Amity IslandThe Fourth of July weekend
Shot in Edgartown and up-island, summer 1974. The shark lives on in Los Angeles.
Amity was Edgartown. Brody’s beach-closed signs came from a Main Street hardware store, now a restaurant, and the town hall still has the film’s clock. Paint the sign, and see what the island kept.
53 Dock Street
The On Time ferry to Chappaquiddick appears in the film. The harbour it crosses between Edgartown and Chappaquiddick is 527 feet wide.
0of 527 feet · 0.0 Bruces nose to tail
Edgartown side. The On Time waits for you.
The small On Time ferries carry passengers, bicycles and up to three vehicles at a time. It is the oldest business on the waters of Martha’s Vineyard, with records of the crossing from 1807.
Runs 6.30am to midnight in summer and 6.30am to 10pm in winter. Round trip: passenger $5, bike and rider $8, car and driver $17.
Across the street · 58 Dock Street
Scouting for Quint’s shack, the production designer Joe Alves saw the Old Sculpin and realised it was the design he wanted. You can spot the building as a backdrop in Jaws.
Once a boat shed, a whale-oil factory and a grain store, it is named after the boatbuilder Manuel Swartz Roberts, who sold it to the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association.
A gallery of island artists, open daily in season: Monday to Saturday 10–5, Sunday 12–5.
Edgartown · Round trip · passenger $5, car and driver $17
The ferry from the film still crosses the 527-foot harbour to Chappaquiddick, from 53 Dock Street, from 6.30am.
Fares and hours55 Main Street · the hardware store
Brody buys the supplies for his “beach closed” signs at the hardware store. The hardware store is now The Port Hunter restaurant.
Drag a brush across the board, letter by letter.
0 of 11 letters painted.
The opening scene, with the film’s first victim.
Alex Kintner is attacked on his raft.
The shark swims through the channel under the bridge.
Amity Town Hall
Drag down the board to scratch it.
The selectmen are waiting.
70 Main Street
A working town hall: see the front from the brick pavement on Main Street.
Robert ShawQuint
Roy ScheiderBrody
Richard DreyfussHooper
Edgartown · Walking or island tour · book online
A one-hour walk through Edgartown’s filming locations, or a full island tour, with stories from the production.
See the tourBeach Road · State Beach and Big Bridge
Open water, State Beach behind you.
Alex Kintner is attacked on his raft at Joseph Sylvia State Beach.
A public beach along Beach Road. No lifeguards: swim at your own risk. No alcohol, fires or grills.
Officially the American Legion Bridge, it is known locally as Big Bridge; several beach scenes and shark scares were filmed right here.
See it from the beach or the road. Signs on the bridge say no jumping and no diving.
Up-island · Aquinnah and Menemsha
Draw on the billboard with your finger or mouse.
A number of scenes were filmed at Gay Head, including Brody trying to convince the mayor to close the beaches. The Gay Head Cliffs rise 100 feet above the Atlantic.
Walk the Aquinnah Headlands Preserve: the south head is open all year, the north head from 15 September to 14 June. No dogs.
There was a perfect empty lot in Menemsha to build Quint’s shack.
Jeffrey Voorhees says nothing has changed in Menemsha since they filmed there.
A working fishing harbour: walk the docks and keep clear of the boats.
Los Angeles
Bruce is the fourth shark cast and the last survivor from the original mould for Jaws: 25 feet long, 1,208 lb, the largest object in the museum’s collection.
0of 25 feet
It was cast in fibreglass for display at Universal Studios Hollywood when the film came out, stayed there until 1990, then went to Nathan Adlen’s family junkyard in Sun Valley.
The museum acquired it in 2016; after a seven-month restoration by Greg Nicotero it was installed on 20 November 2020, suspended 30 feet above the third floor.
Open six days a week, 10am–6pm; closed on Tuesdays.
Jaws joined the Studio Tour in April 1976, around a lake renamed Jaws Lake and dressed as Amity Island. Visitors still meet the great white every day when the tram visits Amity Island.
Inside the theme park: the shark is on the Studio Tour tram ride, which needs a park ticket.
Los Angeles · 10am–6pm · closed Tuesdays
The last shark from the original mould, 25 feet long, hangs in the museum on Wilshire Boulevard.
See Bruce
Vineyard Haven
The scene of crowds of tourists arriving in Amity for the season was filmed at Vineyard Haven harbour.
The Steamship Authority runs ferries from Woods Hole to its terminal at Union Street and Water Street, Vineyard Haven, all year.
For the 50th anniversary it showed “Jaws at 50”, from 24 May to 7 September 2025, with a to-scale Bruce by Arcana Workshop and a scaled-down “Amity Island Welcomes You” billboard. The exhibition told how Vineyarders played key roles in bringing Jaws to life.
Tuesday to Sunday, 10am–4pm from early October to late May and 10am–5pm in summer. Adults $21, children 7–17 $7.
The cast, including Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider, stayed at the Harbor View while Jaws was filmed in 1974. That summer Spielberg, Scheider and Dreyfuss started a food fight in the dining room, then rinsed off by jumping into the hotel pool.
Edgartown
Where the cast stayed in the summer of 1974, and where Spielberg, Scheider and Dreyfuss started a food fight in the dining room. Opened in 1891, at 131 North Water Street, looking out to Edgartown Lighthouse (pictured).
Check roomsVineyard Haven · Tue–Sun · adults $21
The island’s museum in Vineyard Haven, which marked the film’s 50th anniversary in 2025 with Jaws at 50.
