Siasconset

History

The area was settled as a fishing village in the 17th century. The core of Auld Lang Syne, one of the older fishing shacks, is believed to date from the 1670s, potentially making it one of the oldest houses on Nantucket. Various other cottages date from the 18th and 19th centuries. Many of the houses were haphazardly expanded, contributing to the unique look of these Nantucket cottages. In the 19th century a whaling station was present in the village. In 1877 Edward Underhill from Wolcott, New York, bought land in the village, and constructed new cottages in the fashion of the original fishing shacks, and then rented them to summer tourists before they were sold after his death. In the early 20th century, Sconset was a summer retreat for an actor's colony which included Digby Bell, George Fawcett, Joseph Jefferson, Charles Penrose, Hassard Short, William H. Thompson and his wife Isabel Irving, DeWolf Hopper, Frank Gillmore and his daughters Ruth and Margalo Gillmore, among others. Bill Belichick, former coach of the New England Patriots football team, has lived in Siasconset in the NFL off-season since 1979 and owns several properties in the town with a combined value of over $10 million. In recent years, the exposed bluffs of the village have experienced significant erosion. A local remediation program using geotubes has proven controversial.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American herring gull, Smithsonian Gull

  Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 · Aves
  9,908
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  9,311
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  8,970
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  7,890
• Great Black-backed Gull

  Larus marinus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,788
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  6,020
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,906
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,830

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.5 — 2005-11-17
  4 km S of Plymouth, Massachusetts
• M 3 — 2002-03-12
  52 km E of Chatham, Massachusetts