Nantucket is an island in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of North America. It is located 30 miles (48.3 km) south of Cape Cod and 15 miles (24 km) east of Martha’s Vineyard, from which it is separated by the Muskeget Strait. The island is 15 miles (24 km) long and 3 to 6 miles (5 to 10 km) wide. The island is part of the state of Massachusetts. The island is inhabited and has the status of a city and county (thus, the county and the city of Nantucket are combined). The city of Nantucket also includes the small uninhabited islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget. The population of the island is 10,172 (2010).
The first European to visit the island was the Englishman Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602, although some sources attribute the primacy to Champlain[1]. When New England was first settled, the island was part of the Plymouth Colony, from which it was purchased in 1641 by Thomas Mayhew, the founder of the settlement on Martha’s Vineyard.
The name of the island is of Algonquian origin and is very similar to Nehantucket (the endonym of the Indian tribe that lived there at the time of its settlement by Europeans)[2].
In 1659, Quaker fishermen settled on the island, gradually displacing the natives. The city was officially established in 1687. Until 1692, the island was part of the New York Colony. In 1695, Nantucket County was formed.
In the late 18th century, the island played a leading role in the whaling industry, with 125 whaling ships registered at the port. During the 19th century, Nantucket’s importance as a port declined, and by the end of the century, whaling had completely lost its significance due to the invention of the process of distilling oil into gasoline and kerosene (before that, whale oil was used in kerosene lamps).
In the 20th century, tourism became the basis of the island’s economy. In connection with this, on December 13, 1966, the Nantucket Historic Building Complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places.