Gosnold, Massachusetts
A Short History of Gosnold
From an English explorer’s few weeks on Cuttyhunk in 1602, to a town set off from Chilmark in 1864, to the smallest town in Massachusetts, run today by the neighbors its voters elect.
The Man the Town Is Named For
In 1602 the English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold reached the string of islands off the southwest tip of Cape Cod and tried to plant a small settlement on the island now called Cuttyhunk. It was one of the earliest English footholds anywhere in New England, and it lasted only a few weeks before the party sailed home. Gosnold left his name behind, and centuries later the town that grew up on those islands took it. The Elizabeth Islands run in a line into Buzzards Bay: Cuttyhunk, Nashawena, Pasque, Naushon, and smaller islands beyond, with Cuttyhunk the one place people live year round.
A Town Set Off From Chilmark
For most of its history the Elizabeth Islands were governed as part of Chilmark on nearby Martha’s Vineyard. In 1864 the islands were set off as a town of their own, named Gosnold, in Dukes County. From the start it was a town run the plainest way Massachusetts allows: an open Town Meeting where every registered voter is a lawmaker, and a small elected board to carry the town’s business between meetings. That is still exactly how Gosnold governs itself.
The Smallest Town in the State
Gosnold has always been small, and it reached its peak of 181 residents in 1920. The year-round population has drifted down since, to 70 at the 2020 census, which makes Gosnold the least populous of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. In the summer the islands fill with visitors, fishing boats, and returning families, and then the ferry schedule thins and the winter town settles back to a few dozen people who keep a full town government running: a clerk, a school district, a water system, a harbor, and a Selectboard, all for a town you can count by household.
Islands Held in Common, and in Trust
Most of Gosnold’s land is not open to the public. The Forbes family has held Naushon, Pasque, and Nashawena as private, largely undeveloped land for generations, so the town’s civic life is concentrated on Cuttyhunk, where the village, the school, the library, and the town office all sit. Reaching them means the water: the Cuttyhunk Ferry Company runs from the state pier in New Bedford, and a water taxi and small planes fill in the rest. That geography is the backdrop to every town decision, from the harbor to the school kept ready for a child who has not yet arrived.
Sources: Town of Gosnold (gosnold-ma.gov); Wikipedia, Gosnold, Massachusetts; U.S. Census Bureau.