An island that has spent centuries refusing to tear anything down was always going to keep a few residents past their lease. For Halloween, Little ACK Book walks the short list: the places where the stories come from people who were there, and where most of the doors are still open.

THE UNITARIAN MEETING HOUSE

South Church, as longtime islanders still call it, went up at 11 Orange Street in 1809, its gold-domed tower rising more than 100 feet over town. Swift was its first minister, from 1810 to 1833. A few years after his ministry ended, the congregation turned Unitarian, and by most accounts he has never made peace with it. His portrait hangs inside—long face, auburn hair—which is how witnesses know whom they’ve met. Sextons working late have heard someone walking around upstairs in a building they knew was empty. A group of boys making trouble near the sanctuary on a snowbound morning once fled out into the cold, insisting a man had sprung from behind the pulpit to run them off. And a music director rehearsing at the 1831 Goodrich organ before a Sunday service watched two soldiers in Revolutionary War uniform march in. She kept practicing. Eventually, they left.

SHIPS INN

Whaling captain Obed Starbuck built the house at 13 Fair Street in 1831, on the lot where abolitionist Lucretia Coffin Mott was born in 1793; a plaque on the side of the inn still marks it. Each guest room takes its name from a ship in Starbuck’s fleet, and the captain, the story goes, still makes his rounds—pacing the halls after dark, pausing at the front window to look out toward the water. Actress Ellie Cornell—Rachel Carruthers in Halloween 4 and Halloween 5, and longtime co-owner of the inn with chef Mark Gottwald—has said she saw him herself, late one night while painting upstairs.

JARED COFFIN HOUSE

Built in 1845, the three-story brick house at 29 Broad Street was the first mansion on the island and came through the Great Fire of 1846 untouched. Coffin’s wife preferred Boston, and within two years the family had sold it to the Nantucket Steamboat Company, which reopened it as the Ocean House hotel—where Herman Melville stayed in 1852. Coffin, by most accounts, found his way back anyway. A rocking chair near the hearth is said to start moving on its own once a fire is going, and guests have described an old man settled into it; upstairs, he keeps to Room 223. The house’s other resident has stricter views. A Puritan woman, whom one former employee called Phoebe, is said to strip the blankets from unmarried couples and then plant herself at the foot of the bed, glaring.

SHERBURNE INN

The Greek Revival building at 10 Gay Street opened in 1835 as the Atlantic Silk Company, which ran only the second power silk loom ever put into operation. Islanders planted mulberries to feed the silkworms, but the trees never took to the cool, damp climate, and the factory shut in 1844. The Gay Street half has housed lodgers since 1870. When Susan Gasparich and Dale Hamilton bought the inn in 1994, the outgoing owner left them with a warning: a woman with long red hair, in a white Victorian gown. Since then, one guest woke at 2 a.m. to a cloudlike shape drifting across her room and assumed she’d dreamed it—until her husband said he had woken at the same moment and seen it too. Another couple, in Room 5, spent a night listening to something scrape slowly down the wall behind the headboard, like fingernails, then start again from the top.

HADWEN HOUSE

The Nantucket Historical Association keeps the Hadwens’ own china and silver on display at the 1846 Greek Revival mansion at 96 Main Street, and by one account the family still entertains. Interns bunking on the upper floor have described the sound of a dinner party in full swing below—glassware, scraping chairs, laughter, conversation. Downstairs, they find dark rooms and no one in them.

THE OLD MILL

Tradition credits a sailor named Nathan Wilbur with building the windmill at 50 Prospect Street in 1746, from oak timbers salvaged off wrecked ships. Ed Dougan, who ran it from 1977 to 1980, learned that it had opinions about where he stood: whenever he wandered from his post toward the more dangerous parts of the works, the mill picked up speed and began to shudder, settling only when he returned—a pattern he demonstrated for onlookers. Islanders used to donate candle ends to be melted into a gap in the machinery. One night Dougan packed in a fresh batch and locked up. By morning, every wick had been drawn out of its stub, and the lot sorted into two tidy piles. No one else had a key. Islanders tend to credit Timothy Swain, who inherited a share of the mill and who, in local telling, died inside it. The NHA has spent the past two years on the most extensive restoration in the mill’s history.

