Philip H. Folger Block, 56 & 58 Main Street, Nantucket, Nantucket County, MA

Significance: Unusual and elaborate for a small island town, it is one of the nine brick mansions of considerable elegance and cost built here between 1828 and 1845 at the peak of Nantucket's success as the first whaling port in the world. Located on the corner of Main Street and Orange Street, this late Federal structure with Greek Revival details was built as a residence for Philip H. Fogler in 1831. In 1846, the Great Fire destroyed everything on Main Street east of Orange Street. With the urgent need for downtown commercial space, the Folger Block was converted to retail space and opened for business within three months of the fire. To accommodate this new usage, the floor levels on either side of the central hall were lowered 3 1/2 feet to provide street access for the stores. Today the storefronts still reflect this change. Although the west storefront has been significantly altered, the east storefront remains basically unchanged from the 1846 conversion.
Survey number: HABS MA-949
Building/structure dates: 1831 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1900 Subsequent Work