Whaling Museum Audio Tour

Welcome to the Nantucket Whaling Museum. On this audio tour you will discover Nantucket’s success story through time. The island of Nantucket, thirty miles at sea, is famous for once having been the whaling capital of the world, then transforming itself into the equally celebrated summer destination that we enjoy today.

The Nantucket Historical Association, founded in 1894, preserves and interprets the history of Nantucket through its programs, collections and properties in order to promote the island’s significance and foster an appreciation of it among all audiences.

The timeline will introduce you to the island’s earliest inhabitants and lead you through the first settlers who tried an agrarian economy, eventually turned to whaling and ultimately revolutionized island life.

The Williams Forsyth Gallery hosts the exhibition, Island People: Portraits and Stories from Nantucket, drawing from the NHA’s extensive portrait collection including significant new acquisitions, along with Spirits Within Us, a holographic experience presenting living portraits of several extraordinary Nantucket women.

The paintings on this wall reflect the heyday of Nantucket whaling and the industry that fueled the Nantucket economy in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

This room is Gosnell Hall, and here we present how and why Nantucketers went whaling during the age of sail.

The Native population practiced a type of whaling called drift whaling. Occasionally, a dead or diseased whale would wash ashore and be harvested by the local population to provide food for their diet and materials for carving implements

Nantucket’s fortunes were built on the sperm whale. For a century, the island’s whalers specialized in hunting this specific species for the high-quality oil and clean-burning spermaceti that could be harvested from its body. Since the end of whaling from the island, the sperm whale has become a symbol of the island’s seafaring heritage and economic success. It is no surprise, then, that when a forty-ton sperm whale died on Low Beach on New Year’s Eve 1997, there was an immediate popular surge of enthusiasm to keep the creature’s skeleton on island and add it to the Nantucket Whaling Museum. The acquisition of the skeleton prompted the building of a new Whaling Museum in 2005.

Notice the head of the sperm whale makes up almost a third of its body. There are teeth only on the lower jaw, teeth that are using for grabbing prey and swallowing it whole. Sperm whales are pelagic whales that dive and hunt at great depths. The upper jaw supports the whale’s head case, a reservoir of between 300 and 500 gallons of spermaceti oil and wax. The skull protects the creature’s large brain—the largest of any animal.  Unlike most whale species which have two blowholes, sperm whales have one, and when they blow, their spout is at a 45 degree angle slightly out of the left side of the head.

Notice the two small bones that hang from the vertebrae. Millions of years ago, the ancestors of today’s whales lived on land and had four legs. As these animals moved into the sea and evolved, they lost their rear legs. Those tiny bones are vestigial leg bones, no longer needed in the ocean.

Learn more about sperm whales and the whale skeleton on the touchscreen display under the whale.

When a whaleship departed from Nantucket it was an emotional time. Most whaling voyages lasted from 2-4 years, frequently rounding Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, and sometimes circumnavigating the world. When whales were spotted, the whaleboats were launched in pursuit. The men would race to their assigned whaleboat with a harpooner in the bow, four men to handle the oars, and a boatheader in the stern to steer the boat. As the whaleboat approached a whale, the harpooner would brace his thigh in the clumsy cleat to give himself stability to throw his harpoon. The harpoon did not kill the whale, but allowed the whaleboat crew to attach to the whale. A harpooned whale might take off swimming as fast as he could, dragging the whaleboat behind, perhaps at 10-15 miles per hour. Some of the men hung on to the side of the boat; others bailed water as the boat sped through the waves. This was the most exciting part of the whale hunt and also the most dangerous. This was called a Nantucket sleigh ride!

Watch a brief video looping behind the jawbone depicting what a sleighride might have been like.

And explore the voyages of the whaleship Edward Cary on the touchscreen display next to the jawbone.

Welcome to the Hadwen and Barney Oil & Candle Factory. Whale oil was the basis of Nantucket’s economy until the 1850s, and in buildings like this one, the oil harvested from whales at sea was refined into commercial oil for sale, and spermaceti wax from sperm whales made into candles. An earlier factory on this site burned down in the Great Fire of 1846 and was replaced by this building. In the mid-1840s there were about twenty-four candle factories on the island, producing over 850,000 pounds of candles and over one million gallons of oil every year. These products were shipped to mainland ports for sale and were distributed all over the United States and the world.

