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Nantucket

Nantucket is a town, a county, and an island in the state of Massachusetts.  Our island is located approximately 30 miles off the eastern coast of the United States and is accessible by air and by water.  According to census information, Nantucket Island has a year-round population of just under 12,000 (though residents will tell you it is larger).  During peak summer months, the population swells to 50,000+.

Nantucket’s primary industries are tourism, construction, educational services, and retail.

In 2018, the media age on Nantucket was 37.6, and median household income was over $103,000.

Median property value was $953,000.

The Town of Nantucket is led by an elected Selectboard and annual town meeting.

On this page of the Insider’s Guide to Nantucket, you will find links to many valuable community organizations.

Click here for FUN FACTS about Nantucket Island.  

Fun Facts About Nantucket Island

In 1659, Nantucket Island was purchased by 9 men with 30 pounds and 2 beaver hats from the European who at that time claimed ownership: Thomas Mayhew.
According to Nantucket historian Zaccheus Macy (c. 1700s), before the arrival of European settlers, more about 3,000 Wampanoags made Nantucket their home. Other historians placed this population number at approximately 1,500 native Americans.
The first English settlers arrived on Nantucket Island in 1659.
The early English investors (Proprietors) set off homestead lots for each shareholder and the rest of the island was held in common for livestock grazing.
Benjamin Franklin’s mother, Abiah Folger Franklin, was born on Nantucket on August 15, 1667. There is a memorial fountain on Madaket Road at her birthplace.
Whaling by English settlers on Nantucket began with off-shore whaling in the 1690s. Deep-sea whaling from Nantucket began in the early 1700s, after a sperm whale was captured by a sloop blown out to sea during a storm.
At the peak of whaling, voyages could last 3 to 5 years.
Greasy Luck is a term from whaling days: it meant the decks were greasy, from successful hunts. It was a way to wish people good luck.
Nantucket’s Old Mill was build in 1746. Now owned by the Nantucket Historical Association, this grist mill can still grind corn. The term “three sheets to the wind” came from the way a mill with sheets only 3 of the 4 vanes were equipped with sheets, a sort of sail that helped catch the wind.
The oldest fishing cottages in Siasconset on Broadway, Center, and Shell Streets were built during the 17th and 18th centuries. Originally these cottages had a central room with small sleeping chambers. Over the years, the cottages were extended with “warts,” or small rooms, and kitchen called “porches.” Some families added cubbyholes called “squeeze places” in which children could sleep.
In the early 1700s, the Proprietors decided to divide the original 27 shares into 720 units called Sheep Commons. Residents were permitted to graze 1 sheep on the common land per sheep common they owned.
With nearly 15,000 sheep on-island by the late 18th century, Nantucketers made an annual celebration out of the shearing every June. The three-day "Shearing Festival," described as a "prolonged picnic," allowed island residents to accomplish a practical task while enjoying one another's company with food, drink, and entertainment.
*image from nha.org
A “sheep storm” was what islanders called periods of intense fogginess which presides over the moors in late June and early July, when many sheep were grazing there.
Brant Point Lighthouse is the second oldest in America, first constructed in 1746. It was blown down in 1774, burned and was rebuilt in 1782, burned and was rebuilt again in 1783. In 1788, Brant Point light was again destroyed in a storm.
In 1723, Love Paddock (then a young child) dug a small trench near Lily Pond
*image from Maria Mitchell
From the mid-1700s to the late 1830s the island was the whaling capital of the world, with as many as 150 ships making port in Nantucket during its peak.
On July 4, 1881 the Nantucket Railroad took its inaugural trip from town to Surfside. Later routes took passengers to Tom Nevers and to Siasconset. The railroad was popular with residents and tourists until it was shut down in 1917.
IN 1795, the Nantucket Bank was robbed of $20,000. The robbery was never solved.
During the mid-1830s, there was a silk factory on Nantucket Island, and more than 4,000 mulberry trees were planted on-island to nurture the silkworms. The silk factory closed in 1844.
Nantucketer R.H. Macy was the founder of the Macy’s retail store in New York City in the mid 1800s. His original shop was on Nantucket, and Murray’s Toggery Shop is currently doing business in that location on Main Street.
The first bicycles were brought to Nantucket in the 1880s. They were so heavy few people wanted to ride them. In the early 1890s, newer, lighter versions were brought to the island, and bicycles are now very much a part of Nantucket living.
On July 13 of 1846, a fire that started in a hat shop on Main Street spread to burn one-third of the town, including the wharves. No one was killed, but hundreds were left homeless. “There is not food enough in town to keep wide-spread suffering from hunger at bay a single week….Hundreds of families are without a roof to cover them, a bed to lie upon, and very many of them even without a change of raiment. Widows and old men have been stripped of their all; they have no hopes for the future, except such as are founded upon the humanity of others…We are in deep trouble….We need help–liberal and immediate.”
Nantucket banned automobiles in the downtown area FROM 1909 until 1918.
Photo Courtesy of the NHA
The eastern coast of Nantucket was the first place in the U.S. to see the first sunrise of the new millennium.
Nantucket’s near proximity to the Gulf Stream, makes the island 10˚ degrees warmer in the winter and 10˚ degrees cooler in the summer than the mainland.
Nantucket has more than 82 miles of beaches. Each year there is a Rock Run in which teams or some very brave individuals circumnavigate the island (fortunately only 52 miles of the 82)
Island’s dimensions: 14 miles (20 Km) long, 3 – 5 miles (2-3 Km) wide on average. The total land is approximately 47.8 square miles (123.8 Km)
Nantucket is on the north/south flyway of migrating birds and is a popular venue for serious bird watchers. Endangered species here on Nantucket include the piping plover, least tern, and osprey.
There are no traffic lights on Nantucket Island.
James Athearn Folger, born and raised on Nantucket, founded the Folger Coffee Company in 1872.
Nantucket has the largest concentration of Native American place names in the country. Nantucket is translated as “far away land” in the Wampanoag dialect.
Cobblestones were laid on Main Street in 1838. Despite all rumors, there is no proof that the stones were used as ballast on whaling ships. More likely they were laid to cope with New England spring mud.
In 1977, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard unsuccessfully attempted to secede from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
*image from nha.org
Author Herman Melville first visited Nantucket in July of 1852: a year after his novel Moby-Dick was published.
On October 1, 1847, Maria Mitchell discovered a comet from the observatory her father had placed to the roof of the Pacific Bank on Main Street, Nantucket.
Born here to Quaker parents on August 1, 1818, Nantucketer Maria Mitchell was America’s first female astronomer was Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association is dedicated to.
There are over 800 buildings and structures built before the Civil War (1861) that are still in existence.
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Nantucket Community Links and Information

