Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard 02568 (Tisbury, West Chop)

Vineyard Haven is truely the entrance to Martha's Vineyard. This is because it is Martha's Vineyard's only year round port that the Steam Authority brings cars and passengars into. Vineyard Haven's downtown area has excellent shops, fine restaurants, and a beautiful harbor that makes it a wonderful place to visit. The town that incorporates Vineyard Haven is called Tisbury, after a parish in England near the birthplace of the Island's first governor.

Owen Park, off Main Street just beyond the shopping district, is a town beach an easy place to walk to and watch the harbor. Ferries shuttle in and out, providing the Island's year-round connection to the mainland.

Vineyard Haven is not the only community in Tisbury, West Chop & Mink Meadows can be found by following the road straight out of Vineyard Haven. Here you will pass the West Chop Lighthouse, one of two lighthouses that guards the entrance to Vineyard Haven Harbor. There is also Tashmoo Pond and the Lagoon area, which are two protected ponds on either side of Vineyard Haven.

When ships were powered by wind and canvas, Vineyard Haven was one of New England's busiest ports because of its strategic location on the sailing routes. Most of the coastwise shipping traveled through Vineyard Sound (13,814 vessels were counted in 1845). Holmes Hole, as this harbor community was called, provided a convenient anchorage.

Real Estate in Vineyard Haven / Tisbury ranges for in town houses like in Edgartown to places with a bit more space, but most areas of Tisbury you can see your neighbors, unlike in places farther up-land.