Leonard Merritt, superintending engineer of the New Haven Steamboat Company, supervised the machinery construction.

Brown had previously commanded the island ferry steamers Eagle's Wing and Massachusetts.

Island Home was sold by the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co. in 1895 or 1896 (sources vary.

In 1902 it was damaged by an ice floe off New Jersey or Rhode Island (sources vary) and sank.

[6][7] In 2007, a new diesel-powered car ferry named MV Island Home started service between Martha's Vineyard and Woods Hole.