Chappaquiddick Island

Chappaquiddick Island (Wampanoag: Noepetchepi-aquidenet; colloquially known as "Chappy"), a part of the town of Edgartown, Massachusetts, is a small peninsula and occasional island on the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard. Norton Point, a narrow barrier beach, connects Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquiddick between Katama and Wasque (pronounced way-sqwee). Occasional breaches occur due to hurricanes and strong storms separating the islands for periods of time. Most recently, the two were separated for 8 years from 2007 to 2015. Though both land forms have, over the course of history, mostly been connected to one another, Chappaquiddick is nevertheless referred to as an island.

Visitors come to the isolated island for beaches, cycling, hiking, nature tours and birding, and the MyToi Gardens, a small Japanese garden created amidst the native brush. Chappaquiddick has one business, the Chappy Store, occasionally open during the summer months to serve basic needs. Two fire trucks are stationed on the island from Edgartown. Chappaquiddick Road and Pocha Road, both paved, provide access to sandy, woodland roads, trails, and shorelines.

Chappaquiddick became internationally recognized following the July 18, 1969 incident, when the car of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was accidentally driven off the island's Dike Bridge, which fatally trapped his young colleague, Mary Jo Kopechne, inside.

The name Chappaquiddick comes from an Indian word "cheppiaquidne" meaning "separated island", so named because this island is separated from Martha's Vineyard by a narrow strait or gut. The island has been historically spelled as "Chaubaqueduck" or, alternatively, "Chappaquidgick".

The island was once mainly the home territory of the Chappaquiddick band of Wampanoag Indians, remaining exclusively theirs well into the nineteenth century. They still have a reservation of about 100 acres (40 ha) (40 hectares) of brush land in the interior.

Early white colonists settled Edgartown in 1642, quickly proclaiming Chappaquiddick as village property as well. The first homes owned by people of exclusively European descent were built around 1750 where residents raised livestock and farmed the land.

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