THE WAUWINET

At the head of the harbor, the hotel at 120 Wauwinet Road has taken guests since 1875, and an old rumor holds that it sits on a burial ground. What people report there is quieter than most: a breath of roses or gardenias in a room without a single bloom, and the sound of water running somewhere in a lobby with no fountain to explain it.

FOR THE BRAVE: AFTER DARK ON THE 31ST

• Spooky Walk-Through and Trick-or-Treating, Nantucket Whaling Museum—Saturday, Oct. 31, 4:30–6 p.m. Free; enter through the Discovery Center at Broad and South Beach streets, 13 Broad Street. Not a haunted house—fine for all ages.

• The Nantucket Ghost Walk, Town Route—Saturday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m. Meet at the top of Main Street, in front of the steps of the Pacific National Bank at Centre and Main streets; arrive by 7:50 p.m. About 80 minutes. Cash only, no reservations; $25 adults, $20 seniors, $15 teens, $10 ages 6–12. 774-325-8972. *This list leaves out Mary Abby Swain—the island’s most famous ghost, by the tour’s account—and saves her for the Ghost Walk, where the guide tells her story in full.

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On September 26, 2026, a nor'easter cut into the bluff near the drive-on beach access by the sewer beds and exposed a run of dark, weathered timbers at its base. Island resident David DeHart spotted them, and David Robinson, director and chief archaeologist of the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources, told the Nantucket Current they were most likely the same wreckage uncovered in 2022 and later identified as the Warren Sawyer—a three-masted schooner lost on that stretch of beach on December 22, 1884.

THE STORY BEHIND THE SCHOONER

She was a working vessel, not a grand one: a 360-ton coastal schooner, the kind sailors called a tern for her three masts, bound from New Orleans to Boston that December with 1,115 bales of cotton and 28 tons of scrap iron below deck. A gale drove her off course, and around 11 p.m. she went ashore near Miacomet.

On the beach, Eugene Clisby, a patrolman from the Surfside Life-Saving Station, caught her lights off Miacomet Rip and ran back to call all hands. The surf was breaking clean over the hull; only the masts showed, swaying against the dark. Capt. Veeder fired a line over the jib-stay, aimed well forward so it wouldn't strike anyone aboard, but the sailors were too numb with cold to work their way forward and make it fast. It took a second patrolman, Williams, waiting for a lull and running down into the wash to sling a hand line over the bow himself. The crew secured it, the lifesavers rigged a breeches buoy—a life ring fitted with canvas breeches, hung from a pulley that runs along a hawser from ship to shore—and one by one, Capt. Edwin L. Saunders and his seven men came off the wreck. All eight survived.

For the next two weeks, before the sea finished breaking her apart, islanders worked the wreck—unloading cotton, stripping spars and gear—while a steady stream of onlookers came out to watch. Wendell Macy, the New Bedford-born painter who summered on Nantucket and had a sharp eye for what would sell to its visitors, painted the scene at least seven times and hung one version in Congdon's Pharmacy on Main Street before shipping it to New Bedford for exhibition.

The schooner has been surfacing on her own schedule ever since. A cyclist found a section of what researchers believe is her lower bow in December 2022; two months later, a resident walking her dog came across a larger piece of the stern farther west, its heavy beams still studded with iron fastenings. Robinson, working with the Egan Maritime Institute and the Nantucket Historical Association, named the Warren Sawyer the likeliest match, though the team stopped short of complete certainty, citing a discrepancy in the fastening hardware on record and the number of other ships that broke up along the same shore. Egan Maritime has said the site tends to reveal itself about once every 20 years. This time, it took less than four. The next run of tides will likely cover her again—anyone heading out to look should view the timbers from the beach and leave them exactly where they lie.

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The Fourth falls on a Saturday this year, which settles the scheduling question that sometimes complicates the holiday, and it arrives with a more weighted date attached to it than usual: 2026 marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the island’s Fourth has been built, this year, to acknowledge it. The result is a day with slightly more ceremony than the usual sandy, sunburnt affair, though that ends by mid-morning and the rest of the day proceeds exactly as it always has: beach, barbecue, bunting, and a good ol’ fashioned fireworks show.

