George Gardner House, 8 Pine Street, Nantucket

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS MASS,10-NANT,21-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

8 Pine Street (on east side of Pine Street, on the corner of Gardners Lane) , Nantucket, Massachusetts Margaret P. Yates Eugene A. Yates) Yates Seasonal residence The house is one of the few eighteenth century gambrel roof dwellings on Nantucket and has re- tained much of its original appearance. HABS No. MASS-858 HASS PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Original and subsequent owners: George Gardner, son of Captain John Gardner, died in by will leaving his house to his son, Grafton. (Abstract, Lands and Land Owners by Worth).

Grafton's son, George, owned it in he was a Justice of the "Inferior" Court as well as a mariner, and died in when"something fell from the mast and struck his head," In Paul Pinkham, a tailor, bought from the heirs of George Gardner the "west end of the Fish Lot Share which was formerly owned by Grafton Gardner." The property passed from Paul Pinkham to his son, Paul Pinkham Jr. , who in sold it to Christopher Bunker , mariner. Bunker sold it in to Elizabeth Black, "trader," for John Folger, house carpenter , inherited the house from Elizabeth Black in and held it until his death , when in his grandsons , Laban A. and Thurston Swain sold it to Phebe M. Swain. A few months later Phebe M. Swain and her husband, Joseph B. Swain, sold it to Mary F. Austin, wife of James Austin.

In the heirs of James Austin sold the property to Sarah Lawrence, from whom it passed to her son , Augustine L. Lawrence. In October, Beatrice Lawrence, individually and as guardian of Augustine L. Lawrence, sold the house and land to Margaret P. Yates, owner to date. (Abstract, Nantucket Registry of Deeds Records) GEORGE GARDNER HOUSE HABS No. MASS-858(Page 2) 2. Date of erection: About (Records Registry of Deeds , Nantucket) Nantucket historians have stated that Jethro Gardner built his house in but this has not been substantiated, nor have any records been found to definitely connect Jethro with this branch of the Gardner family. On the plan of original layouts on the Harbor of Nantucket, Mass.

(Registry of Deeds) Jethro Gardner is shown as owning section I , which is land near the corner of Main and Pine Streets and about a block from this house at 8 Pine Street. On the same plan George Gardner is shown as owner of Fish Lot Share 24, at approximately the location of this property. 3. Architect: Unknown. 4. Original plans, construction, etc. : None known. The chief interesting features in the house are the paneling and the kitchen. A tiny fireplace, scarcely two feet across , was used by the family in spring and fall. [Abstract, S crapbooks of Miss Grace Brown Gardner (microfilm copy in Nantucket Atheneum)] 5. Alterations and additions: The "Pine Room" in the rear was was once a shed and still retains some of the small win- dows.

The large fireplace in that room was restored with narrow English bricks which presumably became vari-colored enroute as ballast, (Abstract, Scrapbooks of Miss Grace Brown Gardner). Chimney added at south end in during remodeling and restoration work. B. Historical Events Connected with the Structure: This house on the corner of Pine Street and Gardners Lane was at one time the home of Alexander Gardner, first officer of the whaleship, Awashonks . While at anchor off Baring's Island in the Marshall Group, in the ship's company was attacked by natives and Gardner was killed, together with Captain Obed Swain and three other Nantucket men, and the ship barely saved from the treacherous natives.

During Nantucket's early history the end of the road on which the house is situated, now Pine Street, was called Hayscale Lane, and marked the western division line of the Fish Lot Shares. Tradition asserts that a platform was placed in the roadway at its most narrow width and that farmers coming into town would weigh their hay there, as well as check on loads of grain being carted from the wharves. (Abstract, Rambling Through The Streets and Lanes of Nantucket by Edouard A. Stackpole) George Gardner, first owner of the house, married Eunice, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Starbuck, who lived in the house next door on the south known as "Parliament House." It was there that the Nantucket Monthly Meeting of Friends was launched under the leadership of Mary Starbuck.

(Abstract, Records Nantucket Historical Association) GEORGE GARDNER HOUSE HABS No. MASS-858(Page 3) Sources of Information: 1. Old views: Print of drawing showing part of house and Gardners Lane in Nantucket, the Far-Away Island by William Oliver Stevens, New York, Dodd and Mead and Co., p. 72; photograph c, before south chimney added in Ninety-Five Percent Perfect by Everett Uberto Crosby , Nantucket, Inquirer and Mirror Press, Prepared by Marie M. Coffin Nantucket, Massachusetts February, PART II. PROJECT INFORMATION These records were prepared for the Historic American Buildings Survey project on Nantucket, Massachusetts.

They are part of a continuing HABS comprehensive survey of the early architecture and urban design of Nantucket financed by a grant from the Nantucket Historical Trust. The project was under the general supervision of James C. Massey , Chief of the Historic American Buildings Survey. Historical information was provided by Marie M. Coffin of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Photographs are by Cervin Robinson of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The material was edited for deposit in the Library of Congress by Constance Werner Ramirez, July