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Before the Fire > The
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19th Century Media> Documenting
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"Probably no fire ever
made cleaner work than the one in question. The
light of Sunday morning disclosed an area of upwards
of forty acres, studded with standing chimneys
and lines of underpinning defining the locations
of vanished houses…" -Vineyard Gazette,
14 August 1883.
The most destructive fire in Martha's
Vineyard history was given widespread media coverage.
News of the incident spread almost as quickly
as the fire itself. The morning after, lengthy,
sensational accounts were published in the daily
papers of Boston, New York, and New Bedford. The
popular interest in this event was evident for
several reasons. First, many of the residents
from these larger cities came to the Vineyard
for vacations. People had time and money invested
in homes on the Island. By this time, Cottage
City had gained a reputation as a charming seaside
town with numerous activities including skating,
bicycling, swimming, and croquet. The Boston Globe
asserted, "The fire was plainly visible to
many of the cape towns, though at first they were
not able to locate it. It was very plainly to
be seen from Cottage City and other parts of the
island, [however] it being thought at first by
citizens of Edgartown that Cottage City was burning."
Second, the nation had previously
witnessed great fires in Chicago [1871] and Boston
[1872] and knew that flames had the power to virtually
wipe out an entire city. With the recent development
of fire services and apparatus, towns all over
the country were forced into making decisions
on appropriations for such services. To witness
yet another town in ruins due to fire… well,
that would certainly expedite the installation
of more fire departments. Though the extent of
destruction in Vineyard Haven was not quite as
vast as the other large cities, the damage was
just as significant.
Among Islanders, word of mouth became the most
effective form of communication; witnesses told
their neighbors, who told their friends, who continued
the distribution of the story. The Vineyard newspapers
were published weekly, and therefore could not
put the reports in print fast enough.
While the regional newspapers did a good job of
relaying information such as the chronology of
the fire on Vineyard Haven's Main Street, another
media source was needed to fully relay the extent
of the ruins. Photographs of the town's ruins
were put into circulation. Some were even made
into postcards, so that friends and family around
the country could view the devastation.
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