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}}Nantucket ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|n|æ|n|ˈ|t|ʌ|k|ᵻ|t}}) is an island about {{convert|30|mi|km|sigfig=2}} south from Cape Cod.ENCYCLOPEDIA,weblink Nantucket {{!, island, Massachusetts, United States |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=September 5, 2023}} Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government in the state of Massachusetts. Nantucket is the southeasternmost town in both Massachusetts and the New England region.The name "Nantucket" is adapted from similar Algonquian names for the island, but is very similar to the endonym of the native Nehantucket tribe that occupied the region at the time of European settlement.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}Nantucket is a tourist destination and summer colony. Due to tourists and seasonal residents, the population of the island increases to around 80,000 during the summer months.WEB, How many people live on Nantucket?,weblink May 7, 2023, nantucket-ma.gov, The average sale price for a single-family home was $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2018.NEWS,weblink Real Estate Sales Smash Records on Nantucket as Wealthy Americans Buy Beach Houses, Kathleen, Howley, Forbes, The National Park Service cites Nantucket, designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1966, as being the "finest surviving architectural and environmental example of a late 18th- and early 19th-century New England seaport town."WEB Nantucket is accessible by boat, ferry, or airplane.

History

{{For timeline}}File:Clinton Folgers "Horsemobile".jpg|thumb|250px|Clinton Folger, mail carrier for Nantucket, towed his car to the state highway for driving to Siasconset, in observance of an early 20th-century ban on automobiles on town roads.]](File:hsl-Nantucket01-horses and people in street-closeup.jpg|thumb|right|250px|1870s street scene on Nantucket)

Etymology

Nantucket probably takes its name from a Wampanoag word, transliterated variously as natocke, nantaticu, nantican, nautica or natockete, which is part of Wampanoag lore about the creation of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.BOOK Nantucket's nickname, "The Little Grey Lady of the Sea", refers to the island as it appears from the ocean when it is fog-bound.BOOK JOURNAL, 60,000 Summer visitors replace whalers on salty Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket

European colonization

The earliest European settlement in the region was established on the neighboring island of Martha's Vineyard by the English-born merchant Thomas Mayhew. In 1641, Mayhew secured Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, the Elizabeth Islands, and other islands in the region as a proprietary colony from Sir Ferdinando Gorges and the Earl of Sterling. Mayhew led several families to settle the region, establishing several treaties with the indigenous inhabitants of Nantucket, the Wampanoag people. These treaties helped prevent the region from becoming embroiled in King Philip's War. The growing population of settlers welcomed seasonal groups of other Native American tribes who traveled to the island to fish and later harvest whales that washed up on shore. Nantucket was officially part of Dukes County, New York, until October 17, 1691, when the charter for the newly formed Province of Massachusetts Bay was signed. Following the arrival of the new Royal Governor on May 14, 1692, to effectuate the new government, Nantucket County was partitioned from Dukes County, Massachusetts in 1695.BOOK

Nantucket settlers

European settlement of Nantucket did not begin in earnest until 1659, when Thomas Mayhew sold nine-tenths of his interest to a group of investors, led by Tristram Coffin, "for the sum of thirty pounds (equal to £{{Inflation|UK|30|1659|fmt=c}} today) also two beaver hats, one for myself, and one for my wife".BOOK, Worth, Henry, Nantucket Lands and Landowners, 1901, Nantucket Historical Association, 53–82, Volume 2, Issue 1, The nine original purchasers were Tristram Coffin, Peter Coffin, Thomas Macy, Christopher Hussey, Richard Swain, Thomas Barnard, Stephen Greenleaf, John Swain and William Pile. Mayhew and the nine purchasers then each took on partners in the venture. These additional shareholders were Tristram Coffin Junior, James Coffin, John Smith, Robert Pike, Thomas Look, Robert Barnard, Edward Starbuck, Thomas Coleman, John Bishop and Thomas Mayhew Junior. These twenty men and their heirs were the Proprietors.WEB,weblink Who were the Proprietors?, Nantucket Historical Association, December 9, 2023, Anxious to add to their number and to induce tradesmen to come to the island, the total number of shares was increased to twenty-seven. The original purchasers needed the assistance of tradesmen who were skilled in the arts of weaving, milling, building and other pursuits and selected men who were given half a share provided that they lived on Nantucket and carried on their trade for at least three years. By 1667, twenty-seven shares had been divided among 31 owners.BOOK, Anderson, Florence, A Grandfather for Benjamin Franklin: The True Story of a Nantucket Pioneer and His Mates, 1940, Meador, 183, Seamen and tradesmen who settled in Nantucket included Richard Gardner (arrived 1667) and Capt. John Gardner (arrived 1672), sons of Thomas Gardner.Gardner, Frank A MD (1907). Thomas Gardner Planter and Some of his Descendants. Salem, MA: Essex Institute. (via Google Books) The first settlers focused on farming and raising sheep, but overgrazing and the growing number of farms made these activities untenable, and the islanders soon began turning to the sea for a living.BOOK, Philbrick, Nathaniel, (In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex), Penguin, 2001, 978-1-101-22157-0, New York, NY, Nathaniel Philbrick, (File:The town of Sherburne in the island of Nantucket (NYPL b12610613-422499).jpg|thumb|300px|right|The town on Nantucket Island, when it was still called Sherburne, in 1775)Before 1795, the town on the island was called Sherburne.BOOK, Brookes M.D., Richard, A General Gazetteer ... Illustrated with maps ... The fifteenth edition, with considerable additions and improvements, 1819, J.Bumpus, London, 471, 15,weblink September 20, 2017, The original settlement was near Capaum Pond. At that time, the pond was a small harbor whose entrance silted up, forcing the settlers to dismantle their houses and move them northeast by two miles to the present location.WEB, Discover Nantucket,weblink discovernantucket.com, The Inquirer and Mirror, September 20, 2017, On June 8, 1795, the bill proposed by Micajah Coffin to change the town's name to the "Town of Nantucket" was endorsed and signed by Governor Samuel Adams to officially change the town name.BOOK, Gardner, Will, The Coffin Saga, Whaling Museum Publications, 1949, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts,

