Peaked Hill

1946

January 18, 1946

Peaked Hill Deserted

Vineyard Gazette
World War Two
Peaked Hill
The barracks at Peaked Hill are de­serted. The Army radar station, in­stalled and opened under circumstances of great secrecy in the early days of the war, is closed and locked, its war service completed.

1941

October 17, 1941

Peaked Hill Contours Undergo Marked Change

Vineyard Gazette
World War Two
Peaked Hill
The contours of Peaked Hill, as viewed from the Middle Road, have changed almost beyond belief, due largely to the construction of the road which winds around its steep sides and has been carved deeply into them. The hill is topped by one of the skeleton towers so largely used for signaling purposes, and is now manned by a detachment of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. The handful of men assigned here, presumably in connection with the tests now going on to prove or disprove the effectiveness of coastal defenses against invasion, is quartered in tents on the hill.
July 4, 1941

Uncle Sam on the Vineyard

Vineyard Gazette
World War Two
Peaked Hill

Apropos the observation station at Peaked Hill, where a drive to the summit is now under construction, and likewise the report of a similar station to be constructed at Gay Head, near the lighthouse, it now becomes known that the reason for two such stations so close together is that the boundary lines dividing the Boston and Newport coastal defense areas converge on the Vineyard in such a way as to leave part of the Island in each district.

June 13, 1941

Build Road to Hill Top Observation Post

Vineyard Gazette
World War Two
Peaked Hill
Roads
Work began on Tuesday on the road from the Middle Road to the top of Peaked Hill, the contract having been awarded to R. W. Balam, Boston con­tractor, who is engaged in putting through several jobs on the Island. The road is to be surfaced, after the grading is completed, and will supply a government way to the observation post that is planned for the Island’s highest point.
 
February 28, 1941

Government to Take Only Part of Hill

Vineyard Gazette
World War Two
Peaked Hill
The section of Peaked Hill which the government proposes to take for the purpose of establishing a signal station represents only a small part of the Peaked Hill property so-called. The entire property comprises 150 acres, and the part chosen by the gov­ernment is a four and a half acre plot, which includes the site of the triangu­lation point monument previously erected there. It is not, as a matter of fact, the highest point of the Vine­yard’s loftiest eminence, 311 feet in height, but it is regarded as line of the most beautiful.
February 21, 1941

Completes Search Aimed at Acquiring Peaked Hill

Vineyard Gazette
World War Two
Peaked Hill
Garrett Hagen, of the United States Department of Justice, has completed a search at the registry of deeds in Edgartown looking toward the acqui­sition of Peaked Hill by the federal government for the purposes of a sig­nal station. The hill at present is owned principally by John Wesley Whiting. Preliminary surveys were made some time ago.
 
Mr. Hagen was assisted by a secre­tary and representatives of the federal engineers, and was accompanied also by a car and a chauffeur.