ATTRACTIONS

Historic Homes & Buildings

• First Congregational Church
  62 Centre Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-0950
  This historic church building is widely regarded as the most elegant, as well as the largest, church building on the island; the church’s interior creates a feeling of reverent peace, with its old box pews and a wonderfully restored “trompe-l’oiel” ceiling painted in the middle of the Nineteenth Century, and the magnificent spire is topped with a picturesque weathervane that depicts a whale hunt, and offers panoramic views of islands, beaches, rooftops, marshes, moors, and more to the visitor who climbs the ninety two steps to the top of the steeple.  more...  map

• Greater Light
  Howard Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-1894
  This charming and lovely structure was once an Eighteenth Century barn that was converted into a quaint and charming country home in the 1930s.

• Hadwen House (circa 1845)
  96 Main Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-3744
  This wonderful example of Greek Revival architecture is a mansion that hearkens back to and captures all the elegance and opulence of the height of Nantucket’s most prosperous days.   map

• Jethro Coffin House (circa 1686)
  Sunset Hill • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-3451
  The oldest home on Nantucket, this historical structure epitomizes the Seventeenth Century Bay Colony houses that were the predominate style to be found in the area during that early era.

• Macy Christian House
  Liberty Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-325-4015
  This unique house features both Colonial architectural elements and styles that came to their heyday during the late Nineteenth Century.

• Unitarian Church
  11 Orange Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-2730
  This church dates to 1809 and is an historical landmark on Nantucket.   map

Historic Sites & Monuments

• Black Heritage Trail
  25 Federal Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-4058
  This trail, that traces the history of African Americans in the region, offers guided tours by reservation.   map

Museums & Galleries

• Fair Street Museum
  Fair Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-325-5831
  This museum hosts a variety of changing exhibits.

• Mitchell House
  1 Vestal Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-2896
  This house was the birthplace of America’s first woman astronomer, Maria Mitchell, and has now been restored to preserve her legacy with a variety of exhibits and guided tours, as well as a research library, educational programs, and a plethora of other programs and events.  more...  map

• Nantucket Historical Association
  15 Broad Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-1894
  This historical association maintains museums and historical structures, offering a wide variety of exhibits, a research library, and much more, that delves into the rich history of Nantucket, including the nautical and whaling components of the area’s colourful and alluring history. more...  map

• Nantucket Life Saving Museum
  158 Polpis Road • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-1885
  This museum chronicles, and confers the respect deserved upon, those heroic men throughout the ages who have braved the gargantuan forces of the often angry sea around Nantucket to save countless lives from being ended upon the sharp granite teeth of the rocky shores, or within the angry chaos of whirlpool and crashing waves of a stormy sea.  more...  map

• Old Gaol
  Vestal Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-1894
  This museum displays stocks and other punitive paraphernalia from earlier times and forms of punishment and justice; this jail was also the first jail in the United States to permit prisoners to go home at night.

• Old Mill
  Prospect Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-1894
  Dating back to 1746, the authentic machinery of this mill is still quite efficacious at grinding corn meal by harnessing the power of the wind.

• Peter Foulger Museum
  Broad Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-1655
  This museum showcases paintings, furniture, and many other items of interest that are illustrative of the island’s rich and varied history.

• Whaling Museum
  Broad Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-1736
  This Nineteenth Century candle factory now houses a museum dedicated to and exhibiting whaling memorabilia, portraits, scrimshaw, a whale skeleton, and much more that relates to the whaling industry that once dominated Nantucket.

Science & Technology

• Hinchman House
  7 Milk Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-0898
  This natural history museum features displays, exhibits and educational materials having to do with the native habitats, flora and fauna of the Nantucket ecosystem; educational events and programs, such as nature classes, wildflower walks, bird walks, and natural science lectures are also offered.   map

• Loines Observatory
  59 Milk Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-8690
  Open during the evenings, this astronomy observatory features public lectures, classes, and viewing of the heavens with the aid of its high quality telescope.   map

• Maria Mitchell Aquarium
  28 Washington Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-5387
  This aquarium allows one to view the multifarious marine life of the island salt marshes, harbours, and near-shore waters, as well as offering a chance to be a part of marine life collecting excursions.   map

• Science Library
  2 Vestal Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-9219
  This fine research library contains collections of books on nature and the natural sciences, a wonderful children’s collection, as well a varied collection of historic manuscripts.   map

• Vestal Street Observatory
  3 Vestal Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-9273
  This observatory features guided tours of an outdoor model of the solar system, a sunspot observatory, and more.   map

Tours & Cruises

• Cisco Brewers
  5 Bartlett Farm Road • Nantucket, MA 02584
  508-325-5929
  This brewery, situated in a restored, historic barn, offers tours of the premises and a look into the brewing process.   map

• Nantucket Adventures
  103 Orange Street • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-6365
  Nantucket Adventures offers seal excursions, upper harbor & sunset cruises, beach adventures, and sunset clambakes. more...  map

• Nantucket Vineyard
  5 Bartlett Farm Road • Nantucket, MA 02554
  508-228-9235
  This fine vineyard offers tours and tasting events.   map

• Shearwater Excursions
  P.O. Box 2095 • Nantucket, MA 02584
  508-228-7037
  The excursions offered by the Shearwater are piloted by Captain Perkins, who has over twenty years of experience and Coast Guard licensing, and explore the ecosystems of the “bays, inlets and shores of Nantucket Island.” The fifty foot vessel is a certified power craft, and will offer one an experience that will be memorable, enjoyable and educational, as one learns about the balance of nature in the region while taking in the beautiful, natural scenery.  more...