Nantucket Cottage Hospital

Founded in 1911, Nantucket Cottage Hospital is a not-for-profit regional medical center located in Nantucket, Massachusetts and is the only hospital on the island.

Nantucket Regional Transit Authority

The NRTA offers fixed route year-round bus service, fixed route summer service, complementary paratransit service, and demand response service.

Nantucket Food, Fuel, Rental Assistance

A composite website with information and links to the Nantucket Food Pantry, island fuel assistance, rental assistance, and medical travel assistance. The site also has a link if you’d like to volunteer to help.

Palliative & Supportive Care of Nantucket

PASCON is a specialized health care program dedicated to providing physical, psychological, social, and spiritual care for persons with life-threatening illness and their families.

Nantucket Interfaith Council

There are nearly 2 dozen different communities of worship on Nantucket Island, including Baptist, Baha’I, Catholic, Christian Science, Congregational, Episcopalian, Methodist, Muslim, Quaker, Unitarian, and more.

Saltmarsh Senior Center

The Saltmarsh Senior Center is the social and recreational place for active people 60 years and over to enjoy themselves.

Yesterday’s Island/Today’s Nantucket

For more than 50 years, this seasonal publication has published interviews with island notables, articles about island festivals and events, essays about island life, featured restaurant reviews, articles on natural history and science, Nantucket limericks, and more.

Nantucket Directory & Call Nantucket

Looking for a telephone number for an island resident or an island business? You’ll find it here in our Nantucket telephone book online. White Pages
Yellow Pages

A Safe Place, Inc

A Safe Place provides free, confidential services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, including a Nantucket Hotline that is answered 24/7: 508-228-2111

Nantucket Public Schools

Public education from kindergarten through grade 12 at Nantucket Elementary School, Nantucket Intermediate School, Cyrus Peirce Middle School, and Nantucket High School.

Nantucket Community School

The mission of the Nantucket Community School is to engage, strengthen, and connect our community by offering a diverse level of high-quality, affordable programs spanning every age and stage. Programs include classes, workshops, summer camp, sports camps, certifications, and after-school programs

Nantucket Network of Care Websites

Here you’ll find links of interest for seniors, children & families, veterans, and those with developmental issues.

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State of Massachusetts

Information about living, working, and visiting Massachusetts, including state COVID-19 pandemic updates

© 2022 Yesterday's Island, Inc. | PO Box 626 | Nantucket, MA 02554

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