The following is a timeline of the history of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States.
17th century 1621 – Island granted to Plymouth Company of London. 1641 – Island bought by Thomas Mayhew. 1659 Island sold to Thomas Barnard, Peter Coffin, Tristram Coffin, Christopher Hussey, Thomas Macy, William Pike, John Swayne, and Richard Swayne. Proprietors of the Common and Undivided Land established. 1660 – Island becomes part of the Province of New York. 1661 – Settlers arrive from Amesbury and Salisbury, Massachusetts. 1665 – Maddequet Ditch (canal) dug. 1671 – Town incorporated. 1672 – Town relocated to Wescoe from Madaket. 1673 – Town named "Sherburne." 1683 – Island becomes part of Dukes County, Province of New York. 1686 – Jethro Coffin house built. 1692 – Island becomes part of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. 1695 – Nantucket County established.
18th century
1712 – Sperm whaling begins. 1713 – Tuckernuck Island becomes part of Nantucket County. 1732 – Quaker meeting house built. 1746 Lighthouse and East Mill constructed. The Old Mill an historic windmill. 1774 – Population: 4,545. 1775 – Nantucket tentatively states their neutrality during the American Revolutionary War. 1779 – April: British loyalists raid island. 1784 - Great Point Light established. 1795 – Town of Sherburne renamed "Nantucket."
19th century 1810 Second Congregational Meeting House incorporated. Population: 6,807. 1814 – Nantucket declares neutrality in the US-British War of 1812. 1816 – May: Nantucket Gazette newspaper begins publication. 1817 – Fragment Society formed. 1820 Nantucket Mechanics' Social Library Society founded. the Essex (whaleship), aboard which were mostly residents of the island, was sunk by a randy sperm whale; Population: 7,266. 1821 – The Inquirer newspaper begins publication. 1822 - the Quaise Asylum was commissioned in 1822, and originally meant to house indigent, aged, and chronically illhttps://nantuckethistory.org/webcat/request/Action?SystemName=Nantucket+Historical+Association&UserName=public&Password=&CMD_(DetailRequest)%5B0%5D=&TemplateProcessID=6000_3635&ProcessID=6000_3363(0)&KeyValues=KEY_i18032https://nha.org/research/nantucket-history/historic-nantucket-magazine/a-nineteenth-century-chronicle/ 1823 Columbian Library Society founded. United Methodist Church built. 1827 – United Library Association and Lancasterian school founded. 1834 – Nantucket Athenaeum incorporated. 1835 African Methodist Episcopal Church incorporated. Silk Factory in business. 1836 – Ladies' Howard Society formed. 1838 - Nantucket High School established. 1839 – Trinity Church built. 1840 – First Baptist Church built. 1846 – Fire. 1848 – Atlantic House hotel in business in Siasconset. 1850 - Sankaty Head Light built. 1854 – Lightship Nantucket and Town Library established. 1855 - Death of Dorcas Honorable, Nantucket's last Native American Wampanoag Indian. 1856 Nantucket Agricultural Society founded. Lighthouse rebuilt. 1864 – Josiah Freeman photography studio in business. 1866 – Union Benevolent Society founded. 1869 - Nantucket's last whaler sailed. 1873 – Nantucket Relief Association founded. 1875 – Civil War monument erected. 1877 – Sherburne Lyceum organized. 1881 – Nantucket Railroad built. 1883 – Siasconset Union Chapel, Nantucket Hotel, Surf-Side Hotel and Springfield Hotel built. 1886 Electric telegraph installed. New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Company formed. Wyer's Art Store in business (approximate date). 1892 – Point Breeze Hotel in business. 1894 – Nantucket Historical Association founded. 1895 – Goldenrod Literary and Debating Society founded. Original Nantucket Railroad reaches bankruptcy, Nantucket Central Railroad Company established 1897 – Church of St. Mary-Our Lady of the Isle built.
20th century
1901 – Brant Point Light rebuilt. 1902 – Maria Mitchell Association founded. 1908 – Maria Mitchell Observatory built. 1910 – Population: 2,962 (county). 1917 - Nantucket Central Railroad Company closes after all available trains were commandeered by the United States Army to serve in the Western Front of World War One 1923 – Sankaty Head Golf Club opens. 1925 – Nobska (steamship) begins operating in region. 1930 – Whaling Museum opens. 1934 - The LV-117 is sunk by RMS Olympic off the coast in a collision. 1940 – Straight Wharf Theatre established. 1945 – Murray's Toggery Shop in business. 1956 – July 25: wrecked offshore. 1966 – Nantucket Historic District established. 1970 – Population: 3,774. 1972 – Hy-Line ferry begins operating. 1974 – Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge established (approximate date). 1975 – Nantucket National Wildlife Refuge established. 1976 – December 15: MV Argo Merchant wrecked offshore. 1990 – Population: 6,012. 1995 – Nantucket Regional Transit Authority begins operating. 1997 – Bill Delahunt becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 10th congressional district. 1999 October 31: EgyptAir Flight 990 crashes south of island, 217 dead. African Meeting House restored.
21st century
2001 – Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound organized. 2010 Cape Wind (wind farm) development approved. Population: 10,172. 2011 – William R. Keating becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 10th congressional district. 2020 – Nantucket introduces COVID-19 safety measures, including travel restrictions and mask mandates.
See also History of Nantucket National Register of Historic Places listings in Nantucket County, Massachusetts
References
Further reading Published in the 19th century
2nd ed., 1880
Published in the 20th century
Reprint of 1782 London ed. Letters 4-5, 7-8: Description of Nantucket, etc.
External links
Library of Congress, Prints & Photos division. Items related to Nantucket, various dates. Europeana. Items related to Nantucket Digital Public Library of America. Works related to Nantucket, various dates