Editing Nantucket (section)

===Later history===
As a result of this depopulation, the island was left under-developed and isolated until the mid-20th century. Isolation from the mainland kept many of the pre-Civil War buildings intact and, by the 1950s, enterprising developers began buying up large sections of the island and restoring them to create an upmarket destination for wealthy people in the [[Northeastern United States]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Nantucket and towns on Martha's Vineyard contemplated seceding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which they considered at various [[town meeting]]s in 1977, unsuccessfully. The votes were sparked by a proposed change to the [[Massachusetts Constitution]] that would have reduced the size of the state's House of Representatives from 240 to 160 members and would therefore reduce the islands' representation in the [[Massachusetts General Court]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Massachusetts isles Wave Secession Flag |first=John |last=Kifner |date=April 6, 1977 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/06/archives/massachusetts-isles-wave-secession-flag.html |access-date=August 22, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=April 18, 1977 |title=People, Apr. 18, 1977 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914917-2,00.html |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208151115/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914917-2,00.html |access-date=October 28, 2020|url-status=dead |archive-date=December 8, 2010 }}</ref>