The Wampanoags

When the English settlers arrived on Nantucket in 1659, the island was populated by Wampanoag Native Americans, one of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who had been living there for thousands of years. As many as three thousand people lived on the island in groups governed by sachems.BOOK, Frances Ruley, Karttunen, The Other Islanders: People who pulled Nantucket's oars, 2005, Spinner Publications, Inc, New Bedford, Massachusetts, 0932027938, {{rp|17,21}} Within two years of their arrival, the settlers had persuaded two of the sachems, Wanackmamack and Nickanoose, to relinquish their rights to the island in exchange for 66 pounds sterling, equal to £{{Inflation|UK|66|1659|fmt=c}} today).{{r|Other|p=26-7}} In 1750 the deeds were upheld by a judge from the General Court of Massachusetts in spite of petitions from the Wampanoags claiming that the sachems had not had the authority to sell the land.{{r|Other|p=52}} The Wampanoags converted to Christianity and took up trades that were useful to the settlers, becoming, for example, carpenters and weavers.{{r|Other|p=40}} When the whaling industry developed on Nantucket in the 18th century, Wampanoag men went to sea and often made up half or more of the crew of the whaling ships.{{r|Other|p=44-6}} During the century that followed the arrival of the English settlers, the Wampanoag community did not thrive, and by 1763 they numbered only 358 people. By the 18th century, a system of debt servitude was set in place which provided the English settlers with steady access to a pool of Wampanoag labor.Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea: The Incredible True Story that Inspired Moby-Dick, William Collins 2000 p.5. Various factors contributed to this decline, including the destruction of the ecosystem that had sustained them, the disadvantages they faced in competing in the developing money economy, losses at sea, and the detrimental effect of rum on their health.{{r|Other|p=45-6,54}} In 1763 the Wampanoag community was struck down by an epidemic of unknown origin, which killed 222 of them while leaving the English community unaffected. Some of the survivors left Nantucket and some married into the small African community on the island.{{r|Other|p=52-4}} Two children, Abram Quary and Dorcas Esop, who were born after the epidemic and lived until 1854 and 1855, have been acknowledged as Nantucket's last native Americans. Wampanoags from Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod have since then lived on Nantucket.{{r|Other|p=56}}In 2021, the Nantucket Annual Town Meeting voted to replace the Columbus Day holiday with Indigenous People's Day.WEB,weblink Nantucket celebrates Indigenous People's Day, Town & County of Nantucket, September 5, 2023,

The whaling industry

{{See also|Whaling in the United States}}In his 1835 history of Nantucket Island, Obed Macy wrote that in the early pre-1672 colony, a whale of the kind called "scragg" entered the harbor and was pursued and killed by the settlers.BOOK, Macy, Obed, The History of Nantucket:being a compendious account of the first settlement of the island by the English:together with the rise and progress of the whale fishery, and other historical facts relative to said island and its inhabitants:in two parts, 1835, Hilliard, Gray & Co., Boston, 1-4374-0223-2, This event started the Nantucket whaling industry. A. B. Van Deinse points out that the "scrag whale", described by P. Dudley in 1725 as one of the species hunted by early New England whalers, was almost certainly the gray whale, which has flourished on the west coast of North America in modern times with protection from whaling.JOURNAL, Van Deinse, A. B., 1937, Recent and older finds of the gray whale in the Atlantic, Temminckia, 2, 161–188, JOURNAL, Dudley, P, 1725, An essay upon the natural history of whales, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 33, 256–259, 10.1098/rstl.1724.0053, 186208376, At the beginning of the 18th century, whaling on Nantucket was usually done from small boats launched from the island's shores, which would tow killed whales to be processed on the beach. These boats were only about seven meters long, with mostly Wampanoag manpower, sourced from a system of debt servitude established by English Nantucketers—a typical boat's crew had five Wampanoag oarsmen and a single white Nantucketer at the steering oar. Author Nathaniel Philbrick notes that "without the native population, which outnumbered the white population well into the 1720s, the island would never have become a successful whaling port."Nantucket's dependence on trade with Britain, derived from its whaling and supporting industries, influenced its leading citizens to remain neutral during the American Revolutionary War, favoring neither the British nor the Patriots.{{Citation Herman Melville commented on Nantucket's whaling dominance in his novel Moby-Dick, Chapter 14: "Two thirds of this terraqueous globe are the Nantucketer's. For the sea is his; he owns it, as Emperors own empires". The Moby-Dick characters Ahab and Starbuck are both from Nantucket. The tragedy that inspired Melville to write Moby-Dick was the final voyage of the Nantucket whaler Essex.The island suffered great economic hardships, worsened by the "Great Fire" of July 13, 1846, that, fueled by whale oil and lumber, devastated the main town, burning some {{convert|40|acres|0|abbr=off}}.BOOK, Kelley, Shawnie, It Happened on Cape Cod, Globe Pequot, 2006,weblink November 22, 2011, 978-0-7627-3824-3, The fire left hundreds homeless and poverty-stricken, and many people left the island. By 1850, whaling was in decline, as Nantucket's whaling industry had been surpassed by that of New Bedford. Another contributor to the decline was the silting up of the harbor, which prevented large whaling ships from entering and leaving the port, unlike New Bedford, which still owned a deep water port. In addition, the development of railroads made mainland whaling ports, such as New Bedford, more attractive because of the ease of transshipment of whale oil onto trains, an advantage unavailable to an island.BOOK,weblink Inventing New England, Brown, Donna, November 17, 1997, Smithsonian Institution, 9781560987994, 110, en, The American Civil War dealt the death blow to the island's whaling industry, as virtually all of the remaining whaling vessels were destroyed by Confederate commerce raiders.BOOK,weblink Global Coastal Change, Valiela, Ivan, March 12, 2009, John Wiley & Sons, 9781444309034, en, 175,