What follows is the day, in order.

Saturday, July 4

8:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Sustainable Nantucket Farmers Market — Cambridge Street (between Federal and South Water Streets)
Ed. Note: The better option, this particular morning, than fighting crowds for breakfast seating. A calmer half-hour than what follows.

8:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Food Trucks — Federal Street (between Main and India Streets)
Ed. Note: Running the same window as the farmers market, one block over.

9:00 AM: Reading of the Declaration of Independence — St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (20 Fair Street)
Ed. Note: Now in its 27th year, and celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary year. Unticketed, roughly fifteen minutes. Arrive a few minutes early; the pews fill.

10:00 – 10:30 AM: USA 250 Nantucket High School Drumline Parade — Main Street
Ed. Note: Position yourself along Main Street early. The crowd builds fast once the farmers market, the food trucks, and the parade route overlap.

10:00 – 10:30 AM: P.J. Moody Sings the National Anthem & Other Patriotic Music — Children’s Beach Bandstand (Harbor View Way)
Ed. Note: A reminder that Moody appears twice on this schedule — once here, once again at 12:15 PM.

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Matt Fee Tea Toss & Cornhole Tournament — Children’s Beach Bandstand (Harbor View Way)
Ed. Note: The unofficial start of the beach half of the day. Spectating is free; entering the cornhole bracket requires only nerve.

10:45 – 11:15 AM: Community Band Performance — Main Street
Ed. Note: The gentler counterpart to the drumline an hour earlier, and a reasonable excuse to linger downtown before the water starts flying.

10:45 – 11:30 AM: Magic Mark — Children’s Beach Bandstand (Harbor View Way)

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Annual Water Contest — Main Street
Ed. Note: The Fire Department’s water fight, a Nantucket tradition older than most of its spectators, pitting crews against each other and, inevitably, against the crowd. This year’s contest was briefly in doubt amid drought conditions before a donated water supply—trucked in from off-island, with no draw on the town’s own supply—kept the tradition intact. Dress accordingly; bystander status is not guaranteed.

11:45 AM – 12:15 PM: Kids Music & Movement with Cory Morgan — Children’s Beach Bandstand (Harbor View Way)

12:15 – 12:45 PM: PJ Moody, Live Music — Children’s Beach Bandstand (Harbor View Way)

Around 12:20 PM: Children’s Bicycle Parade — Children’s Beach Bandstand (Harbor View Way)
Ed. Note: Decorate accordingly, if traveling with the relevant demographic. Ribbon and a bit of red, white, and blue crepe paper go a long way.

1:00 – 5:00 PM: Family & Friends Patio Barbecue — Café 22 (22 Federal Street)
Ed. Note: Grilling and face painting, for the adult contingent that has aged out of the bandstand’s programming but not out of the day itself.

Afternoon: Surfside Beach and Cisco Beach
Ed. Note: Both well outside the day’s official programming, and the default for anyone who wants sand and serenity over sand and speakers.

5:00 PM: Children’s Field Day — Children’s Beach (Harbor View Way)
Ed. Note: Three-legged race, wheelbarrow race, sack race, tug-of-war. One of the few American holidays that still produces an unironic tug-of-war, and worth witnessing on those grounds alone.

9:00 PM: Fireworks — Jetties Beach (4 Bathing Beach Road)
Ed. Note: Shot from a barge just offshore, running roughly 25 to 27 minutes—long by the standard of most town displays, and reliably the best-attended single event on the island’s calendar. A blanket claimed by 7:00 PM buys considerably more comfort than one claimed at 8:45.

10:00 PM: Smallpools — The Muse (44 Surfside Road)
Ed. Note: The indie-pop band returns to Nantucket for what the venue is billing as an Independence Day party, at the 375-person room that has spent this summer punching well above its size. Ticketed, 21 and older.

