has Theme of Denizens of Deep
The Edgartown Yacht Club’s gala festivity of the year took place Friday night at the club when children from 10 to 18, and an even greater number of adult spectators, gathered for the annual fancy dress ball. Carrying out the theme of Denizens of the Deep in Fact and Fiction, the decorations, painted by Ruth Appledoorn Mead’s art class, consisted of flat models of fish and other sea animals hung from the ceiling and adorning the walls. Balloons were also strung above the dance floor.
May 19, 1950
3,400 Visit New Ferry on Arrival
The new Vineyard ferry Islander arrived at Vineyard Haven yesterday afternoon, greeted with whistles from the Martha’s Vineyard, which lay at the dock, the whistles of the fleet of Taylor’s lighters, and blasts from assembled cars. All down-Island towns had displayed their flags throughout the day, and the visiting hours, together with music by the Vineyard Haven Band, followed during the early evening when more than 3,400 people inspected the boat.
May 12, 1950
Early Arrivals at Fire Scene Could Judge How Narrow the Saving Margin Really Was
Only the quick action of Capt. Samuel B. Norton, the skill and equipment of the Edgartown Fire Department, the aid of the sprinkler system just installed and not ready to function automatically, and one or two elements of chance such as a lack of wind and the time at which smoke and flames appeared over and through the building, prevented the destruction of the Harbor View Hotel in what was so nearly a disastrous conflagration late Wednesday afternoon.
April 7, 1950
Rink History of Oak Bluffs Goes Back to 1878, When Everyone Swooped Around on Roller Skates
The proposed revival of a roller skating rink in Oak Bluffs calls to mind the grandeur of the one that occupied a place of honor in that town from 1878 to 1892.
Roller skating became a craze in the early 1870’s, and the first roller rink in the country was built in Worcester by a wealthy promoter named Samuel Winslow who had invented a new and improved type of skate, in 1876. The idea caught on with great speed, and by the time the rink at Oak Bluffs was completed, just about every able-bodied individual in the country was swooping around on roller skates.