Later history

As a result of this depopulation, the island was left under-developed and isolated until the mid-20th century. The isolation kept many of the pre-Civil War buildings intact and, by the 1950s, enterprising developers began buying up large sections of the island and restoring them to create an upmarket destination for wealthy people in the Northeastern United States.Nantucket and towns on Martha's Vineyard contemplated seceding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which they considered at various town meetings in 1977, unsuccessfully. The votes were sparked by a proposed change to the Massachusetts Constitution that would have reduced the size of the state's House of Representatives from 240 to 160 members and would therefore reduce the islands' representation in the Massachusetts General Court.NEWS, Massachusetts isles Wave Secession Flag, John, Kifner, April 6, 1977, The New York Times,weblink August 22, 2021, MAGAZINE, April 18, 1977, People, Apr. 18, 1977,weblink Time,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20101208151115weblink">weblink October 28, 2020, dead, December 8, 2010,

Geology and geography

File:Sum04-118.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The cobblestonecobblestoneAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of {{convert|304|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|45|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|259|sqmi}} (85%) is water.WEB,weblink United States Census Bureau, September 16, 2014, August 22, 2012, 2010 Census Gazetteer Files, dead,weblink" title="archive.today/20140914175857weblink">weblink September 14, 2014, It is the smallest county in Massachusetts by land area and second-smallest by total area. The area of Nantucket Island proper is {{convert|47.8|sqmi|km2}}. The triangular region of ocean between Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Cape Cod is Nantucket Sound. The highest points on the island include Saul's Hill at {{convert|102|ft|m|abbr=}},BOOK, Robinson, John Henry,weblink Guide to Nantucket, 1910, Judd & Detweiler, Incorporated, printers, 34, en, Altar Rock at {{convert|100|ft|m|abbr=}},BOOK, Wang, Amy,weblink Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket – Fodor's, April 2008, Fodor's Travel Publications, 978-1-4000-1905-2, 89, en, and Sankaty HeadBOOK, Wilson, John Howard,weblink The glacial history of Nantucket and Cape Cod: with an argument for a fourth centre of glacial dispersion in North America, 1906, The Columbia University Press, 6, en, at {{convert|92|ft|m|abbr=}}.(File:Nantucket NASA 2002.jpg|thumb|right|250px|NASA satellite image of Nantucket Island)Nantucket was formed by the outermost reach of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the recent Wisconsin Glaciation, shaped by the subsequent rise in sea level. The low ridge across the northern section of the island was deposited as glacial moraine during a period of glacial standstill, a period during which till continued to arrive and was deposited as the glacier melted at a stationary front. The southern part of the island is an outwash plain, sloping away from the arc of the moraine and shaped at its margins by the sorting actions and transport of longshore drift. Nantucket became an island when rising sea levels covered the connection with the mainland, about 5,000–6,000 years ago.The most recent survey of the geology of Cape Cod and the islands, accessible to the layman, is Robert N. Oldale, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket: The Geologic Story, 2001.The island and adjoining islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget comprise the Town and County of Nantucket, which is operated as a consolidated town and county government. The main settlement, also called Nantucket, is located at the western end of Nantucket Harbor, where it opens into Nantucket Sound. Key localities on the island include Madaket, Surfside, Polpis, Wauwinet, Miacomet, and Siasconset (generally shortened to "'Sconset").BOOK

