Vineyard Haven / Massachusetts / United States
The lens had been removed from the Gay Head lighthouse and was given to the Museum by the Coast Guard. The second new structure was a library building opened in 1954. As the collection continued to expand, a new wing was added to the library ( 1978 ) to house a permanent maritime exhibit as well as provide archival storage space. In 1989 the Captain Francis Pease House ( c. 1840 ) adjacent to the library was purchased. This building provided space for offices, collections storage, exhibitions, a conference room, and a museum shop. The present Edgartown campus is about one acre in size, and is located two blocks from the Whaling Church and the shops on Main Street. Beyond our on-campus buildings and exhibits, the Museum was given the stewardship of the Gay Head, East Chop, and Edgartown lighthouses in 1995. The Museum offers interpretive sunset tours of the Gay Head and East Chop lights on summer weekends. The MVM also owns a Catboat. This beautiful sailboat represents a time when Island families relied on these boats for their economic livelihood. The MVM offers charters of the boat during the summer months. In 2006, the organization decided to change its name from the Marthas Vineyard Historical Society to the Marthas Vineyard Museum. The new name is intended to better reflect the organizations mission and its extensive holdings of three-dimensional objects, archival documents, historic books and photographs, paintings, and museum exhibits. Indeed, the MVM is also seeking to expand its existing outreach programs.
