Tides & Towns
Cape Cod and the Islands · MA

Nantucket

The old whaling island, 30 miles out to sea.

Population
14,255 (2020 census)
Nickname
The Little Grey Lady of the Sea
Historic district
National Historic Landmark, 1966
Tides
Two highs, two lows, uneven

Then

  1. 1659

    Thomas Mayhew sells most of his interest in the Wampanoag island to settlers led by Tristram Coffin, for thirty pounds and two beaver hats.

  2. 1700s

    Whaling takes hold and makes Nantucket one of the great whaling ports.

  3. 1820

    The Nantucket whaler Essex is sunk by a whale. Its story later inspires Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.

  4. 1846

    On July 13, a fire fed by whale oil and lumber burns about 40 acres of the main town.

  5. 1850

    Whaling is in decline: a silting harbor, railroads, the Gold Rush and later Civil War raids leave New Bedford ahead.

  6. 1966

    The island becomes a National Historic Landmark District, the finest surviving example of an early New England seaport town.

Now

Nantucket sits about 30 miles south of Cape Cod. Its fog-bound look from the sea earned it the nickname the Little Grey Lady of the Sea.

The town's preserved whaling-era streets are now one of New England's best-known summer destinations, and the population has grown quickly, up 40 percent from 2010 to 2020.

On the water

From NOAA's predictions for Nantucket Island, MA over the next 365 days. Heights are in feet above mean lower low water (MLLW).

Pattern
Two highs and two lows a day, one noticeably bigger than the other
Typical daily range
3.5 ft
Biggest swing
5.0 ft on Nov 26
Smallest swing
2.1 ft on Nov 18
Highest high
4.4 ft, Nov 26 at 12:56 PM
Lowest low
−0.6 ft, Jan 23 at 6:32 PM

4 tide stations around Nantucket

Sources