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Siasconset is a
The area was settled as a fishing village in the 17th century. The core of
Timeline and digital exhibition
census designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
(CDP) at the eastern end of Nantucket Island
Nantucket () is an island about 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 Massachuse ...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, United States with an elevation of 52 feet (16 m), and a population of 205 at the 2010 census. Although unincorporated, the village has a post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
, with the ZIP code 02564.
The various spellings of its name, Sconset, Sconset, Seconset, Siasconsett, or Sweseckechi led the Board on Geographic Names
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...
to designate its official spelling in 1892.
Three of the four golf courses located on the island are in Siasconset: the Siasconset Golf Club
Siasconset Golf Club, also known as the Siasconset Golf Course and commonly shortened to the Sconset Golf Course, is one of the easternmost golf courses in Massachusetts, perched on the edge of Nantucket Island in Siasconset, Massachusetts. This ...
, the Sankaty Head Golf Club
Sankaty Head Golf Club is one of the easternmost golf courses in Massachusetts, perched on the edge of Nantucket Island in Siasconset, Massachusetts. The course was designed by Emerson Armstrong and opened in 1923. It is an 18-hole course. It is o ...
, and the Nantucket Golf Club.
History
The area was settled as a fishing village in the 17th century. The core of Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" (: note "s" rather than "z") is a popular song, particularly in the English-speaking world. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. By extension, it is also often ...
, one of the older fishing shacks, is believed to date from the 1670s, potentially making it one of the oldest houses on Nantucket. Various other cottages date from the 18th and 19th centuries. Many of the houses were haphazardly expanded, contributing to the unique look of these Nantucket cottages.
In the 19th century a whaling station was present in the village. In 1877 Edward Underhill from Wolcott, New York, bought land in the village, and constructed new cottages in the fashion of the original fishing shacks, and then rented them to summer tourists before they were sold after his death.
In the early 20th century, Sconset was a summer retreat for an actor's colony which included Digby Bell
Digby Bell (born Digby Valentine Bell; November 8, 1849 – June 20, 1917) was a popular vaudeville entertainer and Broadway performer at the beginning of the 20th century.
Early life
Bell was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 8, 1849.
...
, George Fawcett
George Fawcett (August 25, 1860 – June 6, 1939) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era.
Biography
Born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1860, Fawcett graduated from the University of Virginia. His initial inclination was to ...
, Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson III, commonly known as Joe Jefferson (February 20, 1829 – April 23, 1905), was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedia ...
, Charles Penrose, Hassard Short
Hubert Edward Hassard Short (15 October 1877 – 9 October 1956), usually known as Hassard Short, was an actor, stage director, set designer and lighting designer in musical theatre Kenrick, JohnWho's Who in Musicals: Short, HassardMusicals101.co ...
, William H. Thompson and his wife Isabel Irving
Isabel Irving (February 28, 1871 –September 1, 1944) was an American stage actress.
Irving made her London debut at the Lyceum Theatre in 1890 as Daisy in ''Nancy and Company''.
In 1894, she signed a three-year contract with the manager o ...
, DeWolf Hopper
William DeWolf Hopper (March 30, 1858September 23, 1935) was an American actor, singer, comedian, and theatrical producer. A star of vaudeville and musical theater, he became best known for performing the popular baseball poem "Casey at the Bat". ...
, Frank Gillmore
Frank Parker Gillmore (May 14, 1867 – March 29, 1943) was an American playwright and a stage and early film actor. He was a founder and former President of Actor's Equity.
He was born in New York City to John Parker Gillmore and his actre ...
and his daughters Ruth
Ruth (or its variants) may refer to:
Places
France
* Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France
Switzerland
* Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny
United States
* Ruth, Alabama
* Ruth, Ar ...
and Margalo Gillmore
Margaret Lorraine "Margalo" Gillmore (31 May 1897 – 30 June 1986) was an English-born American actress who had a long career as a stage actress on Broadway. She also appeared in films and TV series, mostly in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Family ...
, among others.
Bill Belichick
William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...
, coach of the New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team, has lived in Siasconset in the NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
off-season since 1979 and owns several properties in the town with a combined value of over $10 million.
In recent years, the exposed bluffs of the village have experienced significant erosion. A local remediation program using geotubes has proven controversial.
Etymology
Siasconset is aWampanoag
The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 17 ...
Algonquian term for “place of great bones.” Si from missi, meaning “great;” ascon from askon, meaning “horn or bone”.
External links
Timeline and digital exhibition
References
{{authority control Villages in Nantucket, Massachusetts Villages in Massachusetts