This 1881 view of the town of Nantucket illustrates its early touristic attractions. Steamboats made twice daily trips during summer, and many locally operated vessels were available for excursions around the island. There were already two hotels in Siasconset and one in Wauwinet, as well as many boardinghouses all around the island.

Siasconset (see the detailed inset at the upper right, including the Sankaty Head Light House) was known as the "watering-place within a watering place," a seashore retreat for Nantucketers who wanted to get away from it all. 'Sconset was a favored resort for the New York and Boston theater crowd, and its year-round residents found their fifty fishing shacks surrounded by a summer colony. The index at the bottom margin catalogs and numbers forty landmarks.