Explore the touchscreen display to learn more about the complete process of refining whale oil into the products that made Nantucket the whaling capital of the world.

The town experienced a devastating fire in 1846. Cataract was one of the fire engines that attempted, unsuccessfully, to extinguish the fire. Cataract is typical of New England fire appliances from the first half of the 19^th century. Drawn to the scene by its company of men and operated entirely by hand, it features a two-cylinder single-acting pump inside a copper-lined wooden tub which was filled with water by bucket brigade or suction hose. Its long wood pumping handles, stored on either side, were swung into position when needed. The crane neck at the front permitted the front wheels to be rotated in a tight arc, allowing the engine to turn for easy positioning.

Visit the mini-theater display next to the Cataract to learn more about the history of fires on Nantucket. The button-selectable movies include The Great Fire of 1846, the dramatic story of the devastation of much of Nantucket Town and waterfront; and Notable Nantucket Fires, the stories of eight of the most destructive fires on Nantucket from 1836 to 1999.

These and all NHA films can also be seen on the NHA YouTube channel, youtube.com/nantuckethistory.

In the Candle Factory Theater, enjoy two signature NHA productions.

Nantucket, a film by documentary filmmaker Ric Burns, captures the unparalleled beauty of Nantucket and chronicles the vibrancy of the island’s history, from its original Wampanoag Native American and early Quaker cultures to its international significance as the whaling capital of the world and eventual rebirth as an art and resort colony. The film is 27 minutes long and plays every hour on the half-hour.

The Bones of History, an award-winning documentary by filmmaker John Stanton, tells the story of the events surrounding the sperm whale that washed up on the eastern end of Nantucket in 1998. The whale’s skeleton now hangs as the centerpiece in Gosnell Hall. This film is 17 minutes long and plays every hour on the hour.

These and all NHA films can also be seen on the NHA YouTube channel, youtube.com/nantuckethistory.

Nantucket’s whaling economy collapsed in the late 1850s. New Bedford whaling eclipsed Nantucket as early as the 1830s. With the laying of the transcontinental railroad, the capital of whaling moved later to San Francisco. Vessels could hunt whales in the western Arctic and get products to the East Coast markets quicker by rail than by sea.

Norwegian whaling was on the ascendancy starting in the late 19^th century. Commercial whaling expanded dramatically in the 20^th century, but it was not an American story. European, Soviet and Asian fleets turned their attention to whales for meat rather than oil and baleen.

Whaling became increasingly efficient. No longer restricted by wind and sail, nor the speed by which men could row a boat, the new catcher boats were steel-hulled, propeller-driven, and mounted with artillery pieces on their bows. Steam-powered ships could pursue whales which had been too fast to catch during the age of sail. Cannons fired massive harpoon projectiles, some with exploding heads, which could kill a whale with a single shot. Spotter planes could vector in a fleet of catcher boats to destroy whole pods at an alarming rate.

In 1967, the American Cetacean Society became the first group dedicated to end commercial whaling. It was followed by large national organizations like Greenpeace. These actions culminated in the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972 in the United States and an international ban on commercial whaling in 1986.

The touchscreen display presents short videos that promote the understanding and protection of whales in the 21^st century.

Families will delight in the imaginary interactive experience of the Discovery Center. Fun activities include story time, drawing and coloring, imaginary play in the Curiosity Shop and tea room, and daily hands-on-history with a different craft each day.

Enjoy a selection of family-friendly videos for young and old alike in the mini-theater. These and all NHA films can also be seen on the NHA YouTube channel, youtube.com/nantuckethistory.

And before you leave, put YOURSELF into history and send a souvenir e-postcard to friends and family in the photo booth.

Neptune’s grotto is a magical collection of objects found in and around the sea, displayed in a way that we hope will delight visitors. All museums have curiosities in their collections—items that reflect the travels and varied interests of people in the past. We hope the cases here will echo islanders’ adventures on the world’s oceans.

