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Historical Buildings and MuseumsNantucket's place in history is richly illustrated in the island's museums and historic buildings. You can visit them for an Insider's view of the past, including the whaling period that shaped Nantucket's salty character. Be sure to allow plenty of time to see everything, including the three picturesque lighthouses that dot the shoreline. The African Meeting House This small post-and-beam building was built around 1827 by African American island residents, who used it as a school, church, and meetinghouse. The building, which is the only remaining public African-American landmark, is owned by Boston's Museum of Afro-American History, which is working to restore it. Tours are available by appointment. The Coffin School Completed in 1854, this Greek Revival building succeeded the island's first school on Fair Street after the Great Fire of 1846. Around the turn of the century, the school became a center for nautical training and home economics for the Nantucket Public Schools. It now houses the Egan Institute of Maritime Studies, and is open from 1 PM to 5 PM to the public from June to October, offering lectures, exhibits, and history videotapes. Lectures cost $5 to attend and the school is free to walk through. Peter Foulger Museum and Research
Center This facility includes the Historical Association's archives and is open year-round from 10 AM to 5 PM. The museum has permanent and rotating exhibits pertaining to Nantucket history. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 5 to 14. The Hinchman House Wildlife enthusiasts will appreciate the natural history collection of living and preserved varieties of wildlife here. The staff conducts children's nature classes and bird and nature walks. The Hinchman House is open for self-guided tours June through August Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM. Admission is $3 for adults, and $1 for children 6 to 14 years of age. The Life Saving Museum This is an authentic re-creation of the original 1874 station built in Surfside to assist mariners. It is open daily from mid-June to mid-September, 9:30 AM to 4 PM. Admission is $4 for visitors ages 16 and older and $2 for children over 5. Macy-Christian House Built in 1723 and restored in the late-19th century, this house has furnishings and architecture representative of the Colonial and Colonial Revival periods. Daily tours are available, and admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 5 to 14. Maria Mitchell Birthplace America's first woman astronomer, who taught at Vassar College in 1865, is memorialized in her preserved home. The Maria Mitchell Society, (508) 228-9198, works to preserve her contributions. You can tour the home from June through August, Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM. The admission fee for nonmembers is $5 for adults, $2 for seniors, and $1 for children 6 to 14. The society also operates the Maria Mitchell Observatory, next door at 3 Vestal Street, (508) 228-9273, and the Marine Aquarium at 28 Washington Street, (508) 228-5387. Nantucket Atheneum The recently renovated handsome Greek Revival library is one of the oldest continuously operating libraries in the country; Maria Mitchell was the first librarian. It contains some 40,000 volumes as well as paintings, ship models, scrimshaw, and sculpture, and also has a wonderful children's room. Be sure to visit the Upper Hall, where such figures as Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Frederick Douglass once spoke. Nantucket Historical Association
Sites The association maintains and operates 24 historic sites, locations, and buildings all over Nantucket. Among them are the Friends Quaker Meeting House (closed for renovation until early 2001) and the Fair Street Museum (also being renovated), 7 Fair Street; the Old Mill, Mill and Prospect Streets, which has original mechanisms and stones; the Old Gaol, Vestal Street, which is nearly 200 years old and is one of the oldest jails in the United States; and the Hadwen House, 96 Main Street, which contains architectural detail and furnishings characteristic of the 19th century. Other sites maintained by the association are the Oldest House, Macy-Christian House, Firehose Cart House, Peter and the Foulger Museum and Research Center. These facilities are open to the public daily from mid-June to Labor Day from 10 AM to 5 PM and from September 5 through October 9 daily from 11 AM to 3 PM. A general pass, good for entry to all the Association-maintained sites, is $10 for adults (those older than 14) and $5 for children. The association's gift shop, (508) 228-5785, is next to the Whaling Museum. The Oldest House This Colonial saltbox was built in 1686, nearly 100 years before the American Revolution. It was built for Jethro and Mary Gardner Coffin as a wedding present from their parents, ending a notorious feud between the two families. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children 5 to 14. A Historical Association general pass is also good for admission (see entry above). It is open seasonally. The Whaling Museum Originally a candle factory, this superb museum offers displays of whaling equipment, scrimshaw, early records, and the skeleton of a 43-foot finback whale. Don't miss the lively lecture on the history of whaling, presented three times a day. The museum is open on weekends starting in April and daily in May through mid-October from 10 AM to 5 PM; it closes just after Columbus Day. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 5 to 14. A Historical Association general pass is also good for admission.
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Brant Point Light Built in 1746, Brant Point Light is the second-oldest lighthouse in the United States. Photographs of its Christmas wreath have graced numerous magazine pages. This is the lighthouse you see when entering the harbor on the ferry. Great Point Light Destroyed by a storm in 1984 and rebuilt, Great Point Light sits at the northern tip of the island in an area frequented by bird watchers and picnickers. (See the Natural Areas section of this chapter.) Sankaty Head Lighthouse Picturesque red-and-white Sankaty Head Lighthouse is perched on Sankaty Bluff at the eastern end of the island. It overlooks the sea and a golf course.
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Art Schools and Galleries
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Nantucket Island Schoolof Design and
the Arts If the visual arts are your love, contact the school and take some classes. The school offers courses for academic credit and enrichment to both children and adults in such subjects as drawing, painting, photography, clay, textiles, and crafts. The school has accommodations on Washington Street on the harbor. Shredder's Studio Shredder's offers oil painting, watercolor, jewelry making, and basketry classes to adults and young adults and watercolor, ceramics, and other classes for children. It even has a preschool creative workshop for little budding artists.
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The Gallery at Four India Street This gallery is open year-round. It has 19th- and 20th-century oils, pastels, watercolors, sculpture, and bronze work, 80 percent of which is the work of local and regional artists. The Little Gallery The Little Gallery is operated by the Artists Association of Nantucket. You can buy a remembrance of Nantucket and support local artists at the same time. The Nantucket Gallery & Frame
Shop This gallery is owned by artist Marshall DuBock, who sells Nantucket scenes. Robert Wilson Galleries While in Nantucket, be sure to visit this gallery, which has exquisite landscape and still-life renderings in oils and watercolors.
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