Guide to Historical Records and Genealogical Resources of Nantucket, Massachusetts
Registry of Deeds
Town
Building, 16 Broad Street, first floor
508/228-7250; Fax: 508/325-5331
Hours: for research: Monday-Friday, 8-4 (except
holidays)
Fees: Photocopies are $.50 per page. Facilities
exist for reproducing oversized documents and charges
for these copies range from $2.00 to $3.00, depending
on use.
History
The government of Nantucket consists of the town
of Nantucket and the county of Nantucket, both of
which encompass the entire island. The registry
of deeds is an office of the County of Nantucket,
where all transactions having to do with land on
the island are recorded. These transactions include
deeds, mortgages, discharges of the island are recorded.
These transactions include deeds, mortgages, discharges
of mortgages, attachments, land plans, easements,
liens, land takings, special permits, variances,
orders of conditions, and certificates of compliance.
In order to search the records, which extend back
to 1659, a researcher needs to know either the current
property address or a deed reference name. Starting
with that current information, it is then possible
to work backwards in time to identify, for example,
all the owners of a particular parcel of land. The
records are filed in one of two classes: recorded
records and land-court records. Certain parcels
of land that have been processed through the land
court in Boston are recorded in the land court records;
all other are filed in the recorded records. Records
at the registry of deeds provide valuable information
for persons researching the history of a house or
building, or who are attempting to determine when
a structure was built upon a plot of land.
Records
Recorded instruments span the years from 1659 to
the present. Land-court instruments span the years
from 1911 to the present.