South Main Street and Camp Street
This map is derived from part of a December 1914 map of Vineyard Haven made by the Sanborn Map Company of New York.
Numbers and KEY added by Stan Lair, c. 1980.
KEY.
Notes in Quotation Marks by Stan Lair, c. 1980.
15. "Gilbert West -- Carpenter"
"The Gilbert West House. I remember Gilbert West, he was some sort of relative I guess, second cousin or something. His daughter Alfreda West, I went to school with her. And I think it is only occupied summers at this time."16. "John D. McDonough -- Engineer"
"The John McDonnough House. All of the McDonnough Family was brought up in this house. The only one left there now, Kathleen, she still owns the house and lives there. The rest of the family have gone various places."17. "Mrs. Sarah Legg"
"An old house. It is owned at this time by Helen Viera at this time, but her name isn't Viera though. Helen... what the heck is it? Anyway, she was Helen Viera. Originally it was owned by Captain Joseph Dexter. The main structure aligns with the house that with places[?] back in the 1700's. The normal windows suggest a modern, though not unbecoming touch.' Well, as I remember that house years back it was Sarah Legg lived there, an old lady."18. "Jonathan Dexter"
"The Dexter House, which sits right opposite Causeway Road, where Causeway Road intersects Main Street. Now let's see what it says about the Dexter House in this pamphlet. Yeah, here it is: "The old Dexter House has been so known since it was built in 1730. The present owner, Mrs. William B. Leatherby[?], is descended through her mother of the Dexter Family. The house is typical of second period colonial. No alterations have been made on the outside to affect its austere beauty." It is a nice old house. Several families have lived in it over the years. Burgett[?] Smith lived there for awhile, Ernest Tilton's widow lived there with one of her boys, two of her boys I guess, for awhile, and it's been occupied just about all of the time."19. "Sarah Conroy"
"The Conroy sisters. That was another old house. That was torn down, and now I believe it is Estrella Gas Company. I know it is. Estrella Gas Company, right on that piece of land."20. "Christiana Johnson (Laura + John Johnson's mother)"
"One of the oldest houses in town. Actually I think it was built in the 1700's. Let's see what I can find about that one in this little pamphlet here. Yeah. 'It is one of the five oldest houses in the village. It was built in three stages. The first part was built in the 1700's as its lines clearly show, and moved to its present site probably before 1800 by Captain Lot Luce. Either he or his son added the second part of the house, and the kitchen and garage were added about fifty years ago. It has had several owners, and has always been occupied.' The owner that sticks in my mind that occupied that house is Laura Johnson and her mother. And later it was Laura Johnson and Miss James, lived there for a long time. Laura and her brother John ran the Express Office, Adams Express Office."36. "John O. Norton -- (Roy Norton)"
"The Roy Norton House. He lived there with his mother, as I recall. Roy worked in the bank for a number of years."37. "Fannie B. Smith"
"Fannie Smith House, widow of Alexander Smith - he was the brother of Gilbert Smith. Fannie Smith was my grandmother, of course she'd married again. She lived there for a long time."38. "William R. Peakes -- Wood Dealer"
"William Peakes' house. Fred Peakes' father. I believe it's owned by Mr. Bell now. Mr. William Peakes, he operated a wood yard. He had machinery in a shed or a barn in the back that would split wood and all that sort of thing, and that was his business. He also had a patent on a type of wood he called 'Rainbow Fuel,' which would burn in the fireplace with pretty colors. I remember seeing him cooking that stuff. He had a great big, it looked like a - I think it was - a copper kettle, almost like a tripod as they used in the whaling days, outside of the building. He'd build a fire and put this stuff in there - whatever it was - and boil the wood in it, and pack it up in little boxes, called 'Rainbow Fuel.'"39. "Edward P. VanDoorn -- 'Insel Rich' -- Boarding House"
"The Van Doorn family, as I remember it. Before that it was the Captain Eldridge House. Captain George Eldridge and his family lived there. Capt. Eldridge was famous for his Tide Book, which is still published today, Eldridge Tide Book. He also ran a chandlery - that'd be a marine supply store - at the end of Grove Avenue, on the way to West Chop. You may, or somebody may have read the book, The Captain's Daughters, by Eliot Macy, and it tells all about the girls and family, the Eldridge sisters Nina, Mary, Ruth, and Gratia. Gratia is still living, by the way. So that was the Van Doorn house, as I remember it. I think Mr. Van Doorn was tax collector at one time in the town. He had some official office anyway."
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