Cliff collapsed at Lucy Vincent sometime between Friday evening and early Saturday, when picture was taken.
Hellie Neumann

Iconic Martha’s Vineyard Landmark, Cliff at Lucy Vincent Beach Collapses

Noah Asimow
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<p>The last finger of the iconic cliffs at Lucy Vincent Beach tumbled into the ocean Friday night, culminating a long erosion process.

The last finger of the iconic cliffs at Lucy Vincent Beach tumbled into the ocean Friday night, culminating a long but rapid erosion process at the famed Chilmark beach.

One of the most photographed landmarks on the Island, the cliffs are also archaeologically significant, with some 10,000 years of history buried in the land forms there that are constantly shaped by the sea.

Picture taken April 21, before the collapse.
Hellie Neumann
Picture taken April 21, before the collapse.
Hellie Neumann

Longtime Chilmark resident Helen Neumann saw that the rock formation had fallen at approximately 6 a.m. Saturday, when she went to take her daily sunrise beach walk. Ms. Neumann said there had been strong wind and waves at the beach on Friday morning.

“I knew it was coming as I’d seen the accelerated erosion,” Ms. Neumann said. “But it still felt like a blow to my heart.”

Over the past two decades, rough winters and usually vicious weather systems have taken their toll on the once-sprawling cliffs, first dragging them into the ocean and splitting the beach in two — and then slowly whittling them away. The erosion process, however, had left something remarkable in recent years — a majestic rock spire that looked as if it had sprung out of nowhere from the sandy beach and sea floor.

It was this spire that came down Friday night.

Beachgoers flocked to the Atlantic-facing shoreline Saturday, a warm and sunny day after weeks of rain and cold, to take in the changed landscape.

John O'Donnell, a captain in the Oak Bluffs fire department, said he read the news online and decided to take his kids to examine the ruins. He said he grew up on the Island, and has seen the gradual collapse of the cliff for decades. 

“We came down here to pay our respects,” he said.
 
Although the Lucy Vincent cliffs have undergone an enormous transformation recently, the clay faces date to the early Wampanoag days and have long been a source of study for archaeologists and anthropologists alike.
 
A Harvard research team worked at the site in the late 1990s, discovering items from the Ice Age, including a spear that dated back 10,000 years and marked one of the oldest human artifacts ever discovered on Martha’s Vineyard. The Harvard scientists said few sites in New England had shown such consistent use over time.
 
That consistent use continued through the modern era. The cliffs, with their prismatic, technicolor clay faces and sedimentary deposits at the edge of the beach, have always been a must-see attraction for visitors to the Island — a real-life eye-spy book of shark teeth and human history.
 
But the story of natural history that they told might have been more striking. And it’s a story that in recent years has become all the more relevant, as the effects of erosion are felt Islandwide.

In October 2012 the cliffs at Lucy Vincent were particularly hard hit when the remnants of Hurricane Sandy raked the Island.

Chilmark selectmen announced last week that the beach would remain open to residents this summer, albeit with restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic. They did not anticipate that the spire would be gone as well.

The inevitability of the change — and the force of nature it represented — didn’t make the fallen cliff any less tragic for Ms. Neumann Saturday morning.

“I cried,” she said.

Will Sennott contributed reporting.

More pictures.

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 12:08

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Susanne Cronin Patterson, NY

I am crying. I have photographed, gazed, mediated, and danced there many, many, years.

Felicia zaffin State road vineyard haven

Heartbroken. Such a mystical place where I always felt close to nature and god. I will continue to feel those things but some of the majesty will be missing.

Rhonda Hopkins SE Ga

It made me sad to see it&I've never been there. Why wasn't steps taken to preserve it? I mean couldn't they have put concrete, rebar or poles way down deep 2stabilize it? Maybe idk 4 sure but seems like they'd tried.The b4 pictures are beautiful. XO

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 12:32

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Peter Brannen Jurassic Park

While the sand and gravel (which made up the spire) is from the last ice age ~12,000 years ago, the clay outcrops on the beach are from the dinosaur days of the late Cretaceous, ~90 million years ago

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 12:34

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JT MV

Seeing people at the base has made me a little nervous for the past year or so. You could tell it was coming down soon, even though it still felt hard and compacted. Thankfully it happened in the middle of the night I guess.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 13:07

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Martin Somewhere in the Swamps of Jersey

Not as well know as New Hampshire’s Old Man of the Mountain which collapsed on May 3, 2003, but still pretty sad.

Early May seems to be the time that Mother Nature takes her frustrations out on our cherished landmarks.

Sharlene Mcintyre Fischer Born on the Vineyard grew up on mainland now living in Illinois

I was thinking the same thing about the old man on the mountain! I'm glad I have memories of both

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 14:45

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annie VH

always glad to see photos since i've always lived in vineyard haven and never been to lucy vincent.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 16:25

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Deirdre New Bedford

My fiancé and I have walked that beach so many times. I took a great picture of him near that rock this winter. I always thought it looked like his profile. So sad.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 16:34

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Peter Neumann Palo Alto CA

I really miss that entire stretch of beach from Lucy to Windy Gates to Squibby, and watching how it has evolved since my early years there in the 1930s and 1940s. It has provided some amazing environmental lessons as well as a fascinating geological history.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 17:04

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Marisa Texas

The shattered water made a misty din.
Great waves looked over others coming in,
And thought of doing something to the shore
That water never did to land before.
The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,
Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.
You could not tell, and yet it looked as if
The shore was lucky in being backed by cliff,
The cliff in being backed by continent;
It looked as if a night of dark intent
Was coming, and not only a night, an age.
Someone had better be prepared for rage.
There would be more than ocean-water broken
Before God’s last *Put out the Light* was spoken.

