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Katama is a residential area in the town of Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the south shore of the island of Martha's Vineyard. It is bordered on the west by Edgartown Great Pond, on the east by Katama Bay (separating Katama from the island of Chappaquiddick) and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. It starts at a fork in the road when you head south, Katama Road leads to the left and Herring Creek Road leads to the right. The word "Katama" comes from a Wampanoag word meaning "crab-fishing place."〔Hough, Henry Beetle. Martha's Vineyard, Summer Resort 1835-1935. (Tuttle Publishing Co., 1936)〕 The terrain is a flat outwash plain, characterized by sandy soil and few trees. It is sometimes referred to as the "Great Plains." ==History== Katama has been a popular summer resort since the late 19th century. From 1874-1896, Katama was the terminus of the Martha's Vineyard Railroad. The train ''Active'' ran between the Oak Bluffs Wharf and Mattakeeset Lodge in Katama. The Mattakeeset Lodge (note the spelling variations of Mattakesett) was located on the shore of Katama Bay and is pictured below in a photo from the New York Library collection. A portion of the lodge including one tower was incorporated into a wing of the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown. * Katama During World War II The Katama plains were a part of the outer defense during World War II. Military barracks were built near the beach end of Katama Road [later the Katama Shores Inn (the hotel where Mary Jo Kopechne spent her last night before her drowning on Chappaquidick〔http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKkopechne.htm〕) and more recently rebuilt as the Winnetu Ocean Resort. Running west from Mattakesett Way is a sunken concrete strip that runs west for approximately 3/4 of a mile. This is visible on the photo of the Katama Airfield as a line of trees running west from Mattakesett Way on a line demarcated by the Winnetu Resort. Artillery shells or rockets were shot out over the ocean from this point. In addition the beach was used as a practice target area for the squadrons assigned to the Martha's Vineyard Airport. Most of these bombs were inert, but some were live. Following the war this bombing activity was quickly forgotten and then rediscovered in the late 1980s when live bombs were uncovered by wave action on the receding beach. The beach was closed for more than a year while military demolition contractors identified and removed/detonated unexploded shells. Even today property owners find brass machine gun casings and barbed wire on their property from the World War II era. Components of the Third Army, later led to fame by General George Patton in the sweep across France and the Battle of the Bulge, practiced amphibious landings at Katama during the summer of 1943 prior to shipping to England in December, 1943 as a part of the force being prepared for the D-day landings.〔http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/hoving/hoving4-17-09.asp〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Katama」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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