Martha's Vineyard AVA Martha's Vineyard AVA The Martha's Vineyard AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Dukes County, Massachusetts, including all of the land on the islands named Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick Island. These two islands are located off the southern Massachusetts coast, surrounded by Vineyard Sound, Nantucket Sound, and the Atlantic Ocean. The creation of the AVA in 1985 was controversial. Objections were lodged by the proprietors of a vineyard in California also named Martha's Vineyard, who felt that the creation of an AVA with the same name would dilute their brand value. Federal regulators ruled in favor of the AVA,
Martha's Vineyard Railroad Martha's Vineyard Railroad The Martha's Vineyard Railroad was a narrow gauge railroad on the island of Martha's Vineyard. It was built in 1874 to connect the Oak Bluffs wharf with the section of Edgartown known as Katama. The line closed in 1896. After the decline of the whale oil industry in the 1860s, the east coast island of Martha's Vineyard sought to develop a tourist trade. As part of this effort a gauge railroad was chartered in 1874 to take tourists across the island. The railway started at Oak Bluffs where steamships of the Old Colony Railroad docked and ran