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Nantucket features a climate that is Cfb (oceanic), a climate type rarely found on the east coast of North America.JOURNAL, Kottek, M., J. Grieser, C. Beck, B. Rudolf, F. Rubel, World Map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated, Meteorol. Z., 15, 259–263,weblink 10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0130, August 28, 2012, 2006, 3, 2006MetZe..15..259K, Nantucket's climate is heavily influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, which helps moderate temperatures in the town throughout the course of the year. Average high temperatures during the town's coldest month (January) are around {{convert|40|F|C}}, while average high temperatures during the town's warmest months (July and August) hover around {{convert|75|F|C}}. Nantucket receives on average {{convert|41|in|mm}} of precipitation annually, spread relatively evenly throughout the year. Similar to many other cities with an oceanic climate, Nantucket features a large number of cloudy or overcast days, particularly outside the summer months. The highest daily maximum temperature was {{convert|100|F|C}} on August 2, 1975, and the highest daily minimum temperature was {{convert|76|F|C}} on the same day. The lowest daily maximum temperature was {{convert|12|F|C}} on January 8, 1968, and the lowest daily minimum temperature was {{convert|-3|F|C}} on December 31, 1962, January 16, 2004, and February 4, 2023. The hardiness zone is 7b. weblink{{Weather box|location = Nantucket, Massachusetts (Nantucket Memorial Airport) 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1948–present|single line = Y|Jan record high F = 63|Feb record high F = 61|Mar record high F = 66|Apr record high F = 83|May record high F = 85|Jun record high F = 92|Jul record high F = 92|Aug record high F = 100|Sep record high F = 86|Oct record high F = 83|Nov record high F = 74|Dec record high F = 63|year record high F = 100|Jan avg record high F = 53.3|Feb avg record high F = 50.8|Mar avg record high F = 56.9|Apr avg record high F = 66.4|May avg record high F = 75.4|Jun avg record high F = 81.2|Jul avg record high F = 84.0|Aug avg record high F = 83.4|Sep avg record high F = 78.7|Oct avg record high F = 72.8|Nov avg record high F = 63.8|Dec avg record high F = 57.9|year avg record high F = 86.3|Jan high F = 39.5|Feb high F = 40.1|Mar high F = 44.2|Apr high F = 52.2|May high F = 60.7|Jun high F = 68.7|Jul high F = 75.4|Aug high F = 75.7|Sep high F = 70.4|Oct high F = 61.9|Nov high F = 52.8|Dec high F = 45.1|year high F = 57.2|Jan mean F = 33.1|Feb mean F = 33.5|Mar mean F = 37.9|Apr mean F = 45.5|May mean F = 53.8|Jun mean F = 62.2|Jul mean F = 69.0|Aug mean F = 69.0|Sep mean F = 63.7|Oct mean F = 55.2|Nov mean F = 46.4|Dec mean F = 38.6|year mean F = 50.7|Jan low F = 26.6|Feb low F = 27.0|Mar low F = 31.5|Apr low F = 38.8|May low F = 47.0|Jun low F = 55.7|Jul low F = 62.6|Aug low F = 62.4|Sep low F = 57.0|Oct low F = 48.6|Nov low F = 40.0|Dec low F = 32.2|year low F = 44.1|Jan avg record low F = 10.0|Feb avg record low F = 13.6|Mar avg record low F = 17.8|Apr avg record low F = 28.7|May avg record low F = 35.8|Jun avg record low F = 46.6|Jul avg record low F = 54.2|Aug avg record low F = 52.5|Sep avg record low F = 44.6|Oct avg record low F = 34.8|Nov avg record low F = 26.5|Dec avg record low F = 17.9|year avg record low F = 8.3|Jan record low F = -3|Feb record low F = -3|Mar record low F = 7|Apr record low F = 20|May record low F = 28|Jun record low F = 35|Jul record low F = 47|Aug record low F = 39|Sep record low F = 34|Oct record low F = 22|Nov record low F = 16|Dec record low F = -3|year record low F = -3|precipitation colour = green|Jan precipitation inch = 3.18|Feb precipitation inch = 2.84|Mar precipitation inch = 3.84|Apr precipitation inch = 3.60|May precipitation inch = 2.98|Jun precipitation inch = 3.00|Jul precipitation inch = 2.72|Aug precipitation inch = 3.00|Sep precipitation inch = 3.59|Oct precipitation inch = 4.39|Nov precipitation inch = 3.79|Dec precipitation inch = 3.93|year precipitation inch = 40.86|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in|Jan precipitation days = 11.6|Feb precipitation days = 10.2|Mar precipitation days = 10.5|Apr precipitation days = 11.9|May precipitation days = 11.7|Jun precipitation days = 11.6|Jul precipitation days = 11.9|Aug precipitation days = 13.1|Sep precipitation days = 12.5|Oct precipitation days = 13.1|Nov precipitation days = 10.9|Dec precipitation days = 12.4|year precipitation days = 141.4|Jan snow inch = 8.1|Feb snow inch = 9.6|Mar snow inch = 6.9|Apr snow inch = 0.9|May snow inch = 0.0|Jun snow inch = 0.0|Jul snow inch = 0.0|Aug snow inch = 0.0|Sep snow inch = 0.0|Oct snow inch = 0.0|Nov snow inch = 0.3|Dec snow inch = 6.5|year snow inch =|unit snow days = 0.1 in|Jan snow days = 4.8|Feb snow days = 5.0|Mar snow days = 3.7|Apr snow days = 0.7|May snow days = 0.0|Jun snow days = 0.0|Jul snow days = 0.0|Aug snow days = 0.0|Sep snow days = 0.0|Oct snow days = 0.0|Nov snow days = 0.3|Dec snow days = 3.9|Jan snow depth inch = 4.0|Feb snow depth inch = 4.6|Mar snow depth inch = 3.1|Apr snow depth inch = 0.2|May snow depth inch = 0.0|Jun snow depth inch = 0.0|Jul snow depth inch = 0.0|Aug snow depth inch = 0.0|Sep snow depth inch = 0.0|Oct snow depth inch = 0.0|Nov snow depth inch = 0.1|Dec snow depth inch = 3.1|year snow depth inch = 7.6|source 1 = NOAA (snow/snow days/snow depth 1948–1973)WEB,weblink NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, May 30, 2021, WEB,weblink National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Station: Nantucket Mem AP, MA, U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020), May 30, 2021, }}

