The NHA welcomes all students and teachers! Explore our list of tour options designed to engage with and illuminate Nantucket’s history.
We are happy to customize your tour group visit to meet your curriculum and your students’ needs.
Learn more and book your school group tour by contacting [email protected]
School Group Offerings:
Whaling Museum Tour
On this hour-long guided tour of the Whaling Museum, walk through our galleries which cover themes including: island people, whaling voyages, the processing of oil, and scrimshaw and decorative arts and more. Together, these exhibits tell a broader story of the various industries that have sustained Nantucket, what life has been like on the island over time, and the materials that have preserved that history. Walking through with a Museum Guide, important objects will be highlighted, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions as you move through the museum space.
Gallery Tours
Join us for a guided tour of a gallery of your choice. The galleries focus on a range of different subjects, from Island People to Scrimshaw and Whaling. This tour will allow you to focus on a specific theme within Nantucket’s history. A Museum Guide will highlight artifacts in that gallery that are indicative of themes of the gallery and discuss the history of the subject matter within the broader context of Nantucket history.
Historic Sites Tour
Visit one of the Nantucket Historical Association’s historic sites for a guided tour. Each site offers deeper insight into the bigger themes of Nantucket history through their own histories. Museum Guides at the site will walk you through the property and highlight specific features of the building, bringing them to life with stories of previous visitors or occupants. Our historic sites include the Oldest House, Greater Light, the Old Mill, and the Old Jail.
Historic Downtown Walking Tour
Learn about the history of Nantucket Island, its two key industries: whaling and tourism, and its social dynamics and movements all while immersing yourself in the historic downtown area. Over the course of an hour, this tour visits significant buildings and sites in town that represent the broader themes of Nantucket history. This tour begins at the Whaling Museum and concludes at the Friends’ Meeting House on Fair Street.
Historic Homes and Architecture Walking Tour
Learn about the history of Nantucket through the buildings in the Historic Downtown area. The variety of architectural styles downtown acts as an important lens for understanding Nantucket’s primary industries—whaling and tourism and how they impact the island we know today. Following the lead of one of our Museum Guides, this hour-long tour highlights significant houses and architectural structures and elaborates on their histories within the broader context of Nantucket history.