Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket, Massachusetts
By Emmanuel Hadar, all rights reserved.
Tour to Nantucket, Massachusetts from N.Y.C
Departure From New York
Trip code:
ACK TOUR
Departs:
DEPANDS ON RESERVATION
Activity period:
On request
Nantucket
Nantucket, is an island located 30 miles (48.30 Km) from Hyannis on Cape Cod.
Because of its location surrounded by water and close proximity to the gulf stream Nantucket is 10 degrees warmer than the mainland in winter and 10 degrees cooler in summer.
Nantucket has its own source of fresh drinking water created by the glaciers. Water is drawn from an aquifer that sits below the island. Ground water filters down through sand and clay. The clay prevents sea water from invading the “lens”. But most importantly, Nantucket does not add chlorine or any other chemicals to the water supply.
Prior to 1996, Nantucket had its own prior station located behind the Stop and Shop grocery store on Candle Street. Since 1996, electrical power for the island has been supplied by a 35-megawatt cable from mainland.
In 2006, a 2nd 35MW cable began operating. Both cables originate from Harwich on Cape Cod and make landfall near the Cliffside Beach Club on the north shore. A backup solar powered generator was installed near the Airport and can fill in if one of the power lines malfunctions or can add to the power usage if both lines are near or at capacity.
As of the 2010 US Census, Nantucket’s year-round population is just under 11,000. Unofficially it is closer to 18,000, based upon registered voters (9,250 as of 6/16), traffic, electrical use, water use, landfill use and so forth.
Nantucket’s summer population is 40,000 -50,000 (approx.). This does not include short term stays of one week or less.
Nantucket has had a hospital since 1911. The current building was completed last year replacing a 1957 structure.
There are over 800 buildings and structures built before the civil war (1861) that are still in existence.
Brant Point lighthouse, situated at the entrance to Nantucket harbor is the second oldest established lighthouse in North America. The first was Boston Harbor light in 1716. The first was Boston Harbor light built in 1901 is the ninth lighthouse. The eight lighthouse is still standing on the Coast Guard Station Brant Point property nearby.
Sankaty Head lighthouse on the eastern shore was built in 1850. The light can be seen 26 miles away. In 2007, the lighthouse was moved 400 feet northeast away from the eroding bluff.
Great point light at the tip of the northeast end of the island was established in 1784. The current structure was built in 1986 replacing the lighthouse built in 1818 and destroyed in 1984 storm.
History
The island was discovered in 1602 by Englishman Bartholomew Gosnold.
Settled in 1659 by a small group of Englishmen wishing to escape religious persecution in Salisbury, Massachusetts.
At the time of the English arrival, there were approximately 3,000 native people on the island. These natives were affiliated with the Wampanoag tribes found around Cape Cod and the islands. The language was Algonquin.
The name “Nantucket” is a Native American word meaning “Faraway land.”
By 1855, the native population had completely died off mostly due to European disease. The last native was Abram Quary. His portrait is on display in the library.
The early English settlers established the town of Sherburne. Sherburne was originally located at Capuam Pond on the north shore. Eventually the town was relocated to its present spot on the west side of the “great harbor”.
In 1667 Abiah Folger was born. She would later marry Joseph Franklin. Their youngest child Benjamin was born in Boston in 1706. A memorial to Abiah Folger was built by the daughters of the American Revolution on Madaket Road.
In 1692, Nantucket was transferred from New York Colony to Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The Pacific Club located at 15 main Street was built in 1772 by William Rotch as a counting house, the interior was rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1846. It was renamed the pacific club in 1854 when 24 Whaling captains purchased the building. These captains would meet and trade stories about their days whaling in the Pacific. Today, the building is used as commercial space.
The sign “Dartmouth, Beaver and Bedford” located on the front of the building were Nantucket based ships. The Dartmouth and the Beaver owned by William Rotch were used during the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The Bedford was the first American flagged (Nantucket as its home port) vessel to sail into a foreign port in 1783. The Bedford was the first American flagged (Nantucket as its home port) vessel to sail into a foreign port in 1783. That port was London.
In 1795, the town name was Sherburne was changed to Nantucket, thus making the island the only place in North America to have the same name for town, county and island.
In the late 1600’s whales prized for their oil were hunted off shore. The English hired a native American, named Tom Never to look for whales off the southeast section of the island. By the mid-1700s ships set out for longer distances in pursuit of the sperm whale which had the best oil. Spermacetti oil could be used to light lamps.
The Pacific Ocean became the main hunting ground and thus made Nantucket the Whaling Capital of the World from 1800 to 1840. By the 1840s, the Whaling era for Nantucket was over as the build up of a sand bar outside the harbor prevented bigger ships from landing with their prized oil. The discovery of black oil in Pennsylvania in the late 1830’s and the ability to ship it cheaper by railroad doomed the whaling industry in Nantucket. The final nail in the coffin was the Great Fire of July 1846 which burned the wharves and the commercial center of the Town.
