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Nantucket Harbor

English settlement of Nantucket began in 1659 when the island was purchased for £30 and two beaver hats (one for the purchaser, Tristram Coffin, and one for his wife). It's harbor and location near a whale fishery lead it to become the dominant force in whaling; Herman Melville commented in Moby Dick, "Two thirds of this terraqueous globe are the Nantucketer's. For the sea is his; he owns it, as Emperors own empires." Both Ahab and Starbuck were Nantucketers.

 

Today Nantucket's harbor greets throngs of summer residents and tourists

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Uploaded on July 3, 2012
Taken on June 26, 2012