Demographics

{{See also|List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income}}{{US Census population|1790= 4555|1800= 5617|1810= 6807|1820= 7266|1830= 7202|1840= 9012|1850= 8452|1860= 6094|1870= 4123|1880= 3727|1890= 3268|1900= 3006|1910= 2962|1920= 2797|1930= 3678|1940= 3401|1950= 3484|1960= 3559|1970= 3774|1980= 5087|1990= 6012|2000= 9520|2010= 10172|align-fn=center! colspan = 2 | Total! align = center | {{formatnum:9800}}! align = center | {{Percentage |100}}

	PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU		PUBLISHER=UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LIBRARY		PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU		PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU		PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU, August 12, 2021, |2020=14255|estyear=2023|estimate=14444		PUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU, April 3, 2024, }}As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 14,255 people, up from 10,172 in 2010, residing in the county.WEB,weblink QuickFacts Nantucket County, Massachusetts, United States Census Bureau, September 6, 2023, Race and origins The 2020 data for racial makeup of the county was 71.3% white, 7.2% black or African American, 1.9% Asian, 0.6% American Indian, 9.3% from other races, and 9.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 16.2% of the population.WEB,weblink Nantucket County: 2020 DEC Demographic Profile, United States Census Bureau, September 6, 2023, The median age of the population was 39.9 years; 22.2% were aged under 21 years, while 15.9% were aged over 65 years.According to the 2020 census data for Nantuket County, the largest groups by origins (alone or in any combination) were Irish Americans (2,612), English (2,492), German (1,229), Italian (901), Jamaican (635), Scottish (632), French (476), Polish (389), Portuguese (285), African Americans (251), Swedish (247) and Bulgarian (201).WEB,weblink Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census, United States census, September 21, 2023, October 30, 2023, By Hispanic origins of any race, Salvadoran (1,143), Dominican (501), Mexican (124), Guatemalan (63), Spanish (46), Puerto Rican (41), Spaniard (34) and Colombian (32).WEB,weblink Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census, United States census, September 21, 2023, October 30, 2023, Housing There were 12,619 housing units on the island; 5,478 were occupied with most of the rest being for seasonal, recreational or occasional use. 59.7% of the occupied housing units were owner-occupied, 40.3% were renter-occupied. Of the 5,478 households, 52.1% contained married or cohabiting couples. In 19.7% of households a couple were living with their children aged under 18, while a further 6% of households contained a householder living alone with their children under 18.In 2017-2021 the median income for a household in the county was $116,571 and the per capita income was $52,324. 5.9% of the population were living below the poverty line.As of the fourth quarter of 2021, the median value of homes in Nantucket County was $1,370,522, an increase of 22.3% from the prior year, and ranked the highest in the US by median home value.WEB, County Median Home Price,weblink live,weblink April 15, 2022, April 14, 2022, National Association of Realtors, January 4, 2019, Government (File:Nantucket Town & County Building.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Nantucket Town & County Building)Nantucket is the only such consolidated town-county in Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,255, making it the least populated county in Massachusetts.WEB, 2020 Census Demographic Data Map Viewer,weblink August 12, 2021, United States Census Bureau, Part of the town is designated the Nantucket CDP, or census-designated place. The region of Surfside on Nantucket is the southernmost settlement in Massachusetts. Local Town and county governments are combined in Nantucket (see List of counties in Massachusetts). Nantucket's elected executive body is its Select Board (name changed in 2018 from Board of Selectmen),WEB, Nantucket Selectmen go gender-neutral, Inquirer & Mirror website,weblink which is responsible for the town government's goals and policies.WEB, Board of Selectmen, Town and County of Nantucket website,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070722114934weblink">weblink dead, July 22, 2007, April 10, 2013, Legislative functions are carried out by an open Town Meeting of the Town's registered voters.WEB, Nantucket Open Town Meeting, Town and County of Nantucket website,weblinkweblink live, May 8, 2021, May 7, 2022, It is administered by a town manager, who is responsible for all departments, except for the school, airport and water departments.WEB, Town Administration, Town and County of Nantucket website,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071001181709weblink">weblink dead, October 1, 2007, April 10, 2013, State Nantucket is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by Dylan Fernandes, Democrat, of Woods Hole, who represents Precincts 1, 2, 5 and 6, of Falmouth, in Barnstable County; Chilmark, Edgartown, Aquinnah, Gosnold, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and West Tisbury, all in Dukes County; and Nantucket. Rep. Fernandes has served since January 4, 2017. Nantucket is represented in the Massachusetts Senate by Julian Cyr, Democrat, of Truro, who has also served since January 4, 2017. National Nantucket is in Massachusetts's 9th congressional district, which has existed since 2013. {{As of|2013}}, it was represented in the United States House of Representatives by Bill Keating, a Democrat of Bourne. Massachusetts is currently represented in the United States Senate by senior senator Elizabeth Warren (Democrat) and junior senator Ed Markey (Democrat). Politics Party affiliations In 2024, 63% of Nantucket residents were unaligned with a major political party, 25% were registered Democrats, and 10% were registered Republicans.WEB, Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of February 1, 2019, Massachusetts Elections Division, February 1, 2019,weblink {| class=wikitable! colspan = 6 | Voter registration and party enrollment as of February 2024WEB, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts,weblink Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, April 9, 2024, February 24, 2024,
Independent Party (United States)}}| Unenrolled*	{{formatnum: 6,212}}	{{Percentage	9,800 |2}}
Democratic Party (United States)}}	Democratic Party (United States)>Democratic	{{formatnum: 2,486}}	{{Percentage	9,800 |2}}
Republican Party (United States)}}	Republican Party (United States)>Republican	{{formatnum: 993}}	{{Percentage	9,800 |2}}
Libertarian Party (United States)}}	Libertarian Party (United States)>Libertarian	{{formatnum: 36}}	{{Percentage	9,800 |2}}
Independent Party (United States)}}	Third party (U.S. politics)>Other parties	{{formatnum: 73}}	{{Percentage	9,800 |2}}

• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts allows voters to enroll with a political party or to remain "unenrolled".WEB,weblink Massachusetts Directory of Political Parties and Designations, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, December 21, 2015, December 21, 2015,

Voting patterns

Throughout the late 19th and most of the 20th century, Nantucket was a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. From 1876 to 1984, only two Democrats carried Nantucket: Woodrow Wilson and Lyndon Johnson. Since 1988, however, it has trended Democratic.{{PresHead|place=Nantucket County, Massachusetts|source=WEB,weblink Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections, David, Leip, uselectionatlas.org, }}{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|1,914|5,241|151|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|1,892|4,146|470|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|2,187|3,830|103|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|1,863|4,073|116|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|2,040|3,608|76|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|1,624|2,874|428|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|1,222|2,453|484|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|1,158|2,037|1,021|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|1,469|2,209|53|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1984|Republican|1,697|1,456|17|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1980|Republican|1,149|1,040|649|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1976|Republican|1,399|1,115|112|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1972|Republican|1,418|952|10|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1968|Republican|991|744|57|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|587|1,197|3|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1960|Republican|1,219|698|2|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1956|Republican|1,582|317|1|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1952|Republican|1,490|405|2|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1948|Republican|1,013|409|20|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1944|Republican|779|569|1|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1940|Republican|1,015|624|8|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1936|Republican|969|548|27|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1932|Republican|812|561|7|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1928|Republican|865|395|1|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1924|Republican|708|167|14|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1920|Republican|608|205|3|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|249|307|8|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|123|247|194|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1908|Republican|359|136|12|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1904|Republican|378|170|14|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1900|Republican|375|102|12|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1896|Republican|485|62|65|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1892|Republican|440|220|12|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1888|Republican|487|215|13|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1884|Republican|328|204|19|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1880|Republican|395|108|0|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1876|Republican|379|103|0|Massachusetts}}{{PresRow|1872|Republican|316|22|0|Massachusetts}}{{PresFoot|1868|Republican|471|46|0|Massachusetts}}{{Clear}}

Economy

Top employers

According to Nantucket's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,WEB,weblink Town of Nantucket, Massachusetts Comprehensive Annual Financial Report For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2018, Turbitt, Brian E., October 9, 2018, Town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, PDF, April 19, 2019, the top employers in the town are:{| class="wikitable"! #! Employer! # of employees|1| Town of Nantucket|670|2| Nantucket Cottage Hospital|180|3| Nantucket Island Resorts|125|4| Marine Home Center|90|5| Stop & Shop|90|6| Rockland Trust|60|7| Myles Reis Trucking|30|8| The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority|28|9| Don Allen|25|10| Bartlett Oceanview Farm|25

Education

File:CoffinSchoolNantucket.JPG|thumb|In 1827, Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin set up the Coffin School to educate descendants of Tristram Coffin.WEB,weblink The History of The Coffin School, Finger, Jascin Leonardo, November 11, 2011, Nantucket Preservation Trust, Nantucket, Massachusetts, September 1, 2014, After initially faltering, the school was reconstituted in this building on Winter Street in 1854.]]Nantucket's public school district is Nantucket Public Schools. The Nantucket school system had 1,583 students and 137 teachers in 2017.WEB, 2017 NCLB Report Card – Nantucket,weblink No Child Left Behind Reports, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Schools on the island include:

• Nantucket Elementary School (public)
• Nantucket Intermediate School (public)
• Cyrus Peirce Middle School (public)
• Nantucket High School (public)
• Nantucket Community School (public, extracurricular)
• Nantucket Lighthouse School (private)WEB

• Nantucket New School (private)WEB

Nantucket Public Schools District information and meetings are broadcast on Nantucket Community Television (Channel 18) in Nantucket.WEB,weblink Nantucket Community Television – Broadcasting Nantucket. Vision. Voice. Life., nantucketcommunitytelevision.org, A major museum association, the Maria Mitchell Association, offers educational programs to the Nantucket Public Schools, as well as the Nantucket Historical Association, though the two are not affiliated.The University of Massachusetts Boston operates a field station on Nantucket. The Massachusetts College of Art & Design is affiliated with the Nantucket Island School of Design & the Arts, which offers summer courses for teens, youth, postgraduate, and undergraduate programs.