The first ferry service began in 1818 from New Bedford, MA.
The Pacific Bank Located at 61 Main Street was built in 1818. The bank was named as such because of the financial wealth generated by whaling in the Pacific Ocean at the time of its construction. In 1847, the bank manager’s daughter, Maria Mitchell discovered a comet while looking thru a telescope on the roof of the bank. Mitchell would later become the first female professor at Vassar College. In 1954 murals were added to the interior walls. The murals depict the whaling days of murals were added to the interior walls. The murals depict the whaling days of Nantucket. Images include a ship’s captain, his wife, the wharves and a ship yard. The bank remained independent Until 1998 when it was bought by Bank Boston, then Fleet Bank and now Bank of America.
Old South Church / Town Clock located at 11 Orange Street was built in 1809. This building complimented the Old North Church (the white steepled Congregational Church on Centre Street). Today, many people know this building with the clock and gold dome as the Unitarian Church. The clock with 4 faces is also known as the Town Clock. In 1811, a bell, a gift from the government of Portugal, was installed. In the Clock. In 1811, a bell, a gift from the government of Portugal, was installed. In the Clock. In 1811, a bell, a gift from the government of Portugal, was installed. In the 19th Century during the Quaker / Whaling era, the clock in addition to ringing on the hour would also ring 52 times at 7:00 am, (Go to Work) 12 Noon (Lunch) and 09:00 PM (Curfew Bed). It was estimated that in the time the bell rang all 52 times, one could have been able to travel from home to work, work to home or anywhere to home.
In 1844, Carl Wendte painted the Trump L’oeil design on the ceiling.
On a whaling voyage in 1820, the ship Essex was rammed by a whale in the Pacific Ocean off South America. The ship sank, but most of the crew survived. Author Herman Melville while visiting Nantucket in the 1840s heard the story from 1st Mate Owen Chase which inspired him to write “Moby Dick”. Cabin Boy Thomas Nickerson also wrote about the ramming.
In 2000, historian Nat Philbrick wrote the bestseller “In the Heart of the Sea”. The houses of 3 major players are still in existence.
Captain Pollard — Seven Seas Gift Shop — Center and Quince Streets Owen Chase — 74 Orange Street.
Thomas Nickerson — Springfield House — end of N. Water Street.
In 1837, the first cobblestone were laid out on Lower Main Street, then called State Street. The stones had been brought from Gloucester, MA where they had been stockpiled after serving as ships’ ballast. The cobblestones enabled heavy whale oil laden carts to move up from the wharves without sinking into the mud. Eventually, other streets in Town were paved with cobblestones.
The first public building rebuilt after the fire was the Atheneum (library) in 1847. Frederick Douglass spoke at the library in 1841, 1842, 1843, 1850 and 1855. A children’s wing (The Weezie Library) opened in 1996. Writer and historian David McCullough dedicated the renovated and expended library.
Macy’s department store in New York City’s Hearald Square was founded by Rowland Hussey Macy (1822–1877). Macy lived on Nantucket and operated a dry goods store at the corner of Main and Fair Street. In 1858, he moved to New York and opened a store.
In the late 19th century, tourism began to establish of foothold as actors from the New York theatres chose to take their summer vacations here in the village of Sconset on the east side of the island.
Nantucket had its on railroad from 1881 to 1917. The railroad ran from Steamboat Wharf Southward to Surfside and in later years out to ‘Sconset on the eastern shore’. By 1917–1918, the railroad went bankrupt.
The Nantucket Historical Association was founded in 1894.
In 1918, cars were finally allowed on the island.
During World War II, the U.S Navy built a training field for its aircraft on south side of the island. In 1946, the Navy turned the airfield over to the Town and Nantucket Memorial Airport was established. In July and August, the Nantucket Airport is the 2nd busiest airport in New England. Boston Logan is the busiest.
On the night of July 25, 1956, in heavy fog roughly 50 miles south of Nantucket, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Daria, inbound to New York, was rammed by the SS Stockholm bound for Europe. Survivors including the Gifford family of Nantucket were put on rescue ships and some were flown to Nantucket before moving on to hospitals in Boston. The Doria sank the following morning and now rest 250 feet below the surface.
Starting in 1962, Sherburne Associates led by S&H Green Stamps heir Walter Beinecke bought the dilapidated whaves and many downtown buildings. By the late 1960’s the wharves were overhauled and the buildings transformed into tourist oriented businesses.
The island was designated a National Historic District in 1966.
To the south and East, Nantucket is protected by many shoals and sandbars. To warn ships of these shoals, a lightship was anchored about 40–45 miles south of the island from 1854–1983. To pass the time on the 30 day, crew members began making baskets that would eventually become known as Lightship Basket. These baskets are collector’s items and are expensive to buy. The Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum (currently closed until further notice) located at 49 Union Street has a great collection.
Internet Reference website:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/SmartDeals-g29527-Nantucket_Massachusetts-Hotel-Deals.html
