Edgartown Lighthouse

Records indicate that the people of Martha's Vineyard Island in Massachusetts were engaged in whaling as early as 1653, cutting up "drift whales." In the 19th century the Massachusetts towns of New Bedford, Nantucket and Edgartown were three of the busiest whaling ports in the state, if not the country. By 1775 the whaling vessels of Edgartown were realizing $150,000 a year from the industry. It was a dangerous industry.