by Frances Karttunen Newtown Cemetery, also known as the Old South Cemetery, faces Sparks Avenue and is bounded on the west and south by school property. When it was designated as a burial ground in the 1700s, however, it was on the extreme south edge of town, surrounded by empty […]
Tag: history
Four Centuries of Domestic Life
by Amy Roberts Nantucket’s architecture provides great insight into the history of domestic life over nearly 400 hundred years. A walk along the historic downtown streets reveals captivating and contrasting architectural elements that echo the lives of island residents. From the colonial settlement era of the seventeenth- century to the […]
“When America First Met China”
by Amy Roberts There are very few windows into Nantucket’s little known nineteenth century engagement in the China Trade. As small pieces of a vague past, there are portraits of Nantucket captains and their families completed by Chinese artists, intricately painted porcelain platters, personalized creamware jugs, and earthenware figurines brought […]
Nantucket in the Civil War
When the Civil War began in 1861, Nantucketers responded with heroic dedication to the call for volunteers to support Union troops. Even in the face of pacifist island traditions, nearly 400 Nantucket men enlisted in defense of the Union forces, with more than 70 ultimately losing their lives in the […]
A Week of History and Fun
While you’re busy enjoying the cool, clear ocean water this week, the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) will be swimming in activity! Think Baroque chamber music to celebrate alongside the unveiling of a newly donated and restored 1925 Steinway baby grand model “L” piano, topped off by a rendezvous with renowned […]
Painters Who Changed Nantucket
We live in a society that tends to peg businesspersons as the most influential in our world, often forgetting the impact that artists can plant among us. On Friday, June 29, the Artists Association of Nantucket (AAN) presents its 2012 exhibition, The Waterfront Artists: Painters Who Changed Nantucket. A compilation […]
Gimme Shelter – Asylum on Nantucket
by Frances Karttunen On the left side of Orange Street as one proceeds outbound toward the edge of town stands the Landmark House. Now housing an assisted living community, it was previously Our Island Home. Before the prominent old building was Our Island Home, it had been Nantucket’s Town and […]
Madaket Ditch, Hither Creek, and Millie
by Frances Karttunen The erosion currently ravaging the west end of Nantucket is no new thing. A long spit of land with Smith’s Point at the very tip once extended right past the island of Tuckernuck and approached Muskeget. Nobody remembers who Smith was, but the Wampanoag name for the […]
