Nantucket History Blog

Old Brant Point Lighthouse // 1856

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Located nearby the present Brant Point Lighthouse on Nantucket, the old lighthouse remains as a significant piece of island history preserved. In the 1740s, Nantucket’s whaling industry was growing fast, so at a town meeting in 1746, it was determined that a lighthouse at Brant Point was to be built, to mark the point around which all vessels passed as they entered the island’s inner harbor. On or near this site, nine lighthouses stood, guiding ships into and out of the harbor. This brick tower and attached keeper’s house were constructed in 1856. The tower itself was brick, topped by sandstone, which supported the lantern. The cast-iron lantern had twelve windows. A circular iron staircase led to the lantern, situated forty-seven feet above the ground. By the 1850s, Nantucket faced a sudden decline after the invention of kerosene, cut the need for whale oil and a growing sandbar blocked the harbor. The shifting sands would eventually require a new lighthouse built nearby, the present 1901 wooden lighthouse. The 1856 tower was retained ever since and is an important historical artifact for Nantucket’s maritime history.

Brant Point Lighthouse // 1901

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The Brant Point Lighthouse located on Nantucket Island was first established in 1746 to guide ships to the main harbor. At a town meeting at Nantucket on January 24, 1746, the sea captains of the island spoke out for a lighthouse and the sum of 200 pounds was voted, the wood 1746 lighthouse tower burned in 1758. It was replaced eight more times until 1901, when the present lighthouse was erected. While small, the lighthouse oozes charm and remains active and automated since 1965.

Rotch Counting House // c.1775

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Members of the Rotch family dominated Nantucket business and politics across three generations. The rise of this family was linked to the rise of the island as a whaling center. The well-connected family owned two of the three ships involved in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. According to the Nantucket Historical Association, this warehouse and counting house building was in fact, built in 1775, not 1772, as erroneously stated on the wood plaque mounted on the outside of the building, for William Rotch, one of the pre-eminent figures in Nantucket’s whaling industry. The handsome brick building served as the Rotch Counting House. William Rotch subsequently moved his business to New Bedford. In 1861, the building was purchased by a group of former whaling masters who formed the organization known as the Pacific Club, and the building has been known by its eponymous name and is still owned by the members of the Pacific Club, who are invited into membership on a referral basis and are responsible for its maintenance.

Sylvia Store // 1879

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This charming commercial store was built in 1879 as one of five similar commercial buildings constructed on Nantucket as investment properties by Robert McCleave (1809-1878), a retired whaling captain. Located on Orange Street, this store was long occupied as a neighborhood grocery store, before the days of supermarkets with seas of parking. Antoine Sylvia Jr. (1835-1906), an Azorian-born merchant on the island purchased the property 1879 from McCleave and operated a grocery store at this location until his death in 1906. His wife, Elizabeth C. “Lizzie” Sylvia (1850-1929), retained the property and operated a shop where she sold wallpaper. In 2015-16, the façade was restored with the installation of a salvaged façade of nearly identical detail and dimensions built at 106 Main Street in 1869 also by McCleave. This façade was salvaged for re-installation here when that building was demolished in 2001. The Sylvia Store was given a preservation easement after the restoration, preserving it for another 150+ years to come!

Levi Starbuck House // 1838

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One of the more unique Greek Revival style houses I have yet seen in New England is the Levi Starbuck House on Orange Street on Nantucket. The house was built in 1838 by housewright William M. Andrews who sold the completed property that year to Levi Starbuck, a wealthy sea captain for $5,000. When he bought the house, Levi Starbuck (1769-1849) was 69-years-old. Levi Starbuck is credited by some as inspiration for the character Starbuck in “Moby Dick.” He would spend the last ten years of his life in this opulent new house on Orange Street. Architecturally, the house is clad with flush siding with projecting paneled pilasters with fret patterns on the top and bottom breaking up the bays of the house.

Second Congregational Meetinghouse of Nantucket // 1809

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Located on a fairly quiet street on Nantucket Island, you will find the Second Congregational Meetinghouse of Nantucket, towering over the rows of historical homes nearby. Erected between 1808-1809, the church was constructed to house Nantucket’s growing population of Congregationalists on land formerly occupied by a dwelling house and barn. The bell was brought from Lisbon, Portugal, in 1812 by Captain Thomas Cary, was placed in the square belfry in 1815. The Great Fire of 1846, combined with the collapse of the whaling industry, brought hard times to the island. The congregation found itself unable to support a minister, and for the next forty years the church struggled on the brink of financial collapse. The building and its congregation persevered and the building is both an architectural and cultural landmark to the charming island community.

Captain Silas Jones House // c.1774

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Brick houses are not too common on Nantucket, so I love to highlight them whenever possible! This gambrel-roofed residence was built by 1774 for Silas Jones, a whaling captain around the time of his marriage to Judith Gardner. As originally built, this house had brick endwalls while the facade and rear walls were constructed of wood. It was not until under the ownership of Silas’ son, Daniel, that the house was “modernized” with its present appearance. Daniel added brick walls to the front and rear walls, added brownstone lintels and sills to the openings, and added twin chimneys, likely replacing a single, central chimney. Due to his materiality and heavy presence, the house looks more like it belongs in Salem or Providence, so seeing it in the coastal town of Nantucket makes my heart sing. Standing out is a good thing!

Andrew Myrick House // 1755

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Nantucket is an old house lovers dream. A large part of the reason for this is that much of the island was designated as a local historic district in 1955, making it one of the earliest historic districts in the United States! This means that since 1955, the Nantucket Historic District Commission has been overseeing the island’s preservation, demolitions and alterations to historic buildings. This is the Andrew Myrick House located on Orange Street. The Georgian dwelling was built in 1755 by Andrew Myrick (1704-1777), a shipbuilder and storekeeper who was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts and eventually settled on island, constructing this home for his family. He and his wife Jedidiah had over 16 children, some of which died in childhood. Myrick would eventually hang himself at the age of 71. The home remained in the family until 1827. Fun fact: Andrew’s grandson, Peter Myrick was said to have set sail from Nantucket in 1833 in search of sea serpents. He came back empty handed.

Folger Block // 1831

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Built the same time as the stately brick, Folger House on Main Street (last post) in Nantucket, owner Philip H. Folger (1792–1865) in 1831 erected these rowhouses quickly selling them for profit. Each of the five connected dwellings were sold to private owners, and have seen alterations over time adding to the intrigue on this block. The Folger Block is comprised of five Federal-style, 2.5-story, wood-frame buildings with wood-frame party walls between each unit. Each row house sits atop a raised brick basement and has a side-gable roof pierced by twin front-gable dormers. Charming door surrounds include sidelights and transoms to allow light into the entries.

Folger House // 1831

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Located in the middle of the commercial Main Street on Nantucket, the 1831 Folger House stands as a fully developed example of the Federal style in masonry construction. The house’s double bow front, brownstone lintels and Ionic portico, guilloche frieze, and cast-iron railings are the finest of their type in the community. Although the house was turned into commercial use in the mid-19th century with the addition of storefronts and the removal of its original hip roof, it retains substantial architectural elements of a more decorated design than was customary even among Nantucket’s wealthiest merchants in this period. The house was built for Philip H. Folger, a merchant and it was inherited by his son upon Philip’s death in 1865.