Late: 7 Day Weekend — The Chicken Box (14 Dave Street)

Before You Go

NRTA’s Wave buses run a dedicated shuttle to Jetties Beach from in front of the Whaling Museum (13 Broad Street) starting at 6:00 PM, departing every ten to fifteen minutes, with return service running until 10:30 PM. Take it. Parking at Jetties on the Fourth is a known aggravation, and the shuttle removes the only genuinely stressful part of the evening.

For a fireworks view without the sand, the Dreamland’s second floor (17 S Water Street) runs live music and a full barbecue buffet with a distant, weather-permitting view of the display over Jetties Beach. A handful of harborfront operators also offer fireworks viewing by private charter, for parties who would rather watch from the water than the beach.

Independence Day events run all day Saturday, July 4, 2026 on Nantucket. Nearly all programming is free and open to the public. The reading of the Declaration of Independence takes place at St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 9:00 AM; fireworks begin at Jetties Beach at 9:00 PM.

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• Tombolo ‘Boston Whaler’ Raglan Terry Polo Shirt

• Steplane The Coskata Belt

• Garrett Leight Lachman Round Frame Acetate Sunglasses

• Quaker Marine Supply Co Linen Shirt

• Tombolo ‘Boston Whaler: Unsinkable Legend’ 5-Panel Souvenir Cap

• IWC Schaffhausen Aquatimer Automatic 42mm Stainless Steel Watch

• Murray’s Nantucket Reds® Men’s Plain Front Pants

• Long Wharf Supply Co Edgartown Seawell Quarter Zip

• Steplane The Nantucket Burgee

• Brunello Cucinelli Suede Boat Shoes

• Business & Pleasure Co. Hemingway Cooler Bench

• Beken of Cowes: the Art of Sailing 2nd Edition Book

• Yachts: The Impossible Collection Book

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*Little ACK Book may earn a commission on purchases made through our curated edits, at no additional cost to you.

The daffodil arrived on Nantucket before most of its admirers did. In 1974, a small group of island merchants decided that spring deserved a proper celebration—and that a few million yellow blooms along the roadsides, a parade of antique cars, and an excuse for a tailgate picnic constituted one. Fifty years later, Daffodil Festival remains one of the most genuinely pleasurable weekends on the island calendar: unhurried, slightly eccentric, and entirely its own thing. This year’s edition carries the weight of a milestone, which the island will wear, characteristically, with good humor.

Here is the weekend, laid out.

Friday, April 24

10:00 AM – 3:00 PM: Daffodil Bazaar — Dreamland Theater, Harborview Room (17 S Water Street)
Ed. Note: Local makers, artisans, and vendors, gathered upstairs at the Dreamland. The island’s answer to a spring market, and considerably more curated than what you’ll find at a generic craft fair. Worth the first hour of your morning.

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM: The Artists Association of Nantucket Spring Forward Opening (Cecelia Joyce & Seward Johnson Gallery at 8 Federal Street)

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM: NHA Flower Power Party — Whaling Museum (13 Broad Street)
Ed. Note: The Nantucket Historical Association’s annual Daffodil Weekend opener, presented in partnership with N Magazine and the Chamber. Heavy hors d’oeuvres, festive libations, a photo booth, and a prize for the best “blooming” outfit. Ticketed; 21 and older.

Saturday, April 25

9:30 AM: Antique Car Staging — Main Street
Ed. Note: The cars—pre-1980 models, draped in daffodils and driven by their owners—line up along Main Street for viewing before the parade steps off. This is arguably the best time to see them: unhurried, close, and not yet in motion. Walk the length of the staging area before the crowds thicken.

10:00 AM: Daffodil Hat Pageant — Children’s Beach Bandstand (Harbor View Way)
Ed. Note: The hat competition is one of the festival’s most earnest traditions. Entries range from tasteful to architectural. Spectating is free and encouraged.

10:35 AM: Children’s Bicycle Parade Staging — Children’s Beach Bandstand (Harbor View Way)
Ed. Note: Children decorate their bikes with daffodils and proceed from the bandstand. If you have children with you, bring a bike and flowers, and join in.

12:00 PM (Sharp): Antique Car Parade — Main Street, proceeding up Orange Street toward Siasconset
Ed. Note: The parade loops through downtown before heading out toward ‘Sconset via Milestone Road.

