Oak Bluffs Moving
Oak Bluffs/ Town /Dukes /Open town meeting /3,735 /1880
Oak Bluffs is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,713 at the 2000 census and was estimated at 3,735 as of 2008. It is one of two Steamship Authority ferry ports on the island, although the Oak Bluffs steamships only operate in the summer.
Oak Bluffs was first settled in 1642 and was officially incorporated in 1880 as Cottage City. Before its incorporation, it was part of Edgartown. The town re-incorporated in 1907 as Oak Bluffs, so named because the town was the site of an oak grove along the bluffs.
Oak Bluffs originally began as the center for tourism on the Vineyard. While the other towns were more focused on industry, Oak Bluffs became a mecca for travelers from around the world as early as the beginning of the 1800‘s. It also became a center of the thriving 19th century Methodist movement.
In 1884, the Flying Horses Carousel was brought to Oak Bluffs, where it remains the oldest platform carousel still in operation.
It is still a yearly event to hold what residents call “The Grand Illumination”. This traditional celebration is held once a year, usually in August, and the date of which is usually not publicly disclosed, despite the thousands of tourists the event attracts. For one special night, residents of the Campground place ornate Chinese lanterns (some electric, some still lit with just a candle), around each Gingerbread Cottage. The lanterns remain dark until after dusk. At an appointed hour, people gather in the Tabernacle for a sing-along and community gathering. At the end all the lights go out and thousands of Chinese lanterns spring to life in a brilliant cascade of light throughout the campground. The celebration ends after visitors walk through the Campground enjoying the sights and sounds of an event taken straight from the turn of the century and brought to life yearly in the small town of Oak Bluffs.
On April 5, 2005, the grounds and buildings in the Campground were designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.
On November 16, 2006, MTV announced that they were going to make a new TV show called "The Bluffs," about African-Americans going to Oak Bluffs for summer, but these plans never materialized after vocal public criticism in Island newspapers.
