Editorial — "The Old Houses Speak"

The Old Houses Speak

5

THESE OLD DWELLINGS may be found in all parts of Nantucket Town. They may be large or small, or of average size, but what they can tell is the greatest story the Island can bequeath its people. It is the story of the development of one of Colonial America's native industries, originally called "whaling in the deep", and then given the name which best described it — "the Southern Whale Fishery" — a name that the Nantucketers gave to the maritime industry they originated and to which they gave over a century of generations of whale-hunters.

At this time of year when the busy season begins to ebb, and many visitors come here because it is a more inviting time, walking through the old town is an opportunity to recapture some of the flavor of the exciting eras these whalemen provided our historic past. Due to the appreciation of more recent owners, the houses have been restored — revitalized — ready to carry on their story. This care and attention has provided new opportunities to recapture the life of their old-time owners, to share in the traditions, to enjoy the vigourous lives of these courageous seafarers who sought the whale in every ocean of the world.

It is in the durability of these homes that the experiences of the Nantucket whaling traditions continue to bring the Island's true flavor to the present scene. Whether they are small and humble homes of the foremast hands, or the larger dwellings of the mates and harpooners, the captains' four-square houses, or the more pretentious mansions of the 19th century ship-owners — all have a story to tell.

As time sweeps us far away from the past, the Town has had the good fortune to continue to reflect the true picture of our past. Whether it is a story of the shipmaster who flew the first flag of the young United States before the port of London after the Revolution, the account of the man who first uncovered the mystery of what had happened to the H. M. S. Bounty, the mariner who wrote of the sighting of the Antarctic Continent, the whaleman who married the daughter of one of the chiefs in the Feejee Islands, or the navigator who developed a new way of determining longitude at sunset — these men gave our nation exciting stories.

If our old houses could speak their narratives would cover the entire Town with a mantle of a glowing and enduring quality.

— Edouard A. Stackpole