Shortly after 12:00 PM: Daffodil Dog Parade — Children’s Beach Bandstand (Harbor View Way)
Ed. Note: Dogs in daffodil costumes. There is no more efficient use of fifteen minutes.

2:00 PM – 5:00 PM: 50th Annual Daffodil Show — The Nantucket Inn (1 Miller Lane)
Ed. Note: The Nantucket Garden Club’s competitive flower show opens to the public Saturday afternoon. Fifty years of this show have produced some genuinely high standards—the arrangements in the more competitive categories tend toward the serious end of floristry. The amateur entries are, in their own way, equally interesting.

All afternoon: Tailgate Picnic — Milestone Road, en route to Siasconset
Ed. Note: The festival’s signature event, and the one most likely to surprise a first-time visitor. Cars park along the verge of Milestone Road after the parade, and their owners set up alongside them with tablecloths, china, real glassware, flowers, and food that reflects genuine preparation. The standard is competitive in the most enjoyable sense of the word. Foot traffic is welcome along the length of the road. A well-assembled tailgate—coordinated, seasonal, and properly stocked—will draw appreciative attention from neighbors. A blanket and a bottle of rosé will not.

Sunday, April 26

10:00 AM – 3:00 PM: 50th Annual Daffodil Show (Final Day) — The Nantucket Inn (1 Miller Lane)
Ed. Note: The show’s final hours, and often the least crowded window for viewing. The Garden Club’s arrangements peak in quality on the second day as entries settle into the space.

Before You Go

April on Nantucket runs to the low fifties, with wind off the water that carries real weight. For the tailgate, layers are essential: the afternoon will be colder than it appears from Main Street. Daffy yellow is not optional.

The 50th Annual Nantucket Daffodil Festival runs Thursday, April 23 through Sunday, April 26, 2026. Most Saturday events are free and open to the public. The NHA Flower Power Party is ticketed.

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From December 5 through 7, the cobblestoned streets of Nantucket are transformed into something of a Dickensian tableau during the island’s 51st Annual Christmas Stroll. Conceived in 1973 by a collective of savvy island merchants, the weekend event was originally founded to combat the pre-winter exodus, enticing islanders and mainlanders alike to stay, visit, and most importantly, shop locally. Today, this tradition draws thousands to support Nantucket’s cherished small businesses while enjoying the incomparable holiday ambiance of the historic district.

This year’s Stroll is chock-full of festivities—from shopping events and Santa sightings to live music and beyond—outlined below. Happy Strolling!

Friday, December 5

Ease into the weekend with local markets, festive tours, and the first toast of the season.

9:00 AM: Wreath Making Workshop
Bartlett’s Farm (33 Bartlett Farm Road)
*Ed. Note: Other sessions start at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM.

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM: Holiday Farmers & Artisans Market
Nantucket Yacht Club (1 South Beach Street)
*Ed. Note: Skip the generic gifts and head here first. It’s the perfect spot to grab local pottery, hand-knit goods, and island-made jewelry before the Saturday crowds descend.

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM: Whaling Museum Festival of Trees
Whaling Museum (13 Broad Street)
*Ed. Note: Opening day; runs through December. Dozens of locally designed trees set against the backdrop of the historic museum. It’s arguably the most Instagrammable spot of the weekend.

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Bubbles & Stroll Tasting
Épernay Wine & Spirits (1 N Beach Street)

4:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Holiday House Tour
Various Locations (Begins at 2 Centre Street)
*Ed. Note: A chance to step inside some of the island’s most stunning historic homes and churches, all dressed up for the holidays. Proceeds benefit Friends of Nantucket Public Schools.

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM: The Nantucket Ghost Walk
Various Locations (Begins at the corner of India and Federal Streets)

5:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Live Music on the Front Porch
The Nantucket Hotel (77 Easton Street)
*Ed. Note: Carolers, cocktails, and more.

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Christmas Concert
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (20 Fair Street)

7:00 PM - 10:00 PM: 5th Annual Nantucket Dreamland Stroll Party
Dreamland Nantucket (17 S Water Street)
*Ed Note: A ticketed event with a DJ performance by the Hess Twins.

