Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 122.7 square miles (318 km2), of which, 27.0 square miles (70 km2) of it is land and 95.8 square miles (248 km2) of it (78.01%) is water. Edgartown is the 103rd out of 351 communities in the Commonwealth by land area, and is the largest town by land area in Dukes County. Edgartown is bordered by Nantucket Sound to the northeast and east, the Atlantic Ocean to the south, West Tisbury to the west, and Oak Bluffs to the north. The town also shares a common corner with Tisbury (along with West Tisbury and Oak Bluffs).
Edgartown is located at the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard (referred to as "down-island", a vestige of the island's traditional maritime manner of speaking in that as a ship travels east, it is said to be traveling "down east" as longitude decreases towards the Prime Meridian).
The town of Edgartown includes the smaller island of Chappaquiddick, sometimes connected to the rest of Martha'a Vineyard only by a barrier beach which can be breached during storms. Chappaquiddick is separated from the town center by Edgartown Harbor and Katama Bay. The town is close to Nantucket's Muskeget Island, which is seven miles east of Wasque Point, the southeasternmost point on of Chappaquiddick.
Katama is the south-central portion of Edgartown. In addition to a spectacular ocean beach, Katama has within its boundaries the Katama Airpark, the Katama Farm, the Herring Creek Farm and two resorts. Edgartown is also home to half of the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest, which extends into neighboring West Tisbury. There are nine beaches, a yacht club, and several preserves and reservations in the town, including the Wasque Reservation along the south shore of Chappaquiddick and the Cape Pogue Wildlife Refuge along the east shore of the island. There are two lighthouses in the town, the Cape Pogue Light on Chappaquiddick and the Harbor Light in Edgartown Harbor.
Read more about this topic: Edgartown, Massachusetts
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“Ktaadn, near which we were to pass the next day, is said to mean “Highest Land.” So much geography is there in their names.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)