Information & history on rear of plaques:
MAR12 White Cottage, Oak Bluffs, MA. Important Dates of the MVCMA Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association.
1835-The first camp meeting opening on August 24.
1860-The first cottage was built
1867-The picket fence surrounding the campgrounds was built
1869-The first wedding took place on the campgrounds.
The first Illumination took place.
1871-The first child was born on the campgrounds
1874-President Grant visited the campgrounds.
1878-The Trinity Methodist Church was built.
1880-The new town of Cottage City was incorporated.
1885-Grace Chapel was built
1907-The name of the town (Cottage City) was changed to Oaks Bluffs.
1935-The MVCMA's Centenial
1985-The MVCMA celebrates its Sesquicentennial.

MAR15 Tranquility, Oak Bluffs, MA  A thrifty merchant named Thomas Mayhew purchased Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands from the Earl of Stirling sometime around 1641.  Some questions surrounded the Earl's title to the land and a better one was asserted by Sir Fernando Gorges who was know as Lord Palatine of the Province of Maine.  Gorges immediately contacted the cautious Mayhew who dug deep in his pocket once again and paid another "some" for Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket a second time.  Mayhew settled his family in Great Harbor, which is now known as Edgartown.  The spiritual needs of the community were met by Mathew's son, Thomas Mayhew, Jr., who is considered to be a founder of the Congregational Church of America.

MAR16 Summer Love, Oak Bluffs, MA,   Most cottages on Marhta's Vineyard were originally owned by people of moderate means who tried to outdo one another by applying decorative additions to their small houses. Most of the bungalows cost about $200 to build with household furnishings being purchased from the local home supply. Furniture for the upstairs was brought in through the second floor double doors which usually resembled those of a chapel. The houses' filigree of "gingerbread", named after elaborately frosted cookies made popular by London sweet shops, were produced by local carpenters.

MAR17 Vineyard Cottage, Oak Bluffs, MA.  The Bishop Gilbert Haven Cottage, located in Martha's Vineyard, is historically known for it's famous visit from President Grant in 1874. Three years before this visit in 1871, the first child was born on the campgrounds of Martha's Vineyard.

MAR18 Shrimp Cottage, Oak Bluffs, MA.   In 1835, a nature-loving Methodist minister selected Martha's Vineyard as a meeting place for his congregation.  Churchgoers attending the Methodist Camp Meeting Association first set up tents and later built simple cottages.  The first cottage replaced a tent in 1860.  These cottages were later adorned with ornate carved decorations creating a charming Victorian village.  The Shrimp Cottage was a tent for eight years before it was converted to a house in 1878.

MAR19 Lavender Old Lace, Oak Bluff, Ma. Martha's Vineyard.   As the Civil War came to a close, big plans were under way for Oak Bluffs.  At the opening of the summer season of 1866, sixty carpenters and painters has as much work as they could handle.  The air buzzed with the sounds of saws that turned out varieties of delicate scrollwork and trim known as "gingerbread" or "frosting."  Thus began the embellishing of wooden cottages that became known as The Gingerbread Cottages.

MAR20 Tabernacle   The tabernacle is at the heart of the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.  Presidents Ulysses S.Grant and William J.Clinton have attended services here.  Now on the National Register of Historic Places, this wrought iron structure was completed in 1879 and seats over 2,000.  During "Grand Illumination" the entire "campground" is lit by the glow of beautiful and exotic oriental lanterns, hung on the roofs and porches.

MAR21 Wooden Valentine   This famous "Pink House" built circa 1869 on the island of Martha's Vineyard is a fine example of American Carpenter Gothic architecture.  The cottage features intricate woodwork made possible by the invention of the jigsaw.

MAR22 Cottage Lane   In the heart of the Oak Bluffs Campground are these lovely little Victorian cottages.  Originally it was a true campground with tents, but as the Campground became a permanent fixture, small wooden shelters were built.  The cottages began to be built in the 1860's.

MAR24 Bell Buoy   The houses in the Oak Bluffs Campground are laid out in a circular pattern around open park areas.  Some three hundred of these Victorian cottages remain out of approximately five hundred that were built.  Each one is distinct in its style of Carpenter's Gothic and in its subsequent restorations and renovations.