Nantucket - Massachusetts - History

Wampanoag Indians inhabited Nantucket when it was visited in 1602 by the English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold . Thomas Mayhew purchased the island from the Plymouth colony in 1641. It was settled in 1659 by English families seeking refuge from the religious intolerance of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and fishing, boat building, and trading were early activities. It was ceded to Massachusetts in 1692 and named Nantucket, a Native American word probably meaning either "far-away land" or "sandy, sterile soil tempting no one." Nantucket was then inhabited by a Quaker settlement that exerted a strong cultural influence. 

The town of Nantucket was incorporated in 1687, and the county was formed in 1695. Whaling began in the early 18th century and with the affluence generated by the whaling industry, merchants and master mariners built their homes with an eye to impress their neighbours. Whaling reached its peak as a Nantucket industry just before the American Revolution, when the island was homeport to more than 125 whaling ships. Nantucket's commercial activity declined after the War of 1812, and other ports soon bypassed it. It never regained its early maritime prominence. Later, with improved transportation, the island developed a lively summer tourist trade that is now the economic mainstay.

For such a small island, Nantucket has a rich and varied history. Many homes and mansions from the 1700s and 1800s are still a part of the community, and many are open to the public as museums and historic sites.