Madaket Ditch
Canal in Nantucket, Massachusetts, US
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Madaket Ditch, formerly spelled as Maddequet Ditch, is a canal connecting Long Pond to Madaket Harbor on the western edge of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The ditch was first dug circa 1665 by English settlers and Native Americans as the first public works project on Nantucket. It runs roughly southwest for about 1 mile and was cut as freshwater channels running through freshwater cattail marsh and salt marsh, in order to create more meadow and catch fish running through it in a weir. Fish runs have historically included perch, herring, smelt, and eels. In the early 20th century, a large dip net, about four feet in diameter and eight feet long, subconical in shape, was used instead of a weir to scoop up fish.
Today the ditch still exists at Second Bridge, with depths between two and four feet. As it is tidal, there is little variation in water level at the pond's end.
References
- Grieder, James Everett (2005). "Every Man a King: The Story of English Settlement of Nantucket, Part 3". Yesterdays Island. Fractured History. Nantucket Island. Archived from the original on 2006-11-15. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
- Murphy, John F. (1897). Tourist’s Guide to Down the Harbor, Hull and Nantasket…”Historic Plymouth”..and the Summer Resorts of Cape Cod (The Old Colony Newsroom ed.). p. 92.
- Conant, Keith L. (January 2006). Madaket Harbor / Long Pond Annual Report 2005 (PDF). www.nantucket-ma.gov (Report). Marine and Coastal Resources Department. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-30. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
- Belding, David L. (1920). A Report upon the Alewife Fisheries of Massachusetts. capecodhistory.us (Report). Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Conservation, Division of Fisheries and Game (published October 2005). Archived from the original on 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2026-02-20.