 | |
| Location | Nantucket |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°16′45″N70°05′42″W / 41.2791°N 70.0950°W Coordinates: 41°16′45″N70°05′42″W / 41.2791°N 70.0950°W |
| Type | Museum |
| Website | http://www.nantucketlightshipbasketmuseum.org/ |
The Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum is a small seasonal museum and gift shop located in Nantucket, Massachusetts, dedicated to the history and preservation of Nantucket Lightship Baskets.
The museum is located at 49 Union Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts. It was founded shortly after the Nantucket Historical Association by David H. Wood. [1] It is concerned with preserving and exploring artifacts from the whaling era and before, even as far back as the Native American settlements on Nantucket before the 15th century.
The museum contains many exhibits on lightship basket construction, history, and preservation. [1] The facility also includes a museum gift shop.
Nantucket is an island about 30 miles (50 km) south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is the only such consolidated town-county in Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,255, making it the least populated county in Massachusetts. Part of the town is designated the Nantucket CDP, or census-designated place. The region of Surfside on Nantucket is the southernmost settlement in Massachusetts.
A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the first modern lightvessel was off the Nore sandbank at the mouth of the River Thames in England, placed there by its inventor Robert Hamblin in 1734. The type has become largely obsolete; lighthouses replaced some stations as the construction techniques for lighthouses advanced, while large, automated buoys replaced others.
Osterville is one of seven villages within the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. The village of Osterville is located on the south side of Barnstable on Nantucket Sound. Osterville is a residential community that includes marshes, bays, ponds, a small lake, beaches, and a small business district. Notably, the village is home to the Crosby Yacht Yard. The Crosbys are America's oldest, currently active, wooden boat-building family.
The station named Nantucket or Nantucket Shoals was served by a number of lightvessels that marked the hazardous Nantucket Shoals south of Nantucket Island. The vessels, given numbers as their "name," had the station name painted on their hulls when assigned to the station. Several ships have been assigned to the Nantucket Shoals lightship station and have been called Nantucket. It was common for a lightship to be reassigned and then have the new station name painted on the hull. The Nantucket station was a significant US lightship station for transatlantic voyages. Established in 1854, the station marked the limits of the dangerous Nantucket Shoals. She was the last lightship seen by vessels departing the United States, as well as the first beacon seen on approach. The position was 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Nantucket Island, the farthest lightship in North America, and experienced clockwise rotary tidal currents.
Lightship Ambrose was the name given to multiple lightships that served as the sentinel beacon marking Ambrose Channel, New York Harbor's main shipping channel.
Great Point Light, officially Nantucket Light, is a lighthouse located on the northernmost point of Nantucket Island. First built in 1784, the original wooden tower was destroyed by fire in 1816. The following year a stone tower was erected which stood until toppled in a storm in March 1984. Rebuilt again in 1986, the stone tower was built to replicate the old one, and still remains in operation today. Modern additions include solar panels to recharge the light's batteries, and a sheet pile foundation and 5-foot (1.5 m) thick concrete mat to help withstand erosion.
United States Lightship 101, now known as Portsmouth as a museum ship, was first stationed at Cape Charles, Virginia. Today she is at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum in Portsmouth, Virginia. Portsmouth never had a lightship station; however, when the vessel was dry docked there as a museum, she took on the pseudonym Portsmouth. A National Historic Landmark, she is one of a small number of surviving lightships.
Nantucket is an island, town and county in Massachusetts.
United States lightship Nantucket (LV-112) is a National Historic Landmark lightship that served at the Lightship Nantucket position. She was the last serving lightship and at time of its application as a landmark, one of only two capable of moving under their own power. She served as the lightship for such notable vessels as the liners United States, Queen Mary, and Normandie.
Massachusetts Bay Trading Co, Inc., is an online retailer headquartered in Weston, Massachusetts, selling products worldwide. It is an American electronic commerce company selling handmade gifts and general products that are made in Massachusetts. The company was established in 2002. The Massachusetts Bay Trading Company has been featured in multiple publications and television segments including the Boston Globe on April 6, 2007, Opray Winfrey's O at Home magazine Winter 2006, Gourmet Magazine Winter 2006 gift guide, InStyle Magazine Fall 2007, and NECN.
The Nantucket Lightship LV58 was a lightvessel of the United States Lighthouse Board from 1894 to 1905. During those years, she primarily served the coast of Fire Island in New York and the Nantucket Shoals, though she was a relief vessel and served as needed in other locations off the northeast coast as well. From 1898 to her sinking in 1905, she was occasionally used as a lighthouse tender.
LV-117 was a lightvessel of the United States Lighthouse Service. Launched in 1931, she operated as the Nantucket lightship south of Nantucket Shoals. Moored south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, the lightship was at the western part of the transatlantic shipping lane and the first lightship encountered by westbound liners approaching New York Harbor. On May 15, 1934, one of these liners, RMS Olympic, rammed and sank LV-117, killing seven of her crew.
The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization on the island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts. The association owns the Maria Mitchell Observatory, a second observatory, a Natural History Museum, the Maria Mitchell Aquarium at Nantucket Harbor, a history museum that is the birthplace of Maria Mitchell, and a Science Library. Staff members of the Maria Mitchell Association conduct research into topics as varied as astrophysics and the American burying beetle, amongst other scientific topics. The properties offer a variety of science and history-related programming and are on the National Register of Historic Places, along with the rest of the island.
The United States lightship Barnegat (LV-79/WAL-506), is located in Camden, Camden County, New Jersey, United States. The lightship was built in 1904 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 29 November 1979.
The United States Lightship WLV-613 was a lightvessel commissioned in 1952 that became the last lightship to mark the Ambrose Channel. She was replaced by a Texas Tower lightstation on 24 August 1967.
William Brownell Golden is an American attorney and politician who represented the Norfolk and Plymouth district in the Massachusetts Senate from 1985 to 1991. He was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1990, but lost in the Democratic primary to Marjorie Clapprood.
Nantucket Lightship Baskets are a type of basket originating, in the 19th century on Nantucket Island lightships. Lightship baskets are all made from rattan and wood, have an odd number of staves, a solid wooden base, a nailed and lashed rim, a rattan weaver, and are woven over a mould. Oak, pine, and ash are the most traditional type of wood used on baskets, but today many other types are utilized, such as cherry and ebony. Often modern Lightship Baskets incorporate multiple types of wood.
The following is a timeline of the history of Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA.
The Nantucket Lightship or United States Lightship WLV-612 is a lightvessel commissioned in 1950 that became the last lightship decommissioned in United States Coast Guard service.