Plan a visit14 places you can visit, on the island and in Los Angeles. Chief Brody’s house on East Chop is a private home: it is named, not mapped.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working town hall: see the front from the brick pavement on Main Street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A restaurant now, with a raw bar: book through Resy or call (508) 627-7747.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Runs 6.30am to midnight in summer and 6.30am to 10pm in winter. Round trip: passenger $5, bike and rider $8, car and driver $17.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A gallery of island artists, open daily in season: Monday to Saturday 10–5, Sunday 12–5.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel above the harbour: walk past to the lighthouse, or book a room on its website.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An open Atlantic beach in Katama, south of Edgartown village.
70 Main Street, Edgartown
Edgartown Town Hall plays Amity Town Hall: here Quint addresses the business owners and selectmen about killing the shark.
A working town hall: see the front from the brick pavement on Main Street.
55 Main Street, Edgartown
Brody buys the supplies for his “beach closed” signs at the hardware store.
A restaurant now, with a raw bar: book through Resy or call (508) 627-7747.
53 Dock Street, Edgartown
The On Time ferry to Chappaquiddick appears in the film.
Runs 6.30am to midnight in summer and 6.30am to 10pm in winter. Round trip: passenger $5, bike and rider $8, car and driver $17.
58 Dock Street, Edgartown, across from the Chappy Ferry
Scouting for Quint’s shack, the production designer Joe Alves saw the Old Sculpin and realised it was the design he wanted.
A gallery of island artists, open daily in season: Monday to Saturday 10–5, Sunday 12–5.
131 North Water Street, Edgartown
The cast, including Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider, stayed at the Harbor View while Jaws was filmed in 1974.
A working hotel above the harbour: walk past to the lighthouse, or book a room on its website.
Katama, on the Atlantic side of Edgartown
NBC Boston calls South Beach the place where it all started: the opening scene, with the film’s first victim.
An open Atlantic beach in Katama, south of Edgartown village.
Stay
The Harbor View in Edgartown, where the cast stayed in 1974 and the food fight happened.
Edgartown
Where the cast stayed in the summer of 1974, and where Spielberg, Scheider and Dreyfuss started a food fight in the dining room. Opened in 1891, at 131 North Water Street, looking out to Edgartown Lighthouse (pictured).
Check roomsGo there
A walking tour of Amity, the ferry from the film, the island museum and Bruce in Los Angeles.
Edgartown · Walking or island tour · book online
A one-hour walk through Edgartown’s filming locations, or a full island tour, with stories from the production.
See the tourEdgartown · Round trip · passenger $5, car and driver $17
The ferry from the film still crosses the 527-foot harbour to Chappaquiddick, from 53 Dock Street, from 6.30am.
Fares and hoursVineyard Haven · Tue–Sun · adults $21
The island’s museum in Vineyard Haven, which marked the film’s 50th anniversary in 2025 with Jaws at 50.
Plan a visitLos Angeles · 10am–6pm · closed Tuesdays
The last shark from the original mould, 25 feet long, hangs in the museum on Wilshire Boulevard.
See BruceMartha’s Vineyard
Live marketplace results for Jaws and Martha’s Vineyard island tours. Check each itinerary.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Jaws screenings and anniversaries, once they have dates.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Take it home
Two original 1975 posters from our store, Benchley’s novel, Carl Gottlieb’s log and John Williams’s soundtrack.
An original 1975 one-sheet, 27 x 41 in, art by Roger Kastel; near mint, stored rolled, previously folded.
In stock
View posterAn original 1975 French poster, 40 x 53 cm, art by Roger Kastel; near mint, rolled, previously folded.
In stock framed
View posterPeter Benchley
Peter Benchley’s novel, which the film adapts.
Find the bookCarl Gottlieb
Carl Gottlieb’s account of making the film.
Find the bookJohn Williams · LP, MCA, 1975
John Williams’s Oscar-winning score on a 1975 British LP.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Beach open.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
15 of 15 places · 16 of 16 Moments
70 Main Street, Edgartown
Quint addresses the business owners and selectmen about killing the shark.
55 Main Street, Edgartown
Brody buys the supplies for his “beach closed” signs.
The Fourth of July parade comes down Main Street.
53 Dock Street, Edgartown
The On Time ferry to Chappaquiddick appears in the film.
58 Dock Street, Edgartown, across from the Chappy Ferry
Joe Alves sees the Old Sculpin and takes its design for Quint’s shack.
131 North Water Street, Edgartown
Spielberg, Scheider and Dreyfuss start a food fight in the dining room, then jump into the pool.
Katama, on the Atlantic side of Edgartown
The opening scene, with the film’s first victim.
Beach Road, between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown
Alex Kintner is attacked on his raft.
Beach Road, on State Beach at the Oak Bluffs–Edgartown line
The shark swims through the channel under the bridge.
East Chop, Oak Bluffs
The Zinn house stands in for Chief Brody’s house.
Menemsha Basin, Chilmark
Quint boils shark jaws in his shack on the harbour.
Aquinnah Headlands, at the western tip of the island
A prankster paints a shark fin on the “Amity Island Welcomes You” billboard.
Brody tries to convince the mayor to close the beaches.
Steamship Authority terminal, Union Street and Water Street, Vineyard Haven
Crowds of tourists arrive in Amity for the season.
151 Lagoon Pond Road, Vineyard Haven
6067 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
The fourth shark from the mould is cast for display at Universal Studios Hollywood.
100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City
Jaws joins the Studio Tour, around a lake dressed as Amity Island.
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