gOOD TimeS
the islAnd noW KnoWn
photo by Paul Letendre
As cuttyhunK Cuttyhunk, it’s one of those places that we forget about. That’s good, that’s what makes it so special. This island, roughly halfway between Horseneck Beach in Westport PAul and Aquinnah (Gay letendre Head) on Martha’s Vineyard, is three-quarters of mile wide and stretches one and a half miles. It is the westernmost of the Elizabeth Islands. In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold landed on an island then called Poocutohhunkunnoh by the native residents. Bart stayed for 22 days, which could have seemed like a lifetime on Cuttyhunk. The town is
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S OU TH C OAST P R IME T IMES
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now officially Gosnold, named after Bart. Some time after he left in 1602, Cuttyhunk proved to easier to say and spell than Poocutohhunkunnoh so our Anglophone ancestors adopted the shorter, easier name.
getting Around on cuttyhunK is PrimArily on Foot
J ULY / AUGUST 2013
HIstory is silent as to the feelings of the original residents on this cavalier and unilateral re-naming. Cuttyhunk has 25 year-round residents, but, according to one resident, “five or six go south for the winter, so it’s really not that crowded come January and February.” In season, the population can swell up to 70 or 80. In January of 2011 the school board made the news wires when it was delinquent in submitting an anti-bullying plan. At the time, the school had four students: two in kindergarten, one in first grade and one in second grade. The students were members of two island families. The school board later complied with the law. That must be