You are looking at a lever press, believed to be the only one left in the world used for whale-oil processing. Factory workers shoveled chilled, granulated sperm oil into burlap or hemp bags and loaded the press, with bags placed side by side, a board on top, more bags, until there were approximately 50 bags. Then the beam was lowered, squeezing the oil from the bags, filling the trough which had a hole in the front corner. The oil would flow into a cistern in the basement below. The first pressing, the winter pressing, produced the highest quality and quantity of oil, and was sold for the highest price. Winter oil was valued for its stable viscosity, and was unaffected by heat or cold. Winter oil was used in lighthouses and streetlamps in cold climates. Next, the process was repeated, reboiling the oil, putting it outside and bringing it in for the spring pressing, which produced oil of lesser quality and quantity, but was still good for lighting and lubrication. The final pressing was in the summer, and at that point there was very little oil to be extracted, so workers used a screw press. What was left after the summer pressing was a hard, waxy substance called “black cake”. Now the factory converted to candle making. The black cake was boiled, bleached, and poured into candle molds, producing highly valued candles that did not smoke or smell and lasted a long time, candles that sold all over the world.

Watch a virtual demonstration of the lever press in action on the small display overlooking the press.

Looking at Nantucket’s harbor today, it is hard to imagine what it looked like during the whaling era. Sooty factories, warehouses and workshops surrounded the harbor, providing the industries that supported whaling. The vast majority of the whaling ships were built off-island, but much of the outfitting was done locally. The smaller whaleboats were more likely to have been built on Nantucket, but not the large whaleships. Masts and spars spawned an industry of skilled carpenters. Cooperages manufactured wooden barrels, buckets and casks. In the 1830s there were 22 cooperages turning out thousands of wooden containers. Ships need miles of rope. Ten ropewalks turned tons of hemp into rope of a variety of widths and lengths from fishing lines to huge, twisted ropes strong enough to hold heavy anchors, or to bind several tons of whale carcasses to the sides of ships. Blacksmiths worked in hot, fiery forges to turn out harpoons, lances, knives and other implements needed to hunt and dismember whales. Each ship needed twenty to thirty sails, totaling over an acre of sailcloth. Sail making was highly skilled work requiring a three-year apprenticeship.

Beginning in the 1840’s a number of occurrences began the decline of Nantucket’s dominance in the whaling industry.

As ships stayed out longer and got bigger and heavier, they began to have difficulty getting over the sandbar that blocked the entrance to Nantucket Harbor. In turn, New Bedford provided a deeper water port and connection to broader markets due to the development of the railroads.

In 1846, a fire that began at Geary’s hat shop on Main Street destroyed the town’s central business district and hastened the decline of the whaling industry. The blaze spread out of control, particularly along the oil-soaked wharves. By sunrise the next day, wharves, whaleships and over 300 buildings across thirty-three acres in the commercial core of Town had been destroyed, and 800 islanders were homeless.

The California Gold Rush took many men away from the island and with a declining population there were fewer men to man the whaleships.

During the Civil War 339 Nantucket men enlisted. Seventy-four never returned. As a naval blockade, the U.S Navy sank aging whaleships at the entrance to the harbors of Charleston and Savannah. These ships were dubbed “the Stone Fleet”. By the end of the Civil War, whaling on Nantucket had virtually ended.

For centuries, a sandbar blocked the entrance to the harbor, hindering passage of heavily laden vessels. Shipping merchant, Peter Ewer, decided to solve the problem. He hired carpenters to make this working model, based on a Dutch invention called “ship camels”. The full-size camels were 135 feet in length. The camel hulls were filled with water and submerged and connected under the ship. As the water was pumped out of the camels, they rose and lifted the ship out of the water. A steamship would then tow the ship over the sandbar and into the harbor.

Whaling has been an important subsistence and economic activity in multiple regions throughout human history. The first known encounters between men and whales are shown as petroglyphs in Korea in 6000 BCE. The oldest written mention of whaling comes from a Japanese book written in the 7^th century.

In 1059, the Basques were among the first people to catch whales commercially. They dominated the trade for five centuries and were the masters of their day. By the early 17^th century, Holland entered the trade in earnest, adopting new techniques and soon dominated the industry. Other countries that followed included Britain, France, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia. Nantucket’s ascendancy began in the 18^th century. After the decline of Nantucket whaling, New Bedford with its deep water harbor and access to a railroad, became the next whaling center, followed by San Francisco when the trans-continental railroad was completed.

