• by Frances Ruley Karttunen • Nantucket’s Main Street exists in three distinct segments. The wide part from the head of Straight Wharf uphill between storefronts is known as Main Street Square. The square resulted from widening the street after the Great Fire of 1846. At the foot of the […]
Nantucket History & People
William Rotch, Captain of Shipping
• by Amy Jenness, author of On This Day in Nantucket History • William Rotch, a prominent Nantucket shipowner and devout island Quaker died at age 94 on May 16, 1828. He was a businessman who owned a large 18th Century whaling and shipping business and helped make Nantucket the […]
This Week in Nantucket History – Steaming Home
• by Amy Jenness, author of On This Day in Nantucket History • The first commercial steam-powered boat service to Nantucket was provided by the Eagle in 1818. Submarine inventor Robert Fulton had proven the viability of steam-powered boats in 1807 when he made a successful run between New York […]
Whaleship Essex Exhibit at NHA
On August 14, 1819, the whaleship Essex sailed out of Nantucket Harbor— Captain George Pollard, one of the youngest ever to command a whaling ship, anticipated a successful two-and-a-half year voyage; its crew of twenty hoped for greasy luck. Their experience was anything but lucky. Fifteen months after the start […]
New Executive Director for Small Friends on Nantucket
Small Friends on Nantucket, Inc. is pleased to announce that Courtney Bridges will be joining our school as Executive Director beginning in September, 2015. Bridges will oversee all business operations and programming for our early education and child care program. Bridges is a graduate of Ohio University with a B.S. […]
Paws, Claws, & Tennis Balls
• by Sarah Teach • Michelle Perkins and Scott Leonard are animal people, though they’d probably prefer to add a distinction: “non-human” animals. The past 16 years of their 25 as a couple have been spent in their home on bucolic Millbrook Road. Leonard is a handyman who can build […]
2014 Nantucket Cranberry Festival
What New Englander doesn’t love cranberries? Nantucketers are no exception. Island residents have cultivated cranberries for over 150 years, and today, the island is home to two cranberry bogs, including one of the nation’s only organic bogs. In celebration of this tart, tradition-steeped red berry, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation (NCF) […]
Whalers Then & Now
• by Robert P. Barsanti • When the mighty Nantucket Whalers scored their first touchdown of the game, I was sitting at the fifty yard line discussing computer software. We paused in our discussion and watched the Upper Cape Voke tacklers bounce off of the running back until he stood […]