The Noman’s Land Range was a former naval bomb range for aviators, located on

Nomans Land Nomans Land (Wampanoag: ;; also mapped "No Man's Land," "No Mans Land," or "No Man's island"), is an uninhabited island 612 acres (248 ha) in size, located in the town of Chilmark, Dukes County, Massachusetts. It is situated about ...

, in Chilmark, Massachusetts.

History

An airfield was constructed by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

on the southern edge of the island between November 1942 and May 1944, and the island was used, beginning in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, as Nomans Land Range for 53 years, 1943-1996. The airfield was abandoned by the U.S. Navy sometime between 1945 and 1954. In 1952 the island was sold by the Crane family to the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

. The eastern third of the island has been managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) since 1975. Following an effort to clear the island of ordnance in 1997 and 1998, the rest of the island was transferred to the FWS for use as a wildlife refuge, primarily for migratory birds. It now forms

Nomans Land Island National Wildlife Refuge The Nomans Land Island Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located on Nomans Land, a island off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. It is part of the town of Chilmark, in Dukes County. The Island is long ea ...

. Two

restricted airspace Restricted airspace is an area of airspace typically used by the military in which the local controlling authorities have determined that air traffic must be restricted or prohibited for safety or security concerns. It is one of many types of s ...

areas, R-4105A and R-4105B, overlaid the island due to the site's former use as a range. These restricted areas were revoked in October 2014.

References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite news , last1 = MacQuarrie , first1 = Brian , date = 2021-07-12 , title = Officials want it to stay Nomans Land , url = http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/12/officials_want_secluded_island_to_remain_no_mans_land/ , url-status = live , work =

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

, language = en-us , location =

, page = 1 , issn = 0743-1791 , oclc = 66652431 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210317234700/http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/12/officials_want_secluded_island_to_remain_no_mans_land/ , archive-date = 2021-03-17 , access-date = 2021-11-02 , quote = , df = dmy-all

External links

Nomans Land Island National Wildlife Refuge
at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service site *
Annals of Chilmark
',

. From ''The History of Martha's Vineyard'', Volume II by Dr. Charles E. Banks. 1911. Installations of the United States Navy in Massachusetts Military installations closed in the 1990s Bombing ranges Buildings and structures in Dukes County, Massachusetts Martha's Vineyard Closed installations of the United States Navy

History

See also

References

External links