7:00 PM - 10:00 PM: Deck the Wharf Bash
Maria Mitchell Association at Straight Wharf Fish (4 Harbor Square)

Saturday, December 6

The big day. Wear your festive best (yes, that means ugly sweaters, reindeer antlers, flashing bulb necklaces—Stroll knows no style shame!).

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM: Holiday Farmers & Artisans Market
Nantucket Yacht Club (1 South Beach Street)

9:30 AM: Christmas Stroll Auction
Rafael Osona (21 Washington Street)

9:30 AM – 3:00 PM: Christmas Market
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (20 Fair Street)

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM: St. Mary’s Cookout
St. Mary’s Church (3 Federal Street)

10:00 AM – 3:00 PM: 51st Annual Christmas Stroll Marketplace
Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce at the Stop & Shop Downtown Lot (9 Salem Street)
*Ed. Note: This is what Stroll is all about. Support local businesses!

10:00 AM - 5:30 PM: Book Signings
Mitchell’s Book Corner (54 Main Street)
*Ed. Note: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM with Alison Barone and Annabelle Meszynski, author and illustrator (respectively) of Nantucket Nelly and the Christmas Stroll; 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM with Leslie Linsley, author of Christmas on Nantucket; 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM with Pamela Kelley, author of Christmas at the Nantucket Restaurant; 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM with James Sulzer, author of All That Smolders; 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM with Nancy Thayer, author of Summer Light on Nantucket and A Very Nantucket Christmas; 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM with Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In The Heart of the Sea and Travels with George; 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM with Elin Hilderbrand, author of The Academy and Winter Street Series

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Holiday House Tour
Various Locations (Begins at 2 Centre Street)

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM: Yuletide Fair
Nantucket Lighthouse School at White Elephant Ballroom (19 N Water Street)

11:00 AM – 7:00 PM: Cisco Brewers
Cisco Brewers (Bartlett Farm Rd)
*Ed. Note: Take the shuttle from downtown. Live music, raw bar, and festive crowds.

12:00 PM (Sharp!): Santa’s Arrival by Boat
Straight Wharf
*Ed. Note: The Town Crier announces 10 minutes before the event. Santa arrives via Coast Guard cutter. Avoid the crowd at the dock; instead, watch from the gazebo area or stake out a spot on Main Street early to see him parade up to the Pacific National Bank.

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: The Talking Tree
Main Street
*Ed. Note: Pure nostalgia. The “Talking Tree” is a quirky island tradition that terrifies and delights children in equal measure.

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Accidentals & Naturals
Main Street
*Ed. Note: Nantucket High School’s chorus performs a selection of holiday songs.

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM: Ugly Sweater Contest
Main Street

4:15 PM – 5:00 PM: Victorian Carolers Sing-Along
Main Street

Sunday, December 7

The cherry on top of a weekend full of holiday cheer.

7:00 AM: Monument Running Group Annual Winter Run
Various Locations (Begins at Nantucket Run Centre, 36 Centre Street)

1:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Ornament Making
Maria Mitchell Association at the Hinchman House Natural Science Museum (7 Milk Street)

2:00 PM: The 12th Annual Nantucket Nutcracker
Nantucket High School Auditorium (10 Surfside Road)
*Ed. Note: Also at 5:00 PM. A shorter, family-friendly production by the Nantucket Dance Theater. A sweet way to end the weekend.

5:00 PM: A Christmas Story: The Play
Theatre Workshop of Nantucket (62 Centre Street)

And just like that, peak season is in our rearview and Thanksgiving is upon us. From the Cold Turkey Plunge to Main Street’s Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony and even restaurants open for Thanksgiving takeaway or dining in on the day, the holiday week’s events mark just the beginning of the merriment that’s to come. Your agenda for celebrating the holiday on Nantucket, below.

