Time Machine Terms
August 30, 1991
The Changing Island Face: A Storm’s Surgical Srike
Usually the brush is so think this time of year one can hardly bushwhack from the shore to the remnants of the Menemsha Hills brickworks.
These aren’t usual days.
Now one just has to watch for all the debris and driftwood littering the downed brush when walking from the beach to the brickworks.
Behind the brickworks and to its sides the brush remains green and virulent. But Hurricane Bob leveled the vegetation directly before the former factory.
August 27, 1991
Hurricane Bob Brings Harvest of Sorrow
The shock waves of last week’s storm are still rippling through Island fields as farmers anxiously watch their crops to see the extent of the damage.
Scorched leaves and windblown plants are the legacy of Hurricane Bob across the Island. Farmers are now harvesting the remainders of some crops and continuing to market their goods. Many say the storm came at the peak of an excellent season, eradicating some crops that would otherwise have continued through the fall.
August 23, 1991
Hurricane Losses Top $5.5 Million; State Seeks Relief
Martha’s Vineyard officials estimate Hurricane Bob cut a $5.5 million path of destruction when it tore through the Vineyard Monday afternoon. Civil defense directors rushed preliminary figures to Boston Wednesday in time for acting Gov. Paul Cellucci’s request that the President declare the state a national disaster area.
Town leaders received notice from the state Wednesday that they had just 24 hours to compile the first damage report, which set the preliminary cost of cleanup and repair of public facilities at $2.5 million.
August 23, 1991
Recovery from Hurricane Begins, Day by Day
The main commercial centers of the Vineyard had power restored by late yesterday as Islanders began the slow process of hurricane recovery, and Commonwealth Electric Company officials said they expect 80 per cent of the power to be restored to the six towns by the weekend.
August 21, 1991
Passage of Hurricane Through Harbor Leaves a Broad Trail of Wrecked Boats
It was the Vineyard’s first resort season hurricane and Edgartown harbor paid dearly for its popularity Monday afternoon.
The last great tropical storm to wrack the Edgartown harborfront came in 1944. Then, the town was still mostly a fishing village, and the lumber on the beaches was made up of timber piers and the shacks of working men.
August 21, 1991
Damage in Millions; Worst Destruction Is Seen on Harborfront
The earliest hurricane in New England history roared up the East Coast Monday, plowing across Martha’s Vineyard with harbors full and seasonal population at its peak. Hurricane Bob lashed the Island with winds officially clocked at 98 miles per hour and reported in places as high as 110.
June 11, 1991
Banks Make Trust Move
The Dukes County Savings Bank has opened a trust department in North Tisbury, restoring local trust services to the Vineyard.
The Martha’s Vineyard National Bank sold its trust department in March, effectively shutting the Island’s only trust department.
“We think this is a service that should remain on Martha’s Vineyard,” Edward Mayhew, president of the Dukes County Savings Bank, said this week.
November 23, 1990
Beefy Nantucket Team Wins Battle of the Islands for 1990
It is easier to be philosophical when the winners are celebrating across the Sound with the Island Trophy, but there were good signs in the Vineyard's performance against Nantucket on Saturday.
The 38-14 Whalers victory at Memorial Field on Nantucket assured them' a slot in the Division 5 superbowl and a 10-0 season. Yes, they are fast and big and the defensive line was relentless, but Martha's Vineyard is one of only two teams to score more than 8 points against them all year.
May 25, 1990
Historical Society Studies Genealogy of the Portuguese
More than 2,000 Portuguese family histories are included in a manuscript being prepared by the Dukes County Historical Society.
The document chronicles the arrival of Portuguese immigrants to the Vineyard, particularly the whaling crews recruited in the Azores and Cape Verde in the 19th century. It includes mention of approximately 7,000 individuals and 2,350 families, whose descendents today make up a significant portion of the Island’s year-round population.
May 4, 1990
Gazette Purchases Martha’s Vineyard Glossy Magazine
The Vineyard Gazette announced late yesterday the purchase of Martha’s Vineyard Magazine from WEM Publishing Inc. The newspaper will take control of the magazine effective June 1.
William E. Marks, publisher and founder of the five-year-old publication, will bring out his last issue of the magazine late this month. The first issue of the magazine under Gazette direction will appear on newsstands and in the mailboxes of subscribers in July.
