Whaling Museum Review

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Whaling Museum

  • Address: 13-15 Broad St., Nantucket Town, MA | Map It
  • Phone: 508/228-1894

Fodor's Review:

Immersing you in Nantucket's whaling past with exhibits that include a fully rigged whaleboat and a skeleton of a 46-foot sperm whale, the Whaling Museum—a complex that includes a restored 1846 spermaceti candle factory—is a must-see. The museum received a $14 million expansion and refurbishment in 2005. Items on view in the handsome galleries include harpoons and other whale-hunting implements; portraits of whaling captains and their wives (a few of whom went whaling as well); the South Seas curiosities they brought home; a large collection of sailors' crafts, a full-size tryworks once used to process whale oil aboard ship; and the original 16-foot-high 1850 lens from Sankaty Head Lighthouse. The Children's Discovery Room provides interactive-learning opportunities. Be sure to climb—or take the elevator—up to the observation deck for a view of the harbor.

  • Cost: $15 or NHA Combination Pass
  • Open: Jan.-mid-Apr., Fri.-Sun. 11-4; mid-Apr.-mid-May and mid-Oct.-mid-Dec., Thurs.-Mon. 11-4; mid-May-mid-Oct., Mon.-Wed., Fri.-Sun. 10-5, Thurs. 10-8
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