Nantucket has always been on the water that surrounds us. Islanders depend upon the water for work, recreation and their connection to the broader world. Ferryboats, past and present, connect Nantucket to points far and near.

In the early 1900s, there were about forty dories fishing from Sconset. These were one-man dories, about 13 feet long. Each fisherman had a fish house on the beach where he dressed and salted his catch; cod, haddock or bluefish. The fish would be kept under salt for several days and then shipped to Boston, Providence and New Bedford. Fishing by boat has always been an important Nantucket activity, providing year-round sport to residents and fine seafood to restaurants, both on island and off. From scalloping in the fall and winter months, to summer charter fishing for bluefish and sea bass, anglers delight in the fishing experiences around the island. Surf casting, clam digging and pond fishing are also popular pastimes among island anglers.

This touchscreen display presents oral history excerpts from nine new arrivals to Nantucket illustrated with their own family photos, now part of the NHA Archival Collection. Their stories reflect how they came to Nantucket and their heritage, families, and roles on Nantucket, emphasizing how diverse the Nantucket community has become.

These and all NHA films can also be seen on the NHA YouTube channel, youtube.com/nantuckethistory.

Nantucket ships traveled all over the world in pursuit of whales, with the crew bringing back souvenirs from their travels. Ship owners also engaged in trade with Europe, Africa, the Pacific, and Arctic and of course, China. Fine American homes were decorated with items purchased in China. Nantucket cargo ships and whalers would bring furs, turtle shells, lumber and specialty food items from the northwest coast of North American and the islands of the Pacific to trade with China.

The whaleship Essex, commanded by George Pollard Jr, left Nantucket in 1819. While hunting whales in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the ship was rammed and sunk by an eighty-ton sperm whale. Thousands of miles from land, the twenty crew members took to three small, open whaleboats. For roughly ninety days, as they tried to sail to the coast of South America, the men endured unimaginable hardships, including fierce storms, thirst, starvation, death and cannibalism. At the end there were eight survivors. The true story of the Essex disaster was part of Herman Melville’s inspiration for the great American novel, Moby Dick, and is the subject of the award-winning history book In the Heart of the Sea, by Nantucketer Nathaniel Philbrick.

First mate Owen Chase, whose portrait here is on loan to the museum from his descendants, was one of the survivors. Chase, an able, if somewhat opinionated whaleman, was working his way up to become a captain. During the voyage of the Essex there were several disagreements between Captain Pollard and his First Mate. At the time of the ramming, Chase was aboard the Essex making repairs to his whaleboat. Captain Pollard shouted, “My God, Mr. Chase, what is the matter?” Chase responded, “We have been stove by a whale!”

Upon his return to the island, Chase wrote a book about the disaster of the Essex. Chase sited his need to provide for his family as his motivation for publication. Shortly after his return, he sailed away on a New Bedford whaler. He later commanded five successful whaling voyages from New Bedford and Nantucket, retiring to his house on Orange Street in 1840. In his later years, he suffered frequent nightmares, debilitating headaches, and hallucinations. He hoarded food and water, and ultimately he went insane.

One of the Essex survivors was a young man named Benjamin Lawrence. During his unbearable time in the whaleboat, Lawrence collected stray rope fibers and twisted them into the tiny piece of spun-yarn or twine here on display. He vowed that if he ever made it back to Nantucket safely, this would be a reminder of the terrible ordeal that the men suffered. It is the sole surviving artifact from the wreck of the Essex.

On the touchscreen display, follow the voyages of six whaling vessels and their crews who hunted whales on the world’s oceans during 1819 and 1820. Follow their journeys through logbook and journal excerpts. And follow the final journey of the Essex and its survivors.

The Sankaty Head lighthouse was built in 1849 on the Siasconset bluff at the eastern end of the island. The original Fresnel lens and clockwork from the lighthouse are displayed here. The brilliant light thrown out by this lens was visible up to twenty-four miles away and was referred to by mariners as “the blazing star”. Frenchman Auguste Jean Fresnel developed the prismatic lens system you see here, where a central piece of glass called a bull’s eye is surrounded by concentric rings of glass projecting beyond one another. The design allowed five times more light to be transmitted than earlier reflector systems.

