Think you know everything there is about the beautiful Grey Lady? From commute time to beaver hats, Nantucket’s culturally rich and progressive history is filled with interesting nuggets that may surprise even the most avid ACK historians.
We’re kicking off June, the first month of the summer season, with this special "Did you know?" piece packed with noteworthy, useful, quirky and fun facts about the island we love.
- The average commute to work on Nantucket is 12 minutes.
- Women on Nantucket voted for the first time in February 1880.
- Brant Point Light (est. 1746) is the second oldest lighthouse site in the country, second to Boston Light.
- Nantucket is a town, county and an island.
- Nantucket is approximately 47.8 square miles (14 miles wide and 3-5 miles long) with 82 miles of beaches.
- From 1881-1917 a railroad ran from Steamboat Wharf to Surfside, Tom Nevers and Sconset.
- Nantucket is 10 degrees warmer in the winter and 10 degrees cooler in the summer compared with mainland Massachusetts due to the insulating layer of water surrounding the island.
- There are over 700 shipwrecks surrounding the island.
- The “roof walks” on top of many island homes were used to spot incoming whale ships and to pour a bucket of sand down a burning chimney.
- The Chicken Box opened in 1949 as a gathering place for African-American Nantucketers.
- Nantucket native Maria Mitchell was the first American woman astronomer.
- There is an estimated 273% increase in people on Nantucket at the peak of summer as compared to the year-round population.
- There are over 800 buildings on Nantucket which predate the Civil War.
- The novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville was based on a true-life event that occurred in 1820 to the Nantucket whaling ship Essex and her crew.
- There are no traffic lights on Nantucket.
- Nantucket desegregated its schools in 1845, over a hundred years before the rest of the nation.
- 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.
- There is a farmers market (run by Sustainable Nantucket) every Saturday from late May to early October on upper Cambridge Street.
- In 1977, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard unsuccessfully attempted to secede from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- Nantucket’s settlement by the English did not begin until 1659, when Thomas Mayhew sold his interest to a group of investors led by Tristram Coffin “for the sum of thirty pounds…and also two beaver hats, one for myself and one for my wife”
Want to learn more about the history of Nantucket? Head over to the Nantucket Historical Association website for a list of important exhibits and programs. And before you head out be sure to check out Nantucket Insider’s list of events happening on the island.