~ Robert Frost

Captain Den Marion Ma

Such A beautiful picture of words. Time to resurrect one of his books from my archives for enlightened thankfulness and calm during these trying times.
Thank you for the inspiration .

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 18:04

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Maureen Monahan Boston, MA

I am in tears, and eternally grateful that on St. Paddy’s day 2019– was fortunate enough to photograph my children running on LVB (vintage wool blankets around them and sea soaked wellies; the majestic spire behind them.)
Our wedding photos there, also... in the dead of winter 2004.
Oh the memories!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 19:02

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Nancy and Phil Lagerstrom and Jim Woodman Central MA, NH, Venice,Florida

For 40 years we have walked by the cliff of LVB every summer during July and August. The cliff watched the changes in us as we watched the changes in the cliff. Goodbye old friend. Thank you for all the beautiful memories.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 22:01

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Andrew Woodruff West Tisbury

As a child during the early seventies I attended a wedding on that bluff which at the time included a big meadow. Several hundred feet has disappeared since then. It’s nature doing its thing and is a reminder to me why we need to live in the moment. Life is precious and too dang short. I’m sad to see it go though.

Islander too Tisblury

Remember traipsing across the field, down into the swamp, through the muck, across the little bridge, up to the promontory on the other side, then clamber down the cliffs to the beach and rinse off mucky feet in the waves. Return trip: rinse mucky feet in brook before heading back across field and hitch-hiking home . . . That's when it was Blue Mailbox beach. Before that it was Barnhouse Beach. Plus ca change, . . . The Beach remains The Beach . . .

Hugh Weisman Chilmark and NY

I remember those days well. And truth be told, and don't stone me for saying this, I'm not sad about the monolith collapsing...to me, it was a sad reminder of what once was, before the recent erosion started in earnest....Now, we have the bluff back, smaller than it was, but similar to what once was.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 10:58

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Diane NJ (and 3x/ year MVY visitor)

Glad I got some beautiful pics back in October.

Nature is never static.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 10:58

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Diane NJ (and 3x/ year MVY visitor)

Glad I got some beautiful pics back in October.

Nature is never static.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 11:16

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CB New York

:(

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 14:56

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Kim Beals White Mountains, NH

Totally understand the impact this has on those who knew this image. We lost the Old Man of the Mountain in Franconia State Park within 24 hours to the day.....15 years ago, that it collapsed to the basin of the ledges.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 15:13

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Margot Jones New York City

I'm grateful for tor the decades I had walking over the cliff to the beach, then in front of them. Nada se queda porque todo se pasa , de verdad-- nothing stays the same because everything passes, truly.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 07:49

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Rick Heath Chatham

Back in April 2011, I started to photograph that majestic cliff. And at that time, there was just a slight, " U shape " bump at the top. My last photo was late 2018 when all that was standing was that magnificent monolith.

Sad to see that now, even that beautiful structure, has since been claimed by mother nature. I guess I'll have to venture over and shoot that for possibly one of the last times.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 08:23

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New Englander Edgartown summer

Interesting historical/scientific situation, but not personal — I was never allowed on that beach.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 14:36

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Erin Oak Bluffs

So sad even sadder this became a private town beach. Used to be a secret beach. Didn’t even have a path. Would have been nice to enjoy it again. This island used to be magical now everything is private and expensive.

Steve M Chilmark

Before the town created the road and the parking area there certainly was a path. It was not easy to find and it helped if someone showed you the gap in the bushes that was the entrance. But, there certainly was a path. People even placed some planks over the stream to make it easier to cross.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 18:52

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Georgia and Ben DeYoung SandsPoint, LI,NY

We are so sad Lucy Vincent Beach was our "go to"special place for 13 summer Vineyard vacations staying in Chilmark--Much time with 3 generations of DeYoungs and great talks about the geology.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/05/2020 - 05:56

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Christina Gotowka Old Lyme, CT

Ould this be a metaphor for the current state the country is is?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/05/2020 - 07:52

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Louise Olson Cambridge, MA

I feel so fortunate to have been able to walk Lucy Vincent Beach, to swim just off its shores and to read or rest in the shade of an umbrella. The cliff was so beautiful. I have watched the rapid erosion over a long time. I suppose if I came to LVB for the first time this year, I would still find it a beautiful and magical place anyway. This is a reminder to be present every day...change, the only constant...

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/05/2020 - 08:15

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Gayle Turowski Poughkeepsie, NY

I was on the beach last October during that Nor'easter before we left to come home. I video'd the storm and the iconic finger rock. How sad I am that it has succumbed to the sea. I am glad though that I got to see it and capture it. I thought it looked like an indigenous person. It stood for so long.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/05/2020 - 17:37

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Danny Fitzgibbon Brookline

I have been documenting the demise of this once vibrant cliff. My earliest digital photo is from September 1996. It's a symptom of a much larger disease for the planet, including rising ocean levels, more powerful storms, the climate change that has led to both. When I first started visiting Lucy Vincent back then the cliff was gorgeous, full of flora and fauna, esp the birds. at the old low-tide you could easily walk past the cliff, and get on the "optional" side where there were a series of small lower-height cliffs. You could spend a couple of hours or a day in one of them. Each summer i'd notice change, but the accelerated pace of change these 10 years, has been devestating to see. Wish it were normal ebb and flow of the lands abutting the ocean, but it's not. So sad. stay safe if you can.Danny Fitz

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