Photographer J. A. French (died ca. 1899) took many historic pictures of the Island during the years 1861-1898. Mr. French called his cottage Westmoreland, named for his New Hampshire birthplace. It was located on Wendell avenue in front of Twin Cottage in the Oak Bluffs Highlands, and just behind our family’s cottage. When his house burned down some years ago, my uncle rescued some of his old photos from the ruins and others I have found at the Cheshire County Historical Society in Keene, N.H., where Mr. French’s photographic studio was located.

On Sunday morning, a huge nine-by-17-foot United States flag will be hung at an Eastville home as part of one family’s Fourth of July tradition. The flag, which has 46 stars and is thought to be 100 years old, is known inside the Rowan family as the 1910 Battleship Flag.

A descendant of Abigail Luce Smith, Christine Smith Rowan lives year-round at 178 New York avenue with her husband Chris Rowan. They are originally from Connecticut.

Eastville was the first populated area within the present town of Oak Bluffs. A map of 1781 showed thirty-two houses in the general region, most of them at Eastville. An 1850 map showed twenty-six houses at and near Eastville. The first census listing a population for the area was that of 1880, and it showed a population of 672, and by this time the settlement of Cottage City had passed Eastville.