Editorial—"The Old Fair Street Rooms"

The Old Fair Street Rooms

WITH THE REVIVAL of interest in the Historical Association's Fair Street building — or the "Fair Street Rooms," as they were at one time called — another part of our Association's history is revitalized. It was only a few years after the formation of the Nantucket Historical Association in 1894 that the need for a new headquarters became apparent. The Quaker Meeting House on Fair Street had been purchased and became the first exhibit building. Within a span of eight years it became so crowded that the historic value of the collections was lost by the numbers of items on display.

At length, at the annual meeting in 1903, a committee was appointed, headed by Henry S. Wyer, to investigate the costs of erecting a suitable structure at the corner of Ray's Court and Fair Street, which would become the formal home of the Association. The committee reported with plans for a fire-proof structure, to be built of cement blocks, and an architect named George F. Watson was appointed to draw the plans.

The Quaker Meeting House was moved to the South a few feet. At a ceremony held in July, 1905, the corner stone of the new structure was placed in position, and the firm of Aberthaw & Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio, began the construction. A campaign for contributions launched the fundraising, but a large bequest from NJrs. Susan Wilson Folger enabled the work to proceed to completion in 1905. The stone boulder which had originally served as the door-stone of the home of Sachem Tashama, at the Indian village of Ocawan, near Gibbs' Pond, was moved to Fair Street and placed in the ground before the entrance.

In July, the first meeting of the Association took place in the new structure. From that time until 1971 "Fair Street" was the home of the Nantucket Historical Association. Many new exhibits were added; the building became crowded with displays of portraits, furniture, old china and glass, Indian artifacts, whaling implements (until the Whaling Museum was opened in 1930), tools, books, wagons, and manuscripts. Not until the erection of the Peter Foulger Museum was the transfer of this collection to the new quarters in 1971 completed. Only the adjacent Quaker Meeting House remained as an exhibit building, and the Fair Street Rooms were virtually abandoned.

In 1976, the potential of the old building was recognized with the opening of the "18th Century Exhibit" developed by Mrs. Harding Greene. The success of this exhibit led to the idea of using the unusual

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HISTORIC NANTUCKET

lighting in the building for art exhibitions. These affairs have proven so worthwhile that the Nantucket Art Association has planned a series of events featuring arts, crafts, photography and other art forms. The public reception has been heartening.

The future of old "Fair Street" will always reflect the flavor of the past. Memories of those officers and members who aided the Nantucket Historical Association in those crucial years will always be a part of its history — Dr. Joseph Sidney Mitchell, the first President, Alexander Starbuck, the great Nantucket and whaling historian; Arthur Gardner and William F. Macy, who guided the course so wisely; Dr. Charles Congdon and Everett U. Crosby, who with Dr. William E. Gardner and Nancy Grant Adams were the able pilots of the ship over the years; Susan E. Brock, the first Curator of the Association, Emma Coleman and Mrs. Elizabeth Worth, the latter still an active member; Mary E. Starbuck, Henry S. Wyer, George Howland Folger, Elizabeth Bennett and Emily Weeks, of the "Old Guard," and Roland B. Hussey and Harry B. Turner, whose contributions through The Inquirer and Mirror were vitally important — all are figures who have become a part of the Association's development at the Fair Street Rooms.

Thus, we revive our history through the new use of an old structure.

— Edouard A. Stackpole