Madaket Ditch facts for kids
The Madaket Ditch is a cool waterway, or canal, found on the western side of Nantucket, Massachusetts. It connects a place called Long Pond to Madaket Harbor. It used to be spelled Maddequet Ditch.
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What is the Madaket Ditch?
The Madaket Ditch is like a long, narrow river that people dug. It's about one mile long and goes towards the southwest. It was created through areas with both fresh and salty water.
How Was It Built?
Nantucket's First Big Project
The ditch was first dug around the year 1665. This was a very long time ago! Both English settlers and Native Americans worked together to build it. It was the very first "public works project" on Nantucket. A public works project is a big construction job done for everyone in the community.
Why Was It Built?
The ditch was dug for a few important reasons. One reason was to create more open land, or "meadows." Another big reason was to catch fish! People used a special trap called a weir in the ditch. A weir is like a fence or barrier in the water that guides fish into a trap.
Fish in the Ditch
What Kind of Fish?
Many different kinds of fish have swum through the Madaket Ditch over the years. Some of these include perch, herring, smelt, and eels. Imagine all those fish swimming by!
How Fish Were Caught
In the early 1900s, people started using a different way to catch fish. Instead of a weir, they used a very large dip net. This net was huge! It was about four feet wide and eight feet long. It was shaped a bit like a cone, and people used it to scoop up the fish.
The Ditch Today
Where Is It Now?
The Madaket Ditch still exists today! You can find it near a place called Second Bridge. The water in the ditch is usually between two and four feet deep.
Water Levels
The ditch is "tidal," which means its water level changes with the ocean's tides. However, at the end of the ditch where it connects to Long Pond, the water level doesn't change much. This is because the pond helps keep the water level steady.
