As the concentration of wealth on Nantucket grows, so, too, does the mayhem.

ACK-on-ACK Violence

On Nantucket, summer is more than just a time for the ultra-rich to visit their second homes. It’s also when the picture-perfect island’s cracks begin to show

By William D. Cohan

For many years, locals talked about Nantucket like it was still the sleepy whaling town it had been centuries ago. And they weren’t wrong. The clapboard houses, lightship baskets, and roses climbing up the side of Sconset roofs inspired a sense of permanence.

Lately, though, it has been getting harder to go on pretending things haven’t changed. As the rich get richer, they get more competitive, it seems, which means that real-estate prices on the island have exploded and space for private jets at the airport is getting harder to find. But that’s not the new part—that’s been happening for decades.