The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority Vineyard and Nantucket that are not transported by air. The present Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority was formed from the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co., which in turn was a consolidation of earlier companies dating to the early 19th century, just before the railroad arrived. Early steamers included the "Marco Bozzaris", "Telegraph", "Massachusetts", "George Law", "Naushon", "Helen Augusta", "Metacomet" (1854), "Canonicus" (1856), "Eagle's Wing" (1854–1861), "Monohansett", "River Queen", "Island Home", "Martha's Vineyard", "Nantucket", "Gay Head", "Uncatena", "Sankaty", "Nobska", "New Bedford", "Naushon", "Mercury", and "Hackensack". The motor vessel retired in 2007. The last steamship in
Martha's Vineyard "land amid the streams". In 1642, the Wampanoag numbered somewhere around 3,000 on the island. By 1764, that number had dropped to 313. A smaller island to the south was named "Martha's Vineyard" by the English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold, who sailed to the island in 1602. The name was later transferred to the main island. It is the eighth-oldest surviving English place-name in the United States. The island's namesake is not definitively known, but it is thought that the island was named after Gosnold's mother-in-law or his daughter, both named Martha. The island was also known as "Martin's Vineyard" (perhaps