~ by Amy Jenness ~ After surviving the gruesome loss of the Nantucket whaleship Essex in 1820, George Pollard, the ship’s captain, and Owen Chase, its first mate, returned home in June of 1821. Pollard immediately returned to the sea in command of a another whaleship. But Chase stayed home […]
Nantucket History & People
A Tribute to “Mac”
The Nantucket Historical Association and The House that Mac Built will present four staged readings during the Nantucket Arts Festival to honor the life of Joseph ‘Mac’ Dixon, the co-founder and forty-year Artistic Director of The Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. This tribute will include many of Mac’s former students and […]
Madaket Millie & the West End Command
Mildred Carpenter Jewett, born on September 24 1907, spent her life in service to both people and animals in distress. She lived in Madaket from the age of 4, only left the island 10 times in her lifetime, and eventually earned the nickname “Madaket Millie.” There she fished, opened scallops, […]
The Pacific Club – A Look Back
~ by Amy Jenness ~ In the spring of 1772 successful Nantucket whaling merchant William Rotch began constructing a new, 3-story brick building at the bottom of Main Street which he used as offices and a warehouse for his growing business. Rotch’s structure survives today and is the only 18th […]
Walking Through Four Centuries
The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA), in collaboration with the Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) and the Nantucket Preservation Trust (NPT), is pleased to announce the “Four Centuries Domestic Walking Tour” tour on Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 10 A.M. Join expert preservationists and conservators for an exploratory two-hour walking tour examining […]
The Fury of the Storms
~ by Amy Jenness ~ In mid-September of 1961 Hurricane Esther gathered itself into a category three, and the category four, hurricane as it moved north-northwest from the Cape Verde Islands. The storm peaked with sustained winds of 145 mph, made landfall in North Carolina and continued north. Early on […]
What Is This? A Striped Bass Skeleton
~ by Katherine Brooks, Maria Mitchell Association ~ The story of the striped bass skeleton hanging in the Maria Mitchell Association’s Hinchman Natural Science Museum begins with an old Nantucketer, Granger Frost, who caught the striped bass off of Tuckernuck in 1971. The bass, lovingly named the 7th Earl of […]