Villages: North Tisbury, Lambert's Cove, Menemsha.

Major Roads: State Road, South Road, Middle Road, North Road, Lambert's Cove Road.

Directions:
These three towns are at the end of the Island, the smallest towns on the Island. All are reached by way of State Road from Vineyard Haven
and the West Tisbury Road from Edgartown. The first village on State Road is North Tisbury, only a few hundred feet of highway with a restaurant, Road House, a bakery, Vineyard Foodshop, and a gift shop, Goff's Gallery. Farther down the road is West Tisbury's tiny center with Alley's Store - a famed general store, "Dealers in Almost Everything. Just before Chilmark, State Road becomes South Road and leads to Chilmark. A crossroads at Beetlebung Corner goes to the little fishing village of Menemsha. South Road goes through Chilmark and on to Gay Head, the smallest and most independent of towns. Bus service is rare and mostly from the tour buses that end up at the Gay Head cliffs. It is possible to bike to Gay Head, but only very able, experienced bikers should try for the road is hilly and narrow. The usual transportation is by automobile, rented or owned.

History
West Tisbury split from Tisbury in 1892, with a great celebration on both sides. Tisbury was sea-oriented while West Tisbury was agricultural and the long treks to alternate year town meetings were arduous. West Tisbury once boasted a fine Dukes County Academy which turned out many sea captains and is now the home of the town hall. It is the home of the annual county fair, the center of the Island's activities for three days in mid-August. Chilmark's beginnings are complicated, but the latest the town and the Dukes County Historical Society did a lot of research and came up with 1694 as the year when Chilmark became a town. Menemsha is a separate little harbor with the only dock on the East Coast entirely dedicated to commercial fishermen. There are other docks, however, for recreational boating. Gay Head was incorporated as a town rather than as a state reservation in 1870. Only in recent years, has the Wampanoag Tribe living in Gay Head been federally recognized as a tribe. The Wampanoags, of course, predated Bartholomew Gosnold by many, many years. "Up Island" refers to that part of the Vineyard occupied by these smallest towns. "Down Island" is the rest of the Vineyard. These names are important, for all natives use them and some signposts direct traffic up Island. It is a heritage from the seagoing days. When a vessel runs down its longitude, it is going east, toward the prime meridian in Greenwich, England. A vessel going west was running up its longitude. So up Island is the western Vineyard and down Island is east. West Tisbury is the largest up Island towns with a population of 1,750 yea-round and 6,235 in the summer. Chilmark has a population of 673 year-round and 4,591 in the summer. Gay Head has a stalwart year-round population of 210 and a summer population of 1,081.

Accommodations
There are charming bed and breakfast places up Island and a few inns. The largest and most famous of the inns is just off Lambert's Cove Road in WestTisbury and is, in fact, called the Lambert's Cove Inn (692-2298), set in a charming woodsy area. It has a fine restaurant for which reservations are suggested. Bayberry Inn (693-1984) is run by Rosalie Powell on a little country road called Old Courthouse Road in North Tisbury. In Chilmark, there is
the Captain Flanders House (645-2123) on North Road, on the crest of a lovely sloping pasture leading down to Beetlebung Corner. Beach Plum Inn and Restaurant (645-9454) is in Menemsha, a fine place to stay and dine. The Menemsha Inn (645-2521) has a nice view of Menemsha Pond and is a delightful little place. In Gay Head, the place to stay - almost the only place to stay - is Hugh and Jeannie Taylor's wonderful Outermost Inn (645-3511) in the shadow of the Gay Head lighthouse. The restaurant is worth driving to Gay Head for and the rooms are delightful. Paintings by Island artists are hung, an informal gallery. This is quiet, remote and outermost. 

Beaches, Fishing
West Tisbury has a few beaches, limited to town residents, Lambert's Cove Beach and South Beach. One small pond, Uncle Seth's Pond is an odd little roadside sunning, wading place but sometimes crowded. Limited swimming can be accomplished in the pond. Forget about West Tisbury for fishing, for it has no public access to the ocean. Chilmark, though, has Squibnocket Beach which is great for night fishing for blues - using live bait. At the Menemsha Pond jetties, all kinds of fish are caught, mostly by kids. The north shore is accessible via Menemsha: just turn right and start walking. Fishing is pretty good. In Gay Head, there is a small parking space on Lobsterville Road which is rarely unoccupied. It is a great place for daytime fishing for blues with poppers. At night, on the incoming tides, this is great for every fish caught on the Island: bass, blue, Spanish mackerel, bonito, false albacore, etcetera. Philbin Beach is on the south beach in Gay Head and good for bottom fishing for bass and blues with live eel or fresh squid. Gay Head Beach is best after dark for blues with bait. For swimming in Chlmark, there is the Menemsha Public Beach, a fine place right at the end of the parking lot. Walk toward the right for privacy. Restricted to Chilmark residents is the Lucy Vincent Beach, once famous as "Jungle Beach" for its perfectly accepted nude bathing, off to one side of clothed bathing. Squibnocket Beach has fine sands and gentle waves but it is for Chilmark residents only. In Gay Head, a certain amount of notoriety has attached itself in recent years to the beach under the cliffs where nude bathing is done. Philbin Beach is for residents only but the Long Beach near the cliffs is open to the public. Cars must pay for parking at the town lot. Along Lobsterville Road, there is wonderful swimming if you can fit into the little parking slot beloved of fishermen along the road. Moshup Beach is open to the public at the start of Moshup Trail: prime South Beach bathing and sunning.