Arts and culture

File:Robinson Nantucket.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Theodore RobinsonTheodore RobinsonNantucket has several noted museums and galleries, including the Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Whaling Museum.Nantucket is home to both visual and performing arts. The island has been an art colony since the 1920s, whose artists have come to capture the natural beauty of the island's landscapes and seascapes, including its flora and the fauna. Noted artists who have lived on or painted in Nantucket include Frank Swift Chase and Theodore Robinson. Artist Rodney Charman was commissioned to create a series of paintings depicting the marine history of Nantucket, which were collected in the book Portrait of Nantucket, 1659–1890: The Paintings of Rodney Charman in 1989.BOOK,weblink Portrait of Nantucket, 1659–1890: The Paintings of Rodney Charman, Mooney, Robert E., December 12, 1996, Mill Hill Press, 9780963891037, en, Herman Melville based his narrative in Moby Dick on the Nantucket whaling industry.The island is the site of a number of festivals, including a book festival, wine and food festival, comedy festival, daffodil festival,WEB,weblink Nantucket Celebrates 45th Annual Daffodil Weekend {{!, CapeCodToday.com|last=Staff|website=capecodtoday.com|access-date=July 2, 2019}} and a cranberry festival.WEB ,

Popular culture

Several historical, literary and dramatic works involve people from, or living on, Nantucket. These include:

• Herman Melville's classic Moby-Dick has Ishmael starting his voyage at Nantucket.
• Nathaniel Philbrick's Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602–1890.
• Nathaniel Philbrick's (In the Heart of the Sea|In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex)
• Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.
• The science-fiction-based Nantucket series by S. M. Stirling has the island being sent back in time from March 17, 1998, to circa 1250 BC in the Bronze Age.
• Most of the Joan Aiken novel Nightbirds on Nantucket is set on the island.
• Hilbert Schenck's science fiction short story The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck, based on real events, is set on Nantucket and in the dangerous waters offshore.
• The 1971 coming-of-age film Summer of '42 was set in Nantucket.
• The 1986 comedy One Crazy Summer was set in Nantucket and filmed on Cape Cod.BOOK, Film and Television Locations: a State-by-State Guidebook to Moviemaking sites, excluding Los Angeles, Doug, Gelbert, 2002, McFarland & Company, 111, 9780786412938,weblink
• The 1990s sitcom Wings, which aired eight seasons from 1990 to 1997, was set in Nantucket. The series took place at the fictional "Tom Nevers Field" airport and other locations. It was filmed in LA but all of the establishing shots were filmed at various sites on the island and included fictional versions of real establishments, such as The Club Car restaurant.BOOK, Leszczak, Bob,weblink There Once Was a Show from Nantucket: A Complete Guide to the TV Sitcom Wings, December 25, 2020, BearManor Media, 978-1-62933-666-4, en,
• The 2007 comedy The Nanny Diaries has the climax of the film take place at Mr X's Mother's Nantucket oversized Cape-Cod-styled home. Filmed in the Hamptons but made to look like Nantucket.WEB,weblink The Sets from the Scarlett Johansson Movie "The Nanny Diaries", September 19, 2011,
• The island's name is used as a rhyming device in a noted limerick, beginning "There once was a man from Nantucket..".BOOK,weblink Life, June 1903, Life, New York, 274, en,
• Elin Hilderbrand's novels are set on Nantucket.
• Nantucket is the setting for the Merry Folger series of mystery novels by Francine Mathews.page 161–164, Great Women Mystery Writers, 2nd Ed. by Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay, 2007, publ. Greenwood Press, {{ISBN|0-313-33428-5}}
• American journalist Pam Belluck's 2012 non-fiction book Island Practice follows the misadventures of Nantucket doctor Timothy J. Lepore, MD.
• Andrew Hussie's 2021 visual novel Psycholonials takes place in 2020 on Nantucket.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}
• In the Quentin Tarantino film, Inglourious Basterds, Colonel Hans Landa of the German Sicherheitsdienst negotiates a deal where he is awarded a property on Nantucket Island.

Transportation

From 1900 to 1918, Nantucket was one of few jurisdictions in the United States that banned automobiles.WEB,weblink Flickr, Flickr, Nantucket can be reached by sea from the mainland by Seastreak,WEB, Balling, Joshua, February 24, 2022, Seastreak resuming NYC service with 600-passenger fast ferry,weblink March 18, 2022, Inquirer and Mirror, en, The Steamship Authority, Hy-Line Cruises, or Freedom Cruise Line, or by private boat.WEB,weblink Business Directory Search – Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce, MA, www.nantucketchamber.org, A task force was formed in 2002 to consider limiting the number of vehicles on the island, in an effort to combat heavy traffic during the summer months.weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131114103706weblink">Nantucket 'gridlock' spurs plan to limit cars on island. CapeCodOnline.com (May 7, 2002). Retrieved on August 16, 2013.Nantucket is served by Nantucket Memorial Airport {{airport codes|ACK}}, a two-runway airport on the south side of the island. The airport is one of the busiest in Massachusetts and often logs more take-offs and landings on a summer day than Boston's Logan Airport. This is due in part to the large number of private planes used by wealthy summer inhabitants, and in part to the 10-seat Cessna 402s used by several commercial air carriers to serve the island community.Nantucket Regional Transit Authority operates seasonal island-wide shuttle buses to many destinations including Surfside Beach, Siasconset, and the airport.Until 1917, Nantucket was served by the narrow-gauge Nantucket Railroad.File:Nantucket light 1.jpg|Sankaty Head Light lighthouseFile:Great Point Light.jpg|Great Point LighthouseFile:Light house at Brant point in Nantucket harbor.jpg|Brant Point Light in Nantucket HarborFile:Nantucket Wharf by Don Ramey Logan.jpg|Nantucket Boat Basin

Transportation disasters

File:Line5125 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Argo MerchantArgo MerchantNantucket waters were the site of several noted transportation disasters:

