As you walk through the streets of Nantucket you will see surrounding the chimneys of several houses seven- to eight-foot wooden platforms with wooden railings. These platforms are often called “widows’ walks”—a term which conjures up images of women in long skirts and bonnets gazing forlornly toward the harbor. You can picture them drawing their shawls tightly about their shoulders and bracing themselves against the wind as they search the horizon for a sail that might bring a beloved husband home safely after years at sea.
As romantic and appealing as this image may be, the roofwalks, as they are properly called, had more practical purposes. They were places of observation, but they were primarily used by sailors, not by their wives. And, while wives (and other family members) may have occasionally used these platforms to see if a loved-one’s ship had returned, widows had little reason to do that.
Houses built on Nantucket during the 18th century had few windows, but from the roof captains could see which ships were arriving and departing, and they determine how the preparations for their next voyages were progressing.
Historian and author E.K. Godfrey in 1882 explained that earlier that century, during the height of the whaling era on Nantucket, roofwalks were common. Before that, most people had gained access to their roofs by a trapdoor called a “scuttle” next to the chimney, which was also used by chimney sweeps and for greater ease in extinguishing chimney fires.
According to Godfrey, the walks first appeared on the homes of the “well-todo,” who found the scuttle cramped for even one person to observe the town. A walk provided ample room for the whole household to observe the town’s activity from the roof if they so desired.
Many of the walks were constructed during the 1700s; in later centuries cupolas became more fashionable and were built instead. As the whaling industry of Nantucket declined, many of the walks fell into disrepair and were removed.
Calling the platforms “widows’ walks” evidently began on the mainland. An article from the Boston Transcript from the 1920s states that “widows’ walk” is a “city term.” It also states that “the old people, the people who know and love Nantucket better than the passing vacationists, still cling to the walk whenever they have occasion to use the word.”
It is a peculiar term since widows had the least use for walks of anyone. In his 1925 opening address to the Nantucket Historical Association, President William F. Macy strongly protested against the growing use of the terms “widows’ walks” or “captains’ walks” or any other “modifications of the original name for the platforms on the roofs of many Nantucket houses. As all good Nantucketers know, they are just plain ‘walks,’ and were never called anything else until quite recently.” Macy then appealed to everyone at the meeting to “make a point of correcting anyone who called them otherwise.”
So, call them “walks” or call them “roofwalks,” but please, don’t call them “widows’ walks.”
