Nantucket is an island that is 30 miles south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This is mainly a tourist destination and summer colony that you can visit with your car rental Cape Cod. The name "Nantucket" comes from the Eastern Algonquian language meaning "in the midst of waters" or "far away island". It also has the nickname "The Grey Lady" for the occasional intense fog that can be found.

Go back as far as the Vikings

The island's history in western history can possibly be traced to a sighting by the Norsemen of the 11th century, but it was not until 1602 that Captain Bartholomew Gosnold sailed past the bluffs of Siasconset and put the island on the map. The island was originally inhabited by the Wampanoag Indians, who lived here undisturbed until 1641 when the island was deeded to Thomas Mayhew and his son, who were merchants of Watertown and Martha's Vineyard. As Europeans settled in the Cape Cod area, the island became a refuge for regional Indians. The English began to settle here in 1659, when Thomas Mayhew sold it. Nantucket soon became the world's leading whaling port, and is still home to a small fishing industry. Herman Melville commented on the island in Moby Dick. By the Civil War, the whaling industry was in decline and the island suffered. In 1846 there was a great fire that destroyed the main town and burned some 36 acres of the town.

Yesterday's depression, today's tourist boom

As a result of depopulation, the island was under-developed until the mid-20th century. This isolation kept many of the pre-Civil War buildings intact and in the 1950s developers began to buy large sections of the island to make an upmarket destination for the wealthy in the Northeastern United States. The developers wanted to avoid some of the problems that they saw in Martha's Vineyard. To get to Nantucket, you can fly into the Nantucket Memorial Airport or use a commercial ferry service with your car rental Cape Cod.

Things to do, places to see

There are many places to see in Nantucket with your car rental Cape Cod. Nantucket has a number of places that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some of them include Brant Point Light Station, Jethro Coffin House, Nantucket Historic District, Sankaty Head Light, and Nantucket Light (also known as Great Point Light. The original lighthouse was built in 1784, but the original tower was destroyed in 1816. In 1817 a stone tower was erected until it toppled in a storm in March 1984. In 1986, a new stone tower replaced the old one and is the one you can visit with your car rental Cape Cod).

Nantucket is a great place to visit with your car rental Cape Cod if you are looking to see a historical New England Island.