Nantucket

Nantucket , island, c.14 mi (23 km) long, from 3 to 6 mi (4.8-9.6 km) wide, SE Mass., lying c.25 mi (40 km) S of Cape Cod, from which it is separated by Nantucket Sound. Muskeget Channel is located between Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard to the west. Exhibiting evidence of glaciation (terminal moraine, outwash plain), Nantucket has sandy beaches and low, rolling hills composed of sand and gravel. It is sparsely vegetated; wild cranberries, heather, and wild roses predominate. Nantucket and the small adjacent islands constitute both Nantucket town and Nantucket co. Settled in 1659, the island was part of New York from 1660 to 1692, when it was ceded to Massachusetts. Nantucket was a major whaling port until the decline of the industry (c.1850), and it later developed into a well-known resort and artists' colony. The village of Nantucket is the trade center of the island and is known for its many old houses. The island has a whaling museum and an 18th-century windmill. The first U.S. lightship station (est. 1856) is located near Nantucket.

Nantucket an island off the coast of Massachusetts, south of Cape Cod and east of Martha's Vineyard. First visited by the English in 1602, it was settled by the Quakers in 1659, and was an important whaling centre in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Nantucket, Massachusetts/USA Natocko An island and a town. The meaning of the name is not clear. On the one hand, it has been suggested that it has been derived from a Native American word meaning ‘Far Away (Land)’; on the other, that it comes from a local word nantuck ‘sandy, sterile soil that tempted no one’.