VCS began efforts to conserve the beach at the Eastville jetties in 1975. Two years later, the Convery and Young families gifted to us their two-thirds interest in the promontory. VCS transferred that interest (consisting of 5.25 acres with 900 feet of beach) to the County of Dukes County. The County then secured a grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund for the project, including funding to acquire an additional one-acre abutting parcel owned by another member of the Convery family. This phase of the project was five years in the making.

VCS then returned to Oak Bluffs (having been rebuffed earlier) to partner on a grant request from the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Self-Help Program to conserve the one-acre parcel. The town agreed to participate in the grant, with VCS agreeing to supply 20% of the funding with the state providing the rest. The outcome was successful, with Oak Bluffs left owning the small parcel, and VCS privately raising the required matching funds.

The formal dedication took place a full ten years after the launch of the project. Today, the Eastville Beach Recreational Area consists of a total of 6 acres, with 1,700 feet of beach conserved, managed jointly by the County and the Town of Oak Bluffs.

Photos, top and below: The view from Eastville Beach in winter of 2012. See more photos from our Winter Walk.