A Brief History Of Nantucket, Massachusetts

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In 1602 Captain Bartholomew Gosnold of Falmouth, England sailed his bark Concord past the bluffs of Siaconset. The original residents of Nantucket Island were Wampanoag Indians, who lived there undisturbed until 1641 when the island was deeded by the English to Thomas Mayhew and his son, who were merchants of Watertown and Martha’s Vineyard.

Europeans began to settle in the area around Cape Cod and the island became a place of refuge for regional Indians. Nantucket was not yet discovered by white men.

In 1659 Thomas Mayhew sold his interest to the nine original purchasers for the sum of thirty Pounds and two beaver hats (one for himself and one for his wife).

The first white settlement occurred on the small sheltered harbor of Capaum Pond on the north shore. The settlement was called “Sherburne.” In 1795, the town now nestled on the Great Harbor was named Nantucket, which means “faraway land” in Wampanoag. Nantucket became unique in the country as an island, a county and a town all with the same name.

For almost 100 years, the island was the whaling capital of the world (the mid-1700s to the late 1830s). There were as many as 150 ships making port in Nantucket during its peak. The new wealth from whale oil drastically took a turn upon the advent of petroleum in 1838 when it began to replace whale oil as an illuminant, and the sperm whale was harder to find. In addition, in 1846, a great fire roared through Nantucket Town at night leaving hundreds homeless and in poverty.

Gold was discovered in California. Shiploads of people from Nantucket, Massachusetts left to seek after gold fortunes. Whaling was officially over in Nantucket. The last ship to leave Nantucket in search of the giant sperm whale left in 1869 and never returned.

Commercial shipping gave way to recreational boating at the end of the whaling era. Summer visitors began to pour into Nantucket for daily excursions from the mainland on the graceful old steamers. The first generation to enjoy these excursions spoke of pure air and saltwater bathing for health and pleasure. They began to build cottages and summer houses and advertised them for rent and for sale in the Boston and New York newspapers. The Nantucket Island housewives began taking in summer boarders. Grand hotels were built in the town and on the seashore at Brant Point, Surfside, and Siaconset.

The American tradition of summer vacations was firmly established around the year of 1880. At this time, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts was discovered as just about the most ideal spot for a vacation. Soon tourism became the principle source of income for island residents, and it still is today. Visitors to Nantucket, Massachusetts are also attracted by the quiet beauty of the off-season, and are assured of finding comfortable accommodations at any time of the year.

Written by: Connie Limon For more information about living and vacationing in the Nantucket Islands in Massachusetts, visit http://smalldogs2.com/NantucketMassachusetts For a variety of FREE reprint articles and other special topic articles visit Camelot Articles at http://www.camelotarticles.com

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© 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved

Written by: Connie Limon For more information about living and vacationing in the Nantucket Islands in Massachusetts, visit http://smalldogs2.com/NantucketMassachusetts For a variety of FREE reprint articles and other special topic articles visit Camelot Articles at http://www.camelotarticles.com

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