To the Editor:
The people who lived on Motts Hill, Dr. Fisher, and Hopps Farm roads knew how to get home, but strangers would never find them. Before the Internet came along, few of West Tisbury’s roads had signs to mark them. The oldest records at the County Registry of Deeds often
described property locations with phrases such as “Turn left by the old oak tree next to the ant hill,” or “Go right at the big rock after the grove of beech trees.” The attitude had that old Yankee codger sentiment: If you don’t know where you’re going, you probably shouldn’t be here. It was Art Buchwald who told his readers he would not accept a party invitation that came with a map.
When I worked for the West Tisbury planning board in the ’90s, one of my more interesting assignments was to see that every dirt road and driveway that led to three or more properties had an official address. The ’70s and ’80s were boom times for real estate development, and quite a few new roads as well as old roads did not have names. To make way for the new technology that was about to change the world, Island towns were asked (by the telephone companies, we were told) to make sure every structure and every vacant lot had a street name and number. Our map and lot numbers would not fit into the World Wide Web.
The M.V. Commission did the numbering; the planning board did the names.
So we contacted the owners of properties along these roads, asking them to meet with their neighbors and agree to a street name. In a few cases, one family owned all the land along the road, and provided a reasonable answer. Surprisingly, few people named the street after themselves, which they could have done; such modesty was impressive. Some squabbled and disagreed, and let us know which neighbors were being difficult, but we persisted. Some decided to compile a series of initials of their names to create unpronounceable conglomerates of gobbledygook. Road associations were helpful in moving the project along.
Property owners on these private roads were also required to install signs at the intersections so that Art Buchwald wouldn’t need a map when he came to call. Most West Tisbury groups ordered official-looking green and white aluminum signs. Chilmark was the town that went for artistic and creative road signs, bless ’em. Sadly, a number of signs were stolen, including one installed by my late in-laws. About 30 years later, Police Officer Skipper Manter came to
our door to return the Sweet William Way sign from my in-laws’ road. He didn’t tell us the story of its rescue. We hope, at least, that the guilty party was named William.
Many people know that Music Street was named for the pianos so stylishly purchased by the prosperous whaling captains who built homes there during the late years of the 19th century. Less well known is the street’s former name — Cow Plop Lane. We had friends in New York
State who had built the first house on a new street in a new development. They didn’t like the name chosen by the developer, and they asked their town fathers if they could change its name to Music Street. The town officials replied that the couple might change their street name to Melody Lane.
Never mind, said our friends.
Eileen Maley
West Tisbury
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When the streets had no names - Martha's Vineyard Times
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