Dukes County was a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

from 1683 to 1691. It was established on November 1, 1683, at the same time as Kings County, Queens County, and Dutchess County. It consisted of the

Elizabeth Islands The Elizabeth Islands are a chain of small islands extending southwest from the southern coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the United States. They are located at the outer edge of Buzzards Bay, north of Martha's Vineyard, from which they are ...

, Martha's Vineyard, and

Nantucket Island Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

, all east of Long Island. In 1691, the county was transferred to the newly formed

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

, where it was divided into

Dukes County Dukes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,600, making it the second-least populous county in Massachusetts. Its county seat is Edgartown. Dukes County comprises the Viney ...

and Nantucket in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Notes

* ''The Magazine of History with Notes and Queries'', Contributor and Publisher William Abbatt, v.22 1916 Jan-Jun, page 76
Simon Athearn’s 1694 rough Island map, now in the Massachusetts State Archives, was published in Arthur Railton’s The History of Martha’s Vineyard.
1683 establishments in the Province of New York 1691 establishments in the Province of New York Former counties of the United States History of Dukes County, Massachusetts History of Nantucket, Massachusetts Pre-statehood history of Massachusetts Pre-statehood history of New York (state) {{NewYork-geo-stub