This clock was given to the town in 1881 by William Hadwen Starbuck of New York. For 76 years the clock measured the time from the Unitarian Church tower and struck the hours. In 1957 the mechanism you see here was retired and replaced by an electric movement.

The bell hung here is from the coasting schooner Uriah B. Fiske. When the Fiske wrecked on Nantucket in 1881, its bell was salvaged and installed in the new Polpis School House. The bell came to the NHA in 1928.

Famously, the so-called Portuguese bell that sounds the hours from the Unitarian Church tower also strikes 52 times three times a day. Why 52 strikes? When the bell was installed the town decreed that it should be rung for 3 minutes at 7am, noon, and 9pm every day, equaling 52 strikes.

Scrimshaw is the art of engraving images on whale teeth, baleen and bone. This folk art was practiced by men aboard whaleships during the 19^th century. During long voyages, often 2-5 years, whalers would often turn to scrimshaw as a way of passing the time when they were not busy pursuing whales. They produced decorative objects and utilitarian devices. These were often enhanced, decorated and combined with other materials like wood, mother-of-pearl, and abalone shell. This shipboard art was a unique product and is cherished as an expression of appreciation for nautical prowess.

Nantucket has had a dynamic heritage of decorative arts and crafts reaching into the 20^th century and extending far beyond its geographical boundaries.

At 11:10 pm on May 7, 1915, 45 miles south of Nantucket, the Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria bound for New York City and the eastbound Swedish liner Stockholm collided in a heavy Atlantic fog. 1,650 passengers and crew were rescued, while 46 died. The Andrea Doria was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful ocean liners of the era with three outdoor swimming pools and a dazzling array of paintings, tapestries and murals.

This year, the McCausland Gallery features Summer on Nantucket: A History of the Island Resort through November 1, 2023.

Containing more than 200 artifacts, hundreds of photographs. and numerous video segments from the NHA collection, this exhibition tells the story of Nantucket as a summer destination, from the opening of the first tourist hotels in the 1840s to the multi-billion-dollar real-estate, construction, and rental economy of today.

The exhibit begins with “Impressions of Summer,” a feast of paintings, trade signs, souvenirs, and other items capturing the flavor of Nantucket in high season. “The Resort Economy” traces the island’s transition from a whaling port to a vacation spot. “Must See, Must Do” explores beach and water recreation, entertainment and dining, and changing tourist activities across more than a century. “Where to Stay?” demonstrates how summer-home options have changed as more of the island has been developed. “Who’s Here?” features new acquisitions from the NHA’s costume and textile collections showing island summer fashions.

“It’s Not All Roses” recognizes the hard work seasonal employees and year-round residents put into making summer happen for everyone and explores some of the downsides to the island’s popularity and success: crowding, traffic, housing insecurity, and economic inequality. The exhibit concludes with “Winter,” a look at the continuation of island life after the crowds depart.

As whaling declined, Nantucketers had to reinvent their economy. They began promoting the island as a beautiful, healthful summer resort in the 1860s. Twice-daily steamship service from New Bedford started in 1874. A narrow-gauge railway was built in 1881 to connect the ferry dock with the South Shore and ’Sconset, part of an effort to promote real estate development and get summer visitors to the beaches. Actors, artists and writers from Boston, New York, and elsewhere began to summer on the island.

In addition to the beautiful beaches and moors, Nantucket boasts many surviving 18th and 19th century buildings, and has been called the “finest example of an early New England seaport.” The entire island has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

This rooftop view is similar to the views that Nantucketers enjoy from the roof walks. Sometimes erroneously called “Widow’s Walks,” these are rooftop platforms originally built to provide access to put out chimney fires.

Follow the compass on the deck. Looking east you will see the channel that rounds Brant Point, the entry point for ferry traffic. Visitors coming to the island by ferry will enjoy a spectacular view of the town. A Nantucket tradition says that as you leave the island and pass Brant Point Lighthouse, you should throw two pennies overboard to ensure a return visit!