On January 30, 1998, I traveled to Martha's Vineyard to see where my favorite movie was filmed 24 years ago.

In 1974 Universal Pictures converted this small summer retreat to a fictional island named Amity. Based on a best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, the filming of JAWS began. The problems the cast and crew endured during the filming of this movie have been well-documented but the movie that was released one year later in 1975 was an incredible two hour experience for a nine year old boy living in Toledo, OH. That boy was me, and I still find myself very nostalgic about that time in my life and seeing what I still think is the greatest movie of all time.

Before I left, I spent the previous week rereading Edith Blake's THE MAKING OF LAWS and Carl Gottlieb's THE JAWS LOG which are both great books that give the reader insight into the filming of the movie. There are many location references mentioned and I made sure to jot some notes down to take with me. I rented a car in Burlington, Massachusetts on Friday and took the one hour and forty-five minute drive to Woods Hole to catch the ferry over to the island.

Leaving the ferry, I headed south to spend the night in Edgartown. Within ten minutes, I was driving on a bridge that looked very familiar. A quick U-turn and another glance at the sight confirmed it was the bridge used in the violent estuary scene where the shark swims in, claims another victim, and sends Chief Brody's son into shock. That was the first major location I saw and I felt like I was nine years old all over again!

With the sun going down, I found lodging in Edgartown and planned on a big sight-seeing day the next morning. Every person I met­ from the waitress who served me dinner, to the inn keeper who ran the lodge, to the woman behind the counter at the hardware store­ I asked them questions about the filming and each of them seemed to have their own "JAWS story". They were all very helpful and many seemed enthusiastic about sharing their stories with me. Some were very nostalgic and I wish I had more time to spend with them.

I had a list of a whole bunch of things I wanted to see and on Saturday morning, I set out in the cold and rain and this is what I saw...

2005 Update- Some of the 1998 pics are outdated as life and environment changes. I've kept these pages pretty much intact from when I launched this site back in 1998 only adding a few more definitive pics from my trip there in 2005.

If you enjoy these pages, let me know. I know many people have used them as a guide to finding sites on the island. Remember, this was the first and best site of its kind. Often imitated, even practically duplicated, but certainly never better!

Enjoy!