Nantucket Live Cam

There are just two ways to get to Nantucket Island, by sea and by air. But there are a number of airlines and ferry services, as well as companies that service private planes and yachts. Once you arrive, there are companies that rent bicycles, mopeds, cars, and 4-wheel drive vehicles to help you explore Nantucket. Concerts, theatre performances, benefit galas, dart tournaments, lectures, regattas, islandwide events. There is a variety of activities on Nantucket Island at all times of the year. From small guest houses and b&bs filled with charming antique furnishings to elegant full service hotels and cottages to rent, Nantucket lodging establishments can suit any needs. If you have trouble deciding which to patronize, an island reservations service can help you.

19th Century Nantucket Architecture

Pay close attention to the architecture on Nantucket and you will begin to understand the economic, social, and cultural history of the island. Through the stylistic extremes of simple Quaker homes to the elaborate facades of wealthy 19th century merchants, you will begin to conceive of how the sea shaped the community, wealth altered the bonds of faith and turned the home from an inward dwelling to an outward manifestation of pride and success.

How did an island so devoted to Quakerism's simplicity and humility in the 17th and early century evolve into an affluent community with an impressive reputation as the whaling capital of the world?

The era of Quaker ideals slowly dissipated for the Nantucketer as the island became entrenched in the sea. The once colonizing town developed into a whaling metropolis and a prominent port of trade with England. Nantucketers became explorers of the world beyond the island, and the insularity that once bond them together fell away as more and more people were introduced to cultures far different and more advanced than their won.

We move into late 18th century Nantucket as graduates of medieval architecture where homes were structured inward, centered around the chimney, and the kitchen served as the focus of family life. A walk down the back lanes of Nantucket town shows a myriad of lean-to structures, designed to expand size but limit pretentiousness, besides homes in the typical Nantucket style, a Quaker model of simplicity, straightforwardness and frugality.

But the fabric that once bonded the island's population together, Quakerism, lost its hold on the community and with its waning came the devaluation of simplicity and humility and a growing interest in ornamentation and outward impression. The three main style of early Nantucket architecture became part of a past distanced by exploration and wealth.

It was not until Quakerism faded that architecture changed due to crisis in faith, according to Jeremy Salvitz of the Nantucket Historical Association. The affluence that derived from the whaling industry and Nantucket's accomplished trading relationship with England conflicted with the Quaker tenets of utilitarianism.

The late 18th century altered the simplicity of structures to increase formality and symmetry. The twin chimney homes in the historic district manifest this Federal style. The impressive facades of these homes are marked by a doorway, that according to Clay Lancaster, author of the invaluable resource Architecture of Historic Nantucket, has become a symbol of island architecture. Paneled with side windows and a fanning semi-circle above the door, these entrance ways are mounted by a stoop framed by a fenced railing.

The Federal structure idealized perfect symmetry and as a result, required an alteration to the floor plan of the home that had remained constant up until this era. Where early Nantucket homes centered around a chimney with a floorplan that required passing through each room to circulate through the house, these later structure became partitioned by a center hallway. Four rooms, each possessing a fireplace, were accessible from this hallway.

This era of history is marked by several public buildings in downtown Nantucket. The Second Congregational Church at 11 Orange Street, built in 1815, stands as one of the highest buildings on the island. The three stories of clapboard rise to a narrow fourth story clock with an octangonal cupola designed for a fire watch.

The impressive building at the top of downtown Main Street known as Pacific National Bank, built in 1818, stands as a symbol of Nantucket's whaling success. According to Lancaster, "the back is the oldest commercial building on Nantucket to have seen continuous service fulfilling its original intention." The structure's semi-circular portico, Roman ionic columns and brownstone steps is considered one of the most sophisticated buildings of the early 19th century.

As Nantucket sailed to its prominence, having survived the interruption of both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the wealth of the island increased and with that the preoccupation of outward appearances and ornamentation in structures. Often referred to as the "Golden Era" or the "Heyday" of Nantucket, this period is characterized by Greek Revival architecture.

The provocative facades of these structures emphasized the affluence of the Nantucket community and a growing awareness towards refinement and decorum. Historians often contrast this period of Nantucket history with the opulence of the Greeks. As Slavitz notes, "so much of our country was founded on the ideals of Plato's Republic." Nantucketers looked to the democratic period in Greece for inspiration in constructing their homes and public buildings.

There was a sense of colossalness and palatial essence in these structures not seen before on Nantucket. For the first time in island history, professional architects were brought in to construct these monumental buildings of elevated porticos, ionic columns, impressive staircases, wooden and marble fireplace mantels, interior trim of windows and doors. Prior to this time builders were solely responsible for the design of the structure. Now the introduction of specialists in wood, marble, plaster and iron were part of the architectural process. During this period, the Nantucket homes that were built were majestic enough to be called "mansions."

The Hadwen House at 96 Main Street, built in the 1840s, symbolizes the monumentality of architecture on Nantucket during the Golden Era. This home, accessible as a property of the Nantucket Historical Association, possesses the Greek Revival opulence of Corinthian columns, multiple chimneys, carvings, and imported materials.

Church

Among the public buildings constructed during the Greek Revival period are The Methodist Church, the rebuilt Atheneum, and the Coffin School. The impressive facades of these buildings is accentuated by their rise on high basement foundations and a significant flight of stairs.

The Atheneum, which burned in the great fire of 1846, was rebuilt in the Greek Revival tradition with impressive ionic columns. Substantial stairs leading to a clapboard windowless facade suggest the significance of the building.

The Methodist Church, located on Centre Street off of Main Street was recently documented by the Preservation Institute: Nantucket (PI:N). According to Cynthia Ruffner, Associate Director of Special Programs, the interior of the church was documented in an as-built drawing, which chronicles the structure as it stands presently. Each recorded historical building by PI:N becomes part of the Library of Congress database as well as the database of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Through architecture it is possible to follow the economy and cultural influences on Nantucket history from the late 17th century early settlers to today. As Ruffner notes, "Nantucket is a place that is in continuum, "thereby making the study of architecture particularly fascinating.

Today Nantucket is a thriving community, spurred by the tourist trade instead of the sea, though it is the historic resources that make the island quaint and attractive to visitors. Every renovation to an historic structure and each new home built passes through the Historic District Commission to maintain a consistency to the island and retain its historic essence. Bob Rivers, Administrator of the Historic District Commission, related that the HDC statute is designed to offer protection to the historic resources to help support the tourism industry.

The history which produced the past architecture on Nantucket still strongly influences what is built on the island today. However, as Rivers notes, what is built "is comparable to its context." Parts of the island are still developing and producing their own style of architecture. The Historic District and Siasconset maintain the most consistency, but aside from those areas there is much variety on the island.

However, Bob Rivers said, the most unifying quality of Nantucket architecture is the classic "weathered shingles." The shingles seem to encompass both the Quaker past of humble roots, pervasive fog, shifting seas, and difficult gray winters of Nantucket.