Nantucket History & People

Nantucket History & People

First Island Phone

by Amy Jenness, author of On This Day in Nantucket History, available at Mitchell’s Book Corner On June 22, 1929 the telephone company “cut over” from an outdated magnetic telephone system at its Fair Street building to a battery system housed in a new building on Union Street. The new […]

Nantucket History & People

Civil War Shipwreck

• by Amy Jenness – author of On This Day in Nantucket History • On June 10, 1865 a ship carrying soldiers who had fought for the North in the Civil War under General William Tecumsah Sherman went aground on Smith’s Point. The ship, SS Satacona, grounded in a thick […]

Whaling | Nantucket
Nantucket History & People

Nantucket Whalers in Europe

by Amy Jenness author of On This Day in Nantucket History On June 1, 1796, the British brig Swallow received a “Letter of Marque,” which gave it the authority to capture French ships. The Letter of Marque and Reprisal is a government license authorizing privateers to attack enemy vessels (Britain […]

Nantucket and World War II
Nantucket History & People

WWII Came Close to Nantucket

• by Amy Jenness, author of On This Day in Nantucket History • In May of 1942, the German Navy sent 8 submarines to prowl Atlantic waters and destroy ships belonging to their enemies.  The grouping, one of the Germans’ famous “wolf packs,” was called Pfadfinder and the impact of […]