Chappaquiddick Island

This article is about the island. For the automobile fatality involving Ted Kennedy, see Chappaquiddick incident. For the film based on the incident, see Chappaquiddick (film).

Chappaquiddick Island

Native name: Noepetchepi-aquidenet Nickname: Chappy
Geography
Location	Peninsula and occasional island east of Martha’s Vineyard
Coordinates	41°22′N 70°28′W
Area	15.915 km2 (6.145 sq mi)
Length	7.96 km (4.95 mi)
Width	5.26 km (3.27 mi)
Highest elevation	28 m (92 ft)
Highest point	Sampson Hill
Administration
United States
State	Massachusetts
Dukes
Town	Edgartown
Demographics
Population	180
Additional information
Postal code	02539

Chappaquiddick Island (/ˌtʃæpəˈkwɪdɪk/ CHAP-uh-KWID-ik; Massachusett language: Noepetchepi-aquidenet; colloquially known as "Chappy"), a part of the town of Edgartown, Massachusetts, is a peninsula and occasional island off the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard. Norton Point, a narrow barrier beach, connects Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick between Katama and Wasque (/ˈweɪskwiː/). Breaches occur due to hurricanes and strong storms separating the islands for periods of time. The two islands most recently reconnected on December 31, 2023. While both land forms have mostly been connected to one another in modern history, Chappaquiddick is nevertheless referred to as an island.

Visitors come to the isolated island for beaches, cycling, hiking, nature tours and birding, and the MyToi Gardens, a small Japanese garden created amidst the native brush. Two fire trucks are stationed on the island from Edgartown. Chappaquiddick Road and Poucha Road, both paved, provide access to sandy, woodland roads, trails, and shorelines.

Chappaquiddick became internationally known following an incident of the same name in 1969, when U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy accidentally drove his car off the island's Dike Bridge into Poucha Pond. Kennedy's 28-year-old passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned inside the car.

Name and early settlement

The name Chappaquiddick comes from a Native American word "cheppiaquidne" meaning "separated island", so named because this island is separated from Martha's Vineyard by a narrow strait or gut. The island has been historically spelled "Chaubaqueduck" or, alternatively, "Chappaquidgick".

The island was once mainly the home territory of the Chappaquiddick band of Wampanoag Indians, and remained exclusively theirs well into the nineteenth century. They still have a reservation of about 100 acres (40 ha) (40 hectares) of brush land in the interior.

Early colonists settled Edgartown in 1642, and quickly proclaimed Chappaquiddick as village property. The first homes owned by people of exclusively European descent were built around 1750; these residents raised livestock and farmed the land.

Geography

Toms Neck Road on Chappaquiddick Island

Looking west from Cape Poge Lighthouse

The Trustees of Reservations, a non-profit conservation organization, owns and manages nearly 1,000 acres (405 ha) of land from the southeastern point, Wasque, to Cape Poge, at the northeast. Wasque is a popular fishing spot for catching bluefish, striped bass, and other species. The Cape Poge Lighthouse, first erected in 1801, has served ships navigating the shoals and shallows of Muskeget Channel.

Chappaquiddick is mainly defined by its diverse land and water ecologies with expansive salt marshes, ponds, red cedar woods, grassy meadows, and coastal wildlife including sandpipers, piping plovers, blue heron, osprey, and oysters. The main interior bodies of water include Cape Poge Bay, Katama Bay, and Poucha Pond, all salty.

While the island has continually faced shifting coastlines due to ocean currents, storm surges, and astronomical tides, the 21st century has presented new erosion challenges, particularly to Wasque Point which, during the Patriots' Day Storm of 2007, was battered severely. Between 2007 and 2013, approximately 40 acres (16 ha) of land were lost at Wasque, where currents eroded bluffs, swallowed Swan Pond, damaged shoreline trails, and threatened a residence.

Chappaquiddick is located at 41°22′34″N 70°28′33″W. The United States Census Bureau defines it as Block Group 1, Census Tract 2003 of Dukes County, Massachusetts. It has 15.915 km² (6.145 sq mi) of land. Administratively, it is part of the town of Edgartown and Dukes County.

The Occasional Island

Date Range		Status	Length of Time	Event
Before 1750	1800	Island	more than 140 years
1800	1800	Peninsula	less than 1 year
1800	1869	Island	69 years
1869	1886	Peninsula	17 years
1886	1903	Island	17 years
1903	1921	Peninsula	18 years
1921	September 1938	Man-Made Breaches	29 years
September 1938	1951	Island	13 years	1938 New England hurricane
1951	1953	Peninsula	2 years
1953	1969	Island	17 years
1969	1976	Peninsula	7 years
1976	1977	Island	1 year
1977	April 17, 2007	Peninsula	30 years
April 17, 2007	April 2, 2015	Island	7 years, 11 months, 16 days	April 2007 nor'easter
April 2, 2015	December 27, 2022	Peninsula	7 years, 8 months, 25 days
December 27, 2022	December 31, 2023	Island	1 year, 4 days	High winds and tide
December 31, 2023	Present	Peninsula

Population

The On Time II shuttling passengers between mainland Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick

As of the census of 2010, there were 179 people residing on the island. The racial makeup was 93.3% White, 1.7% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.6% Asian, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.2% of the population.

Socially, its residents form a tight-knit community and see themselves as distinctly separate from the rest of Edgartown. Longtime residents speak of "going to the mainland" when they travel to Edgartown and of "going to America" when (for example) they travel to Boston or Cape Cod.

Access to the island is served by privately owned barge-like ferries named the On Time II and On Time III which shuttle pedestrians, bicycles, and up to three cars at a time between Chappaquiddick and Edgartown, on Martha's Vineyard. Two ferries run during the summer months and one during the off-season. Oversand access is possible with four-wheel drive vehicles and on foot on the south shore when the islands are connected and conditions permit.

Ted Kennedy incident

Main article: Chappaquiddick incident

Chappaquiddick Island gained international attention on July 19, 1969, when the body of Mary Jo Kopechne was discovered inside an overturned Oldsmobile 88 off Dike Bridge in Poucha Pond. The car belonged to U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, who claimed that he had taken a wrong turn and accidentally driven it off a bridge late the previous night. He did not report the accident to the police for ten hours. A January 1970 judicial inquest into Kopechne's death found that Kennedy's turn toward the bridge was intentional, and he operated his car in a manner "at least negligent and possibly reckless". A grand jury investigation was held in April 1970; no indictments were issued. Dike Bridge was closed until 1995. In 2017, a film based on the incident was released with many scenes filmed on Chappaquiddick itself and in Edgartown.

See also

• Cape Poge Light
• Edgartown Yacht Club

External links

• Martha's Vineyard Vacation Tips
• Chappy Ferry website
• Chappaquiddick Wampanoag
• Mytoi Gardens
• Wasque Reservation