Timeline:
to 1820
- 1650s Wanackmamack sachem of southeast quarter of Nantucket, Pedee village near Sesachacha Pond
- 1676 According to lore, fishing and whaling stages established in Sesachacha and Siasconset
- 1755 “Siasconset Roots,” an indigenous Jerusalem artichoke, planted in swampy lands near Low Beach Road
- 1758 Proprietors lay out twenty-seven shares on Siasconset Bank
- 1775 Plot plan in Proprietors Book shows early fishing (and whaling) village with eight houses and lookout tower
- 1776 Money raised to establish Siasconset well
- 1782 Crèvecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer
- 1797 David Augustus Leonard poem and engraving, The Laws of Siasconset
- 1800 Deed for fish house
- 1801 Josiah Quincy describes thirty houses in three rows in seasonal fishing village
- 1807 Rev. James Freeman reports forty-two houses
- 1809 Obed Macy’s plan shows village, Tom Nevers Pond, and Low Beach
- 1811 Joseph Sansom records four rows of houses, three broad lanes, and thirty boats
- 1814 Plainfield map shows fishing villages of Siasconset and Sesachacha
- 1816 Nantucket Gazette, island’s first newspaper, prints ads for Siasconset houses
A digital exhibition by the Nantucket Historical Association