Wednesday, November 26

Turkey Karaoke!
The Gaslight, 3 N Union Street

Open restaurants: 45 Surfside Cafe, Bar Yoshi, Bartlett’s Farm, Billie’s, Black Eyed Susan’s, Brant Point Grill, Breeze at the Nantucket Hotel, Kitty Murtagh’s, Pip & Anchor, Pizzeria Gemelle, Proprietors, Sister Ship, Surfside Taco Stand, The Brotherhood, The Pearl, The Whale, Wicked Island Bakery

Thursday, November 27

Cold Turkey Plunge
Children’s Beach
9AM-10:30AM

Epernay Wine Tasting
Epernay Wine & Spirits, 1 N Beach Street
4PM-6PM

Open restaurants: Billie’s, Brant Point Grill, Breeze at the Nantucket Hotel, Company of the Cauldron (for takeaway), Oran Mor, Provisions, Sister Ship (1PM-6PM)

Friday, November 28

Sustainable Nantucket Holiday Farmers and Artisans Market
Cambridge Street & North Union Street
10AM-2PM

Christmas Tree Lighting and Community Caroling
Main Street
4PM

Sip, Shop, and Sea
Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, 158 Polpis Road
4PM-7PM

The Nantucket Ghost Walk
Main Street
7PM

Thanksgiving Eve Stargazing
Loines Observatory, 59 Milk Street Ext
7PM or 8PM

Buckle & Shake
Gaslight, 3 N Union Street

Open restaurants: 45 Surfside Cafe, B-ACK Yard BBQ, Bar Yoshi, Bartlett’s Farm, Billie’s, Black Eyed Susan’s, Brant Point Grill, Breeze at the Nantucket Hotel, Kitty Murtagh’s, Millie’s Mid-Island at the Rotary, Oran Mor, Pizzeria Gemelle, Proprietors, Provisions, Sister Ship, Surfside Taco Stand, The Brotherhood, The Corner Table, The Pearl, The Whale, Ventuno, Via Mare

Saturday, November 29

Nantucket Bird Walk
Maria Mitchell Association Research Center, 2 Vestal Street
7:45AM-10AM

Sustainable Nantucket Holiday Farmers and Artisans Market
Cambridge Street & North Union Street
10AM-2PM

Fabulous Mansions of the Cliff and Brant Point
Federal Street & India Street
10AM

Morning Exercise Walk With Historic Commentary
Federal Street & India Street
10AM

Chris Matthews Book Signing
Mitchell’s Book Corner, 54 Main Street
10:30AM-12PM

Nanpuppets
The Gaslight, 3 Union Street
2:30PM-5PM

Open restaurants: 45 Surfside Cafe, B-ACK Yard BBQ, Bar Yoshi, Bartlett’s Farm, Billie’s, Black Eyed Susan’s, Brant Point Grill, Breeze at the Nantucket Hotel, Kitty Murtagh’s, Millie’s Mid-Island at the Rotary, Oran Mor, Pip & Anchor, Pizzeria Gemelle, Proprietors, Provisions, Sister Ship, Surfside Taco Stand, The Brotherhood, The Pearl, The Whale, Ventuno, Via Mare, Wicked Island Bakery

Sunday, November 30

Open restaurants: 45 Surfside Cafe, B-ACK Yard BBQ, Bar Yoshi, Bartlett’s Farm, Black Eyed Susan’s, Brant Point Grill, Breeze at the Nantucket Hotel, Kitty Murtagh’s, Millie’s Mid-Island at the Rotary, Oran Mor, Pip & Anchor, Pizzeria Gemelle, Provisions, Surfside Taco Stand, The Brotherhood, The Whale, Ventuno, Via Mare, Wicked Island Bakery

Fifty years ago this summer, a film changed moviemaking as we know it. Behind an unassuming single-word title, Jaws not only terrified moviegoers around the globe, it also invented the summer blockbuster, forever altering how Hollywood makes and markets its biggest hits. Now, a new documentary, Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Story (premiering on National Geo…

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Stepping into The Vault Nantucket is like entering another world: a globally-influenced, gem-filled world where color is queen, better known as Katherine Jetter’s world. As the founder of the jewel box of a boutique on Centre Street and jewelry designer herself, Jetter brings a curation of couture design to the island, sharing her passion for exquisite …

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For over five decades, Nantucket Looms has stood as a Main Street mainstay, woven into the fabric of the island’s cultural identity. Known for its luxe handwoven textiles, thoughtfully curated home décor, and personalized interior design services, the beloved institution is now turning a new page—literally—with the release of its first-ever book, Nantucket Looms: A Legacy of Style (Rizzoli). This richly crafted volume offers an intimate look at the store’s origins, community impact, and the notable figures who have helped shape its enduring legacy.

