'Sconset Pump

Although there were not many dwellings in ’Sconset in the 1770s, there was a general demand for drinking water — for the fishermen who lived there seasonally, the horses that brought them from town to the shore, and the cattle that were fattened there. The south well mentioned in the 1758 Proprietors division must have failed, or provided insufficient measure. In 1776, a group of 160 men pooled their resources to fund a well at ’Sconset, an astonishing number considering the size of the village. The list includes some of the wealthiest and most prominent men of the island: Caleb Macy, Barker Burnell, Richard Mitchell, and William Rotch, whose seventeen-shilling contribution was the highest paid. Most men contributed one or two shillings to the cause. It seems that everyone had some sort of stake in ’Sconset — either fishing seasonally or owning cattle, or interested only in leisurely entertainment far from the main town. Pump Square, the site of the well just south of the junction of New and Shell Streets, became the meeting place of the village.

Read more about the 'Sconset pump

Illustration: List of subscribers to the Siasconset Well, 1776
Collection of the Nantucket Atheneum

A digital exhibition by the Nantucket Historical Association