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Chappaquiddick Island ( ;
Massachusett language The Massachusett language is an Algonquian languages, Algonquian language of the Algic languages, Algic language family that was formerly spoken by several peoples of eastern coastal and southeastern Massachusetts. In its revived form, it is s ...
: ''tchepi-aquidenet''; colloquially known as "Chappy”) is a peninsula and occasional island off the eastern end of
Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...
. Norton Point, a narrow barrier beach, connects Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick between Katama and Wasque (). Breaches occur due to hurricanes and strong storms separating the islands for periods of time. The two islands most recently reconnected on December 31, 2023. While both land forms have mostly been connected to one another in modern history, Chappaquiddick is nevertheless referred to as an island. Visitors come to the isolated island for beaches, cycling, hiking, nature tours and birding, and the MyToi Gardens, a small Japanese garden created amidst the native brush. Two fire trucks are stationed on the island from Edgartown. Chappaquiddick Road and Poucha Road, both paved, provide access to sandy, woodland roads, trails, and shorelines. Chappaquiddick became internationally known following an incident of the same name in 1969, when
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...
accidentally drove his car off the island's Dike Bridge into Poucha Pond. Kennedy's 28-year-old passenger,
Mary Jo Kopechne Mary Jo Kopechne (; July 26, 1940 – July 18 or 19, 1969) was an American secretary, and one of the campaign workers for U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign, a close team known as the " Boiler Room Girls". In 1969, she ...
, suffocated inside the car.


Name and early settlement

The name Chappaquiddick comes from a Native American word "cheppiaquidne" meaning "separated island", so named because this island is separated from Martha's Vineyard by a narrow
strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...
or gut. The island has been historically spelled "Chaubaqueduck" or, alternatively, "Chappaquidgick". The island was once mainly the home territory of the Chappaquiddick band of the
Wampanoag people The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and formerly parts of eastern Rhode Island.Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Isl ...
, and remained exclusively theirs well into the nineteenth century. They still have a reservation of about (40 hectares) of brush land in the interior. Early colonists settled Edgartown in 1642, and quickly proclaimed Chappaquiddick as village property. The first homes owned by people of exclusively European descent were built around 1750; these residents raised livestock and farmed the land.


Geography

The
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
defines it as Block Group 1,
Census Tract A census tract, census area, census district or meshblock is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Sometimes these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exis ...
2003 of
Dukes County, Massachusetts Dukes County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 20,600, making it the List of counties in Massachusetts#List of Counties, second-least populo ...
. It has 15.915 km2 (6.145 sq mi) of land. Administratively, it is part of the town of Edgartown and Dukes County.
The Trustees of Reservations ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
, a non-profit conservation organization, owns and manages nearly of land from the southeastern point, Wasque, to Cape Poge, at the northeast. Wasque is a popular fishing spot for catching
bluefish The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...
,
striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...
, and other species. The Cape Poge Lighthouse, first erected in 1801, has served ships navigating the shoals and shallows of Muskeget Channel. Chappaquiddick is mainly defined by its diverse land and water ecologies with expansive salt marshes, ponds, red cedar woods, grassy meadows, and coastal wildlife including
sandpipers Scolopacidae is a large family of shorebirds, or waders, which mainly includes many species known as sandpipers, but also others such as woodcocks, curlews and snipes. Most of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soi ...
, piping plovers, blue heron,
osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...
, and
oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of Seawater, salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in Marine (ocean), marine or Brackish water, brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly Calcification, calcified, a ...
. The main interior bodies of water includ
Cape Poge BayKatama Bay
an
Poucha Pond
all salty. While the island has continually faced shifting coastlines due to ocean currents, storm surges, and astronomical tides, the 21st century has presented new erosion challenges, particularly to Wasque Point which, during the Patriots' Day Storm of 2007, was battered severely. Between 2007 and 2013, approximately of land were lost at Wasque, where currents eroded bluffs, swallowed Swan Pond, damaged shoreline trails, and threatened a residence.


The Occasional Island


Population

The 2020 census reported 253 residents on Chappaquiddick, up from 179 in 2010. The racial makeup was 92% White, 1% Native American, 1% Asian, and 4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1% of the population. Socially, its residents form a tight-knit community and see themselves as distinctly separate from the rest of Edgartown. Longtime residents speak of "going to the mainland" when they travel to Edgartown and of "going to America" when (for example) they travel to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
or
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
. Access to the island is served by privately owned barge-like
ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...
named the ''On Time II'' and ''On Time III'' which shuttle pedestrians, bicycles, and up to three cars at a time between Chappaquiddick and Edgartown, on Martha's Vineyard. Two ferries run during the summer months and one during the off-season. Overland access is possible with four-wheel drive vehicles and on foot on the south shore when the islands are connected and conditions permit.


Ted Kennedy incident

Chappaquiddick Island gained international attention on July 19, 1969, when the body of
Mary Jo Kopechne Mary Jo Kopechne (; July 26, 1940 – July 18 or 19, 1969) was an American secretary, and one of the campaign workers for U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign, a close team known as the " Boiler Room Girls". In 1969, she ...
was discovered inside an overturned
Oldsmobile 88 The Oldsmobile 88 (marketed from 1989 on as the Eighty Eight) is a full-size car that was sold and produced by Oldsmobile from 1949 until 1999. From 1950 until 1974, the 88 was the division's most profitable line, particularly the entry-level m ...
off Dike Bridge in Poucha Pond. The car belonged to
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...
, who claimed that he had taken a wrong turn and accidentally driven it off a bridge late the previous night. He did not report the accident to the police for ten hours. A January 1970 judicial inquest into Kopechne's death found that Kennedy's turn toward the bridge was intentional, and he operated his car in a manner "at least negligent and possibly reckless". A grand jury investigation was held in April 1970; no indictments were issued. Dike Bridge was closed until 1995. In 2017, a film based on the incident was released, with many scenes filmed on Chappaquiddick itself and in Edgartown.


See also

* Cape Poge Light *
Edgartown Yacht Club The Edgartown Yacht Club is a private yacht club in Edgartown, Massachusetts on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The club was founded on January 5, 1905, and Edward H. Raymond was named its first commodore. The Edgartown Yacht Club's current clu ...


References


External links

{{Authority control Islands of Dukes County, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Edgartown, Massachusetts Coastal islands of Massachusetts Wampanoag