Noepe meaning “land amid the waters” is the first documented name for The Island. This is how the Island’s Wampanoag tribe referred to their home. Carbon dating places the first “Islanders” here around 2270 B.C. – probably before it was an island!

When Bartholomew Gosnold discovered the island in 1602, it is believed that he dubbed the beautiful island “Martha’s Vineyard” after his baby daughter (and/or his mother-in-law who it is said financed his voyage) and the abundance of wild grapes that grew here. Thomas Mayhew bought the island in 1642, and the first white settlement was established at Great Harbour (now Edgartown). Under the leadership of his son, Thomas Mayhew Jr., a minister, the island’s Native Americans and white settlers lived in peace and flourished. The natives taught the settlers many things, including fishing and whaling.

Great Harbour became Edgartown in 1671, named for the young son of the Duke of York (the presumed heir to the English throne). Edgar was only 4, and died one month before the name was actually changed.

In the 1820’s, whaling blossomed as a profitable industry for Martha’s Vineyard; and successful whaling captains built many of the stately white mansions of Edgartown (currently lining Water St.) during this period.

In 1835 the Edgartown Methodists held the first camp meeting at the northern end of town… the popular idea became an annual event and Cottage City (now Oak Bluffs) eventually evolved from the campsite. This was the beginning of a new industry for Martha’s Vineyard as a summer retreat.

Tourism began to spread into Edgartown around the turn of the century,
and The Colonial Inn opened in 1911. Built by Thomas Henry Chirgwin as an upscale, in town resort, the Inn consisted of our current “Main Building” which housed 28 rooms and 3 dining rooms. The “small dining room” was for the owner’s family members along with the guests’ maids and chauffeurs. The “middle dining room” was utilized by the guests’ children and their nannies, and the “main dining room” was for the adult guests. The dining rooms served three meals a day, and there was 24-hour room service… but no alcohol was served in any of these outlets! There was a home called “The Bunker House” where our current Porch Wing is located, and this is where the owner/innkeeper lived.

Guests would come for a month at a time, or for the entire summer in those days… and over the years the Colonial Inn played host to many rich or famous people. Among them are Howard Hughes, Jacqueline Bouvier (as a child), John F. Kennedy (as a young man), Somerset Maughm, Joan Walsh Auglund, and
I.M. Pei.