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Nantucket Historical Association, March 14–June 7, 2009 In the 1840s, Nantucket and Sag Harbor vied for the honor of hosting New England’s second largest whaling fleet—trailing New Bedford, a latecomer to the fishery. Sag Harbor sailors went to school aboard Nantucket whaleships soon after the American Revolution, learning the business of deep sea whaling. This was only fair, since Nantucket took some lessons in shore whaling from Long Island Puritans a century earlier, in the late 1600s. The ports share common histories, up to the present. Sag Harbor and Nantucket were boomtowns in the first half of the 19th century, pursuing a global trade in whale oil. Both island economies went belly up in the 1850s, once petroleum was discovered in Pennsylvania. Both turned to summer tourism, preserving the architectural record of their early affluence in amber, despite devastating fires. Sag Harbor became a factory town; for a century, until 1981, it manufactured watchcases. During the nation’s recent housing boom, both resorts faced unprecedented development, stressing their landmark preservation laws. The business of economic speculation came home at last, and historic buildings were the chief commodity. The photographs and texts in this exhibition are drawn from Stephen Longmire’s book Keeping Time in Sag Harbor, which marked the 300th anniversary of the New York port in 2007. View an interview with Stephen Longmire on PlumTV Read about the exhibition in The Inquirer & Mirror Buy the book, Keeping Time in Sag Harbor, at our museum shop Enter the photographic gallery Read an artist statement by Longmire, University of Chicago Press
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