The story of Nantucket Looms began in the early 1960s, when island residents Bill Euler and Andrew Oates crossed paths with Walter Beinecke, the visionary responsible for reshaping Nantucket into a world-class destination. Back then, the island was far from the picture-perfect postcard it is today. Its wharves were gritty, and its colonial charm had faded. But Beinecke’s plan to restore Nantucket’s historic beauty laid the groundwork for what would become a new era—and the birth of Nantucket Looms.

Inspired by this revival, Euler and Oates purchased The Cloth Company in 1968, an initiative founded by the Nantucket Historical Trust to create reproduction textiles for historic renovations like the Jared Coffin House. When the Trust’s projects wound down, the duo transformed the company into a retail store and weaving studio—marking the official founding of Nantucket Looms as we know it.

As the business grew, so too did its offerings. After Euler and Oates retired, the baton was passed to their successor, current co-owner and president Bess Clarke’s mother, Liz Winship, who expanded the store’s offerings to include furniture, home décor, and even personalized interior design in the 1990s. As clients increasingly sought advice on arranging their spaces, Clarke explained, it made sense to formalize it. Located on the store’s upper floor, the design studio invites customers to explore the materials and designs, offering a tactile, immersive experience.

From inception, Nantucket Looms has been deeply integrated and committed to the island’s local community. “One of the big pillars of our business has always been to employ a year-round workforce,” says Clarke. “Even when it didn’t make financial sense, [Bill and Andy] honored that commitment.” Unlike many seasonal shops, Nantucket Looms chose to keep its doors open and its payroll running through the off-season—offering health insurance and full benefits to its employees, a practice that continues to this day.

Further, Nantucket Looms supports local artists through a traditional consignment relationship. “It’s this wonderful, old-school system. Seeing them walk in with their paintings, jewelry, textiles—it’s one of the most charming parts of the business,” says Clarke. “The better our business does, the better it is for the artists. And that’s something that makes me really proud.”

The allure of Nantucket Looms hasn’t gone unnoticed. Over the years, the shop has quietly built a clientele as storied as its legacy. Its new book offers glimpses into some of these memorable relationships—from legendary interior designers like Billy Baldwin to style icons such as Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Bunny Mellon.

“We still have [Jackie Kennedy’s] handwritten letters,” Clarke says, recalling the First Lady’s endearing notes, inquiring about gifts for her son or even sweater exchanges. “She had this beautiful stationery, but she would scratch out half the letter and not even start a new letter—it was just really funny.” One such letter is currently framed in the store’s weaving studio.

“Over the years, we’ve had everyone from Lady Bird Johnson and Hillary Clinton (lots of First Ladies would come in and visit the weaving studio) to Tom Selleck (who my mom wrapped her arms around to measure for a shirt jacket and was like ‘Oh my gosh,’ for about ten years after),” says Clarke, who also recalls a visit from American actress Grace Kelly. “There’s a story about Grace Kelly coming into the shop wearing a turban, eating an ice cream cone—which, of course, was not allowed in the store. But what do you say to Grace Kelly?”

Now, with its new book—featuring writing by Linda Jane Holden (author of Rizzoli’s The Gardens of Bunny Mellon) and Mitchell Owens (editor-in-chief of The Magazine Antiques), and photography by Matt Kisiday—Nantucket Looms: A Legacy of Style invites readers into its home of history, community, and craftsmanship—with a few celebrity anecdotes along the way. “My mom was such an incredible oral historian. You’d walk into the shop, and she’d share these great stories, little tidbits about the island, about the artists. But now she’s not in the store anymore, and I didn’t want that history to be lost. I wanted to capture it, pass it on, and share the lessons we learned from Bill, Andy, Liz, and all the people who have shaped this place over the last 50+ years.”

(Photos courtesy of Nantucket Looms)

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