Martha's Vineyard was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the island of Martha's Vineyard during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Construction and design

Martha's Vineyard, a wooden-hulled sidewheel steamboat, was built by Lawrence & Foulks in Williamsburg, New York, in 1871. It was a 515-ton vessel, 185 feet long, with a 29' beam. A 1961 Vineyard Gazette article noted the beauty of the vessel: "The Martha's Vineyard...had decorated paddleboxes that made large, rhythmic and beautiful half-circles on the sides." as well as how exposed it was: " The Martha's Vineyard at first had no hurricane deck open to passengers, and eventually only a partial one." The same article also adds a quotation from 1871:

Service history

From 1871 until 1886, the Martha's Vineyard and the Monohansett were the only two ferries serving Martha's Vineyard. In March 1886 the Martha's Vineyard became one of the initial four steamers operating for the newly organized New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. (The other three were River Queen, Island Home and the Monohansett''.) In 1928, the steam-powered ferry Islander, which had begun service in 1923, was renamed Martha's Vineyard. It operated until at least the 1940s. In 1993, a new diesel-powered ferry named MV Martha's Vineyard started its service to Martha's Vineyard and Woods Hole. It is the third vessel to be named after Martha's Vineyard.

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