History of Nantucket Island Massachusetts
By: Hannah Fillmore-Patrick
Long after Pilgrims settled on Cape Cod, the island of Nantucket was inhabited primarily by Wampanoag Indians, who had lived on the island for thousands of years.
History of Nantucket
At first, the island’s original proprietors and its new tradesmen were often at odds. In 1686, however, Jethro Coffin, the grandson of proprietor Tristram Coffin, married Mary Gardner, the daughter of a prominent tradesman. This marriage ended much of the conflict between the two groups. The Jethro Coffin House, a traditional wooden saltbox home, is now the oldest surviving residence on the island.
In the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, Nantucket was the world’s most productive whaling port. “Two thirds of this terraqueous globe are the Nantucketer’s,” writes Herman Melville in his classic nineteenth-century novel Moby Dick, “For the sea is his; he owns it, as Emperors own empires.” Nantucket ships left on whaling voyages that lasted up to five years and took sailors as far away as the South Pacific.
Nantucket built the first lighthouse on Brant Point, at the entrance to the island’s main port, in 1746. In the years since, fires, strong winds, and erosion have destroyed Brant Point Light nine different times. Each time, the island has stubbornly rebuilt the structure. The current wooden lighthouse dates back to 1901 and is both a working lighthouse and a popular tourist spot.
According to the National Park Service, Nantucket is the
Town Hall Address:
16 Broad Street
Nantucket, MA 02554
Phone: (508) 228-7216
Cost of Stickers:
Beach Stickers: $50 resident, $100 non-resident
Transfer Station Stickers: Likely no fees
Shellfish License: $35 resident, $125 non-resident