Between the Wars

The 1920s may have been roaring in some cities, but the only things that roared in 'Sconset were the surf and the two buses—Folger's Line and the 'Sconset Bus Line—that brought passengers to the village in the summer. Tea rooms and curio shops sprang up, and 'Sconset became a family destination for seasonal residents who owned large houses on the bluff or rented cottages for the summer and ate their meals at simple and affordable family restaurants.

The year-round community in 'Sconset was well established in houses on New Street and King Street and in Codfish Park, where locals had turned fishing shacks into homes, much as their predecessors at the top of the bank had done two centuries earlier. Like year-round residents in town, many 'Sconseters pieced together a frugal existence, catering to the needs of the summer crowd and patching together an assortment of occupations the rest of the year. The one-room schoolhouse on School Street, built in 1916, served the children of the year-round community for their primary education; older students were bused to town to attend the Academy Hill School.

The list of real estate taxpayers in Siasconset in 1922 shows that 311 people owned property in the village, some of them with multiple parcels, like Evelyn Underhill (Pochick, Lily, and Evelyn Streets), who owned twenty-one dwellings; Frederick Howe (Tavern on the Moors), who owned six dwellings and a tea room; and Richard E. Burgess (Evergreen Park), owner often cottages and a dining room. In the era before electricity and running water, 'Sconset featured twelve windmills for pumping water, five "water plants," and four "lighting plants." Stores, markets, shops, unspecified outbuildings, garages, stables, two bathhouses, two clubhouses, and a hotel completed the village picture.

The Sankaty Golf Club was organized by David Gray and friends in the early 1920s, and the clubhouse— designed by 'Sconset's own architect, summer resident Frederick P. Hill—was completed in 1922. The Casino's Hall of Amusement was remodeled the next year by Hill, through the generous funding of David Gray and his wife, Martha, who spearheaded that project. Electricity and running water became available to the village in the mid-1920s, automobiles were increasingly common, and 'Sconset was settling into the twentieth century. In honor of the many contributions the Grays made to the village, a memorial to them was erected in Post Office Square in 1929.

The 1930s was an era of international economic depression, bringing hardship to islanders who were often unable to collect money owed them by wealthy summer residents, also hard hit financially. An octogenarian Nantucket luminary remembers that her father, a plumber, was often not paid for his services when he turned off the water in summer homes in 'Sconset, but he managed to collect when it was time to turn the water on again in June. She remembers that Isaac Hills, the proprietor of the 'Sconset Cottage Club, at the site of the later Moby Dick cottages, put all of his bills in a hat and drew out one or two to pay each month. Business languished and recreational travel suffered, but the Casino remained open, and the shows went on.

Sankaty Head Golf Club Sign
1930s
A28-21a

David Gray
1928
Scan gift of David Kuratec
SC707

A digital exhibition by the Nantucket Historical Association