Preservation Trust buys historic Norton Boathouse
By Steve Myrick
Published: November 20, 2008
The Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust has agreed to buy the venerable Osborne building and the Norton boathouse, west of Memorial Wharf on the Edgartown waterfront. The boathouse is among the last few remaining sea captains' boathouses on the waterfront. The Osborne building, built about 1860, currently houses the Edgartown annex of the Martha's Vineyard Shipyard. It is the oldest building on the Edgartown waterfront, according to the Trust.
In front of the buildings are anchors and old capstans embedded in the brick sidewalk. The original Norton Boathouse probably dates to the 19th century. It was destroyed in the hurricane of 1944 and completely rebuilt sometime shortly afterwards.
According to Chris Scott, executive director of the Preservation Trust, the Norton family will sell the land, the two buildings, and the wharf to the Trust for $775,000, a sum he called substantially below market value for the waterfront parcels. According to tax records, the current appraised value of the property is $849,900. Mr. Scott said a purchase and sales agreement has been executed, and he expects to complete the sale on December 15.
Photos by Steve Myrick
"We're looking to the future," said Floyd Norton of Edgartown, who owns the property with his brother Bailey Norton of Edgartown, and sister Druscilla Park, of Bradenton, Florida. They are the oldest surviving members of a prominent Edgartown family, which included generations of sailors, commercial fishermen, and innkeepers. "We're all getting on in years. We felt the Preservation Trust has done an excellent job with any property in their keeping. We thought this would be a fine thing to do, to maintain part of the waterfront which is disappearing. So many properties have been bought and the houses destroyed, or new structures go up. We felt it should be part of the waterfront, as we remembered it."
Mr. Scott said he hopes the buildings can be preserved while still being used in the way they have for many years, as a stopping place for fishermen and boaters.
"In the day, there were dozens of these on the waterfront," said Mr. Scott. "It was a place where they kept their gear, but it was also a place where they socialized. You don't see these any more; they almost don't exist."
To this day, the buildings are being used in the maritime tradition. Floyd Norton says his siblings still use the boathouse as a gathering place, and he still berths his boat at the wharf during the summer season. Inside, the boathouse resembles a museum, with historic photographs and nautical memorabilia from days gone by. A simple round blue table and four blue chairs sit in front of a window with an expansive and spectacular view of Edgartown Harbor.
While Mr. Norton hopes to reach some agreement under which his family can continue enjoying the property, the family is selling the property outright to the Trust. He says there is some sadness about giving up the property, but that it is balanced by the satisfaction that comes with assuring that it will be preserved.
"I grew up on the waterfront, as my brother and sister did," said Floyd Norton. "As a youngster, in that boathouse and on that dock, that's where I landed fish, and cleaned fish. It's been part of my life for almost 80 years."
Mr. Norton vividly remembers the days when his father, Samuel Norton, a skilled sailor, guided his yacht Manxman into the harbor under full sail.
"It was the largest yawl in the world," said Mr. Norton. "It was a beautiful sight. When the word got around the yacht was going to sail into Edgartown harbor, people would gather down on the harbor. He would sail that 116-foot yacht past Memorial Wharf, past the yacht club, and down to the mooring, down harbor. It always gathered quite a crowed, and people still talk about it."
Mr. Scott says the Preservation Trust has different uses in mind for the two buildings. He is eager for the Martha's Vineyard Shipyard to remain as a tenant in the Osborne building, where the Vineyard Haven company sells marine supplies. While specific plans for the boathouse are still evolving, there will be substantial public access to the historic building. Mr. Scott envisions it as a new stop on organized tours of other Preservation Trust buildings, which include the Old Whaling Church, the Dr. Daniel Fisher House, and the Vincent House, in Edgartown. The Trust also manages the Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs, the Old West Tisbury Library, Alley's General Store in West Tisbury, and the Mayhew Schoolhouse in Vineyard Haven.
Mr. Scott says he sees the Norton Boathouse in terms similar to the Vincent House, which is the oldest residence on Martha's Vineyard.
"It's the maritime version of the Vincent house," said Mr. Scott. "The captain's boathouse will be very much like that."