• On May 15, 1934, the ocean liner RMS Olympic, sister ship to RMS Titanic, rammed and sank the Nantucket Lightship LV-117 in heavy fog, roughly 45 miles south of Nantucket Island. Four men survived out of a crew of 11.
• On July 25, 1956, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collided with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog {{convert|45|mi|km}} south of Nantucket, resulting in the deaths of 51 people (46 on the Andrea Doria, 5 on the Stockholm).
• On August 15, 1958, Northeast Airlines Flight 258 crashed on approach to Nantucket Memorial Airport, killing 25 of the 34 passengers and crew.WEB,weblink ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-240-2 N90670 Nantucket Memorial Airport, MA (ACK),
• On December 15, 1976, the oil tanker Argo Merchant ran aground {{convert|29|mi|km}} southeast of Nantucket. Six days later, on December 21, the wrecked ship broke apart, causing a large oil spill.
• On October 31, 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990, traveling from New York City to Cairo, crashed approximately {{convert|60|mi|km}} south of Nantucket, killing all 217 people on board.

National Register of Historic Places

The following Nantucket places are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:WEB,weblink National Register of Historical Places – MASSACHUSETTS (MA), Nantucket County, www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com,

• Nantucket Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District (added December 13, 1966); Expanded to encompass the entire island in 1975.WEB,weblink Nantucket's National Historic Landmark Update Gains Advisory Committee Approval – Nantucket Preservation Trust, www.nantucketpreservation.org, November 11, 2011,
• Brant Point Light Station—Brant Point (added October 28, 1987)
• Jethro Coffin House—a National Historic Landmark, Sunset Hill Road (added December 24, 1968)
• Sankaty Head Light (added November 15, 1987)

Notable people

While many notable people own property or regularly visit the island, the following have been residents of the island:{{div col}}

• Askamaboo, a 17th century female Wampanoag sachem
• William Barnes Sr., attorney and Republican Party political leaderBOOK, New York State Bar Association, 1913, Proceedings of the Thirty-Sixth Annual Meeting,weblink Albany, NY, The Argus Company, 713–716, Google Books, {{sfnRef, Proceedings of the Thirty-Sixth Annual Meeting, }}
• Eliza Starbuck Barney, abolitionist, genealogistWEB, Stout, Kate, Who Was Eliza Barney?,weblink www.nha.org, Nantucket Historical Association, December 3, 2017,
• Donick Cary writer, producer
• James H. Cromartie, artist
• A. J. Cronin, novelist
• James A. Folger, founder of the coffee company bearing his name
• Mayhew Folger, whaling captain
• Peter Folger, missionary
• Anna Gardner, abolitionist, poet, teacher
• Robert Moller Gilbreth, businessman, educator, and politicianWEB,weblink The Gilbreth Network: That Most Famous Dozen, gilbrethnetwork.tripod.com,
• Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford, first woman ordained as a Universalist minister in New England
• Elin Hilderbrand, author
• Dorcas Honorable, last of the Nantucket Wampanoags
• Pauline Mackay, golfer
• Rowland Hussey Macy, 19th-century retailer, founder of Macy's department store
• Maria Mitchell, astronomer
• Allison Mleczko, ice hockey player
• Raymond Rocco Monto, orthopedic surgeon
• Mary Morrill, grandmother of Benjamin Franklin
• Lucretia Coffin Mott, minister, abolitionist, social reformer, and proponent of women's rights
• Cyrus Peirce, educator
• Nathaniel Philbrick, author
• Joseph Gardner Swift, first graduate of the United States Military Academy
• Nancy Thayer, authorWEB, Thayer, Nancy, May 29, 2019, Travel to Nantucket like a local with this guide.,weblink November 21, 2020, Newsweek, en,
• Meghan Trainor, singer and songwriter

{{Citation

| last = Globe correspondent
| title = All about Nantucket's Meghan Trainor
| newspaper = Boston Globe
| series = Style
| date = September 16, 2014| url =weblink
| access-date = September 4, 2015 }}

• Charles F. Winslow, physician, 19th-century science author
• Mary A. Brayton Woodbridge, 19th-century temperance reformer, editor

{{div col end}}

Sister cities

• {{flagicon|France|noredlink=}} - Beaune, Côte d’Or, France

See also

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

History

• Essex tragedy
• Nantucket during the American Revolutionary War era
• Nantucket shipbuilding

Culture

• Maria Mitchell Association
• Nantucket Dreamland Foundation
• Nantucket Reds
• Nantucket Historical Association
• The Nantucket Project

Other

• Nantucket Forests
• List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Nantucket County, Massachusetts

{{div col end}}

Citations

{{reflist|30em}}

General and cited references

• Bond, C. Lawrence, Native Names of New England Towns and Villages, privately published by C. Lawrence Bond, Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1991.
• I Once Had a Chum from Nantucket by Drs. Ernest and Convalescence Bidet-Wellville on Neatorama
• Fabrikant, Geraldine, "Old Nantucket Warily Meets the New", New York Times, June 5, 2005
• 36 Hours in Nantucket in the New York Times of July 18, 2010

Further reading

• BOOK, Macy, William Francis, The Story of Old Nantucket: A Brief History of the Island and its People from its Discovery down to the Present Day, Nantucket, The Inquirer and Mirror Press, 1915,weblink
• BOOK, Tower, W. S., A History of the American Whale Fishery, 1907, University of Philadelphia,weblink

External links

• Town of Nantucket website
• US Census Bureau map of cities, towns, Native American reservations, and census-designated places

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