Martha's Vineyard of Rhode Island and Massachusetts takes about four and a half hours (270 minutes). In the era before modern highways and jet planes, travelers took New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad trains from New York City or Boston to Woods Hole or Hyannis, at which point they would embark on ferries to the island. Commuter airline Cape Air offers frequent service to the island via the Martha's Vineyard Airport (MVY). It provides year-round service to and from Boston, Hyannis, New Bedford, Providence, and Nantucket, and seasonal service to White Plains, New York. Additional air service is provided to New
Martha's Vineyard the Elizabeth Islands and the island of Nomans Land. The Vineyard was home to one of the earliest known deaf communities in the United States; consequently, a special sign language, Martha's Vineyard Sign Language, was developed on the island. The 2010 census reported a year-round population of 16,535 residents, although the summer population can swell to more than 100,000 people. About 56 percent of the Vineyard's 14,621 homes are seasonally occupied. Martha's Vineyard is primarily known as a summer colony, and it is only accessible by boat and air. However, its year-round population has considerably increased since the 1960s. The