Tag Archives: water

How often have you walked past these anchors by the harbor in Edgartown and given any thought to how or why they are there…

…other than being used as a great photo-op.

I know I never gave it much thought until I saw a little article about them in the Marthas’ Vineyard Magazine a couple of years ago.These four rusted anchors belong to the Norton family who owned a home across the street. But why are they there?

According to the article in MV Magazine:

“in the 1930′s coastal schooners would sometimes lose their anchors to accidents or storms… town fisherman would also occasionally snag and damage their nets on them. Whenever possible, the fishermen raised the offending anchor and brought it ashore. “

“Samuel Norton collected these anchors and sold or gave them to summer people who put them on their lawns or near their boathouses as ornaments.”

I guess now when I walk past them I’ll think about where they came from and about how many people have taken pictures by them over the years.