The Island Home was a sidewheel steamer operating as a ferry serving the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket during the second half of the nineteenth century.
Island Home from an 1890s souvenir booklet
Island Home circa 1895.
Captain Thomas Brown.
The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, doing business as The Steamship Authority (SSA), is the statutory regulatory body for all ferry operations between mainland Massachusetts and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, as well an operator of ferry services between the mainland and the islands. It is the only ferry operator to carry automobiles to and from the islands. The Authority also operates several freight vessels, thus serving as the main link for shipping any commercial goods that are not transported using the airports on Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard.
The MV Sankaty docked at the authority's terminal in Woods Hole in 2007
The Steamship Authority's former terminal in Woods Hole, razed in 2018.
Image: MV Katama
Image: MV Sankaty