In the year of 1642, Rev. Thomas Mayhew, Jr. brought a crowd of the family units to establish a colony on this island when his father, Mr. Thomas Mayhew, obtain this piece of land. It is interesting to know that in the beginningthsi palce was called as the Great Harbor and it was added in the year 1671. It is one of the 2 original towns on The Vineyard in addition of Tisbury.
The present name of this town, Edgartown, is after the son of James II of England and it was given in honor of that boy since he passed away at the age of only 3 years in 1671.
The younger Mayhew started his task which resulted in his becoming of the initial church planting Protestant missionary when he resided in the Edgartown permanently accompanying a Wampanoag Indian known as Hiacoomes from a close resident area.
This town is renowned as one the main ports for the whaling industry for the duration 1800s. The ship from other parts of the used to come in the secluded bay and the captains used to construct the majestic houses for their families with flamboyant which were known named as ‘widow's walks’.
There was a legend made that the wives of the sailors and captain used to wait and see for several months from the small rooms expecting that their men would come home from the oceans. We don’t have any verification that ‘widow's walks’ were planned or often used for this reason. They were constructed near the chimneys of the dwelling place which made it effortless reach to the structure permitting the dwellers of the home to dispense sand down the torching chimneys in case a chimney fire to avoid the house from burning.
Today, Edgartown is a nicely build place with the room for tourist and this is why you can find Edgartown hotel as well in this area which is available at reasonable rates.
