Courtesy of Theo Kinsella

Easton Street

41°17'21.2"N 70°05'42.6"W

This low-lying area of salt marsh meadow remained largely undeveloped until the 1880s and is now one of Nantucket’s most iconic and exclusive neighborhoods. The vast majority of the waterfront properties in this high risk flood area have sold in the last few years and the area has subsequently undergone a boom in redevelopment and construction, demonstrating a variety of structural resilience approaches. Many of the homes along Easton Street cover some of the best practices property owners can use to adapt to coastal risks.

Past

  • Icy Waters

    1950s Easton Street neighborhood, flooded and frozen after a winter storm. (Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association)

  • Hurricane Carol

    1954 storm waves crashing on Easton Street bulkheads during Hurricane Carol. (Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association)

  • Map of the Town of Nantucket in the State of Massachusetts / William Coffin Jr, 1834. Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association.

    A Point without Homes

    Map of the Town of Nantucket in the State of Massachusetts / William Coffin Jr, 1834. Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Present

  • Groundwater

    Potential groundwater emergence in the Easton Street neighborhood, November 2020 (photo by Trevor Johnson, Nantucket Coastal Resilience Plan p. 62). The increased groundwater table could create new wetlands and expand others, change surface drainage, expand saturated soil conditions, and/or inundate the land, depending on local topography.

  • Resilience Building Boom

    Many of the homes along Easton Street and Hulbert Ave are undergoing extensive renovations and elevating. Nantucket's historic resources can be made more resilient through actions such as dry flood proofing, wet flood proofing, elevation and the retrofitting of flood-resistant natural features or materials. When homes are remodeled they need to meet building codes and be elevated to a certain height based on where they are within FEMA’s flood maps. (Photo by Will Kinsella)

  • Elevating Historic Structures

    Nantucket's historic resources can be made more resilient through actions such as dry flood proofing, wet flood proofing, elevation and the retrofitting of flood-resistant natural features or materials. Resilient Nantucket: Flooding Adaptation & Building Elevation Design Guidelines outlines the various approaches to meeting flood requirements while also striving for consistency with Building with Nantucket in Mind, Guidelines for Protecting the Historic Architecture and Landscape of Nantucket Island. (Photo by Will Kinsella)

Future(s)

These conceptual renderings are illustrative of potential long-term resilience strategies and do not represent final designs or near-term recommendations. These are presented to help inform community discussions about long-term adaptation.

The future remains up to us.

  • Conceptual Designs

    Conceptual example of a road raising strategy in a residential neighborhood, such as Brant Point. This long-term strategy to sustain emergency access to the neighborhood can be combined with elevation and other resilience upgrades to private residences to mitigate the risks from high tide flooding and groundwater emergence. (CRP p. 152)

  • Conceptual Designs

    Conceptual example of the road raising strategy during a flood event. This strategy provides continued service on the road to 7.5' NAVD88. (CRP p. 152)

  • 2040 3.25' sea level rise projections

    2019 NOAA Intermediate-High scenarios predicted 3.25' sea level rise projections (above NAVD88) for the year 2040. Using LIDAR 3D scanners and NOAA flood projections, the University of Florida's Preservation Institute: Nantucket has been able to provide visualizations of sea level rise projections against precise building elevation measurements. (Image Courtesy of University of Florida Preservation Institute Nantucket)

  • 2060 4.54' sea level rise projections

    2019 NOAA Intermediate-High scenarios predicted 4.54' sea level rise projections (above NAVD88) for the year 2060. Using LIDAR 3D scanners and NOAA flood projections, the University of Florida's Preservation Institute: Nantucket has been able to provide visualizations of sea level rise projections against precise building elevation measurements. (Image Courtesy of University of Florida Preservation Institute Nantucket)

  • 2080 6.14' sea level rise projections

    2019 NOAA Intermediate-High scenarios predicted 6.14' sea level rise projections (above NAVD88) for the year 2080. Using LIDAR 3D scanners and NOAA flood projections, the University of Florida's Preservation Institute: Nantucket has been able to provide visualizations of sea level rise projections against precise building elevation measurements. (Image Courtesy of University of Florida Preservation Institute Nantucket)

  • 2100 8.04' sea level rise projections

    2019 NOAA Intermediate-High scenarios predicted 8.04' sea level rise projections (above NAVD88) for the year 2100. Using LIDAR 3D scanners and NOAA flood projections, the University of Florida's Preservation Institute: Nantucket has been able to provide visualizations of sea level rise projections against precise building elevation measurements. (Image Courtesy of University of Florida Preservation Institute Nantucket)