Nantucket is an 
island south of 
Cape Cod, 
Massachusetts, 
USA. With Tuckernuck and Muskeget Islands, it forms 
Nantucket County. It was formerly the leading 
whaling port in the world.  Although now primarily a 
tourist destination, it still houses a small fishing industry. It also is the root of the famous rhyme: "There once was a man from Nantucket...". Nantucket once tried to secede from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (they also tried to secede from the Union and become a independent nation) along with the 
island of 
Martha's Vineyard
 
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