“Nantucket is not like the rest of the United States,†writes the author-photographer — a sentiment shared by his Nantucket neighbors. Island communities are defined by their isolation, and as the isolation is penetrated the definition changes: whales, railroads, and tourists have brought Nantucket by turns prosperity, depression, and prosperity once again; yet the great fact of Nantucket, to the delight of visitors, residents, and historic preservationists, is that change has left it all but unchanged. While industrial progress has decimated America’s heritage almost everywhere, Nantucket has not only maintained its buildings, beaches, and landscapes, but largely improved upon them.
Proof? Compare these 210 past and present photographs, and read how one island escaped the blight of modern times and thrives on its preserved heritage.
John McCalley researched and collected rare stereographs and old photographs of Nantucket topography and urban views, then took new photographs from the same perspectives. The result is a visually documented contradiction: Nantucket absorbing the modern era yet remaining untouched. Compare Quidnet 1870 with Quidnet a century later — the former fishing village is today a summer colony, yet construction style and size have not altered, the greatest change being ubiquitous power lines. Compare Old South Wharf early this century with today — the scale is the same, though the outdated dock has become a modern marina. Examine the old homes along India, Orange, and Main Streets — some of the ornament removed, bits of clapboard replaced by shingle, but clearly circumstance combined with Nantucketers’ preservation consciousness has preserved an atmosphere once common to the eastern seaboard, now unique to the island. Hundreds of other comparative photographs, including reviews of Josiah Freeman’s and Henry S. Wyer’s panoramic shots from church towers, provide a photographic essay in historical geography and a landscape’s almost hidden evolution. John McCalley’s detailed captions and fervent commentary give Nantucket’s history without the sentimental whaling myths, offering thoughtful observation on the value of isolated Nantucket and the need for watchful care.
Nantucketers are not the only ones who will want to view and read about the summer homes, hotels, public buildings, streets, the waterfront, and countryside of old and new Nantucket. Historians, geographers, students of Americana and all interested in the preservation of a fragile past will find this an engaging, thought-provoking work.
