USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts : a guide to its places and people > Part 71
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The Site of Captain Benjamin Church's Home, now occupied by the Norton House, is at 102 North St. It was Captain Church whose company defeated King Philip.
The Old Garrison House (open), 123 North St., has been occupied by nine genera- tions of the Perez Lincoln family, who settled in Hingham, 1633-35. Some of the walls are filled with a mixture of clay and straw, bound with a tough grass for pro- tection from musket balls during Indian raids.
The Cushing House (open as an inn), 127 North St., a three-story frame structure antedating the Revolution, was formerly the Old Union Hotel and Little and Morey's Tavern. It was built by Dr. Bela Lincoln, a brother of the General.
On Liberty Pole Hill is Glad Tidings Rock. Legend says that friends of a famous hunter, John Jacob, on learning that he had been slain by the Indians, but not tor- tured, so named it in gratitude for his quick death.
The Samuel Lincoln House (private), at the fork of North and Lincoln Sts., is a two- and-a-half-story wooden structure, parts of which were built in 1667.
The New North Church (open by arrangement with pastor), nearly opposite the Sam- uel Lincoln House, erected in 1807, is the work of Charles Bulfinch. The portico, with triangular pediment supported by four Doric columns, the corner pilasters, and the distinctive cupola supported by classic columns, are of characteristic Bulfinch design.
A part of the Old Ordinary (open daily, June to Sept.), 19 Lincoln St., was built in 1650. This two-and-a-half-story unpainted structure now houses the Hingham Historical Society Collection of old furniture. The front door and the two windows to the right mark the original length; the two windows to the left identify the addi- tion made about 1740.
The Old Ship Church (Unitarian), on Main St., was built in 1681 by ship's carpen- ters and is believed to be the only 17th-century church now standing in Massa- chusetts. Its design, plain to the point of being severe, is devoid of any suggestion of the classical tradition. The roof is in the form of a truncated pyramid sur- mounted by a belfry and a lookout that gives the building its name.
In Hingham Cemetery at the rear of the church is the grave of General Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810). Marked by an obelisk are (L) the Remains of the Old Fort that protected the early inhabitants from Indian attack. A local tradition says that when Major Samuel Thaxter, reported killed by the Indians, was returning to Fort William Henry, he met Caleb Bates who had just heard Dr. Gay preach the funeral sermon. 'Why, Major,' Bates exclaimed, 'we have just buried you!'
At 5.5 m. is the junction with Jerusalem Rd.
Left on Jerusalem Rd. at 2.5 m. is Nantasket Beach, three miles long, one of the most popular places for surf bathing on the Atlantic seaboard. Opposite it and ex- tending half its length, Paragon Park (small fee) offers a variety of amusements. The State has just completed a modern bathhouse and solarium.
Straight ahead on Nantasket Ave. at 4.8 m. is Strawberry Hill (L), which affords a comprehensive view of the Atlantic side of the peninsula as well as the bay. There is an unsupported belief that Thorwald, son of Eric the Red, was slain and buried on Point Allerton (Hull) in 1004. Tradition says that many of the hundreds of vessels wrecked in early days on the rocks off Point Allerton were drawn off
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their courses by false lights hung by wreckers who wished to salvage the cargoes. At 6.8 m. is junction with Spring St .; right on Spring St. is HULL, 7.5 m. (town, alt. 23, pop. 2619, sett. 1624, incorp. 1647), which has a beach lined with summer cot- tages and hills covered with homes. The first building in this region was a trading post erected by traders from Plymouth. The first settlers were John Oldham, John Lyford, and Roger Conant. Oldham and Lyford had been expelled from Plymouth Colony for sedition and alleged profanation of the church. Oldham was killed by the Indians after his companions had moved on to Cape Ann and thence to Salem. Other settlers from Plymouth remained and developed the fishing industry to such an extent that the colony was taxed one eleventh of the Boston total in 1630.
The Public Library, originally the Hunt House, built in 1644, was the first rectory in Hull. It has been much remodeled. The last regular minister to occupy it was Samuel Veazie. It is told that the parishioners were once so far behind in his wages that Mr. Veazie was forced to sue them; in the meantime he was in such desperate straits that, hearing the carcass of a horse was on the beach, he hurried there to get the skin, only to find a parishioner had arrived ahead of him. In desperation, the clergyman removed the horse's shoes, which he sold to the village blacksmith for 25¢.
The Cushing House (private), 0.2 m. northeast of the center on Spring St., was built in 1725, a one-and-a-half-story gabled dwelling, with a large square central chimney; it was at one time the home of James Otis, the Revolutionary orator.
At 7 m. is the Beal House, now an evergreen-shaded tearoom, built in 1690. At 8.3 m. is the Bancroft Bird Sanctuary (open), a nine-acre reservation in the custody of the South Shore Nature Club.
At 8.7 m. is the junction with Sohier St.
Left on Sohier St. is the junction with Main St., 1.2 m .; right on which is COHAS- SETT, 1.3 m. (town, alt. 24, pop. 3418, sett. about 1647, incorp. 1770), formerly a part of Hingham. It boasts a history beginning with the landing of Captain John Smith in 1614. From 1737 to 1885 fishing and farming were the leading occupa- tions. From 1708 to 1880 small vessels were built. Lobster fishing is now engaged in mainly by Portuguese residents. Many permanent inhabitants commute to Boston. The natural beauty of the town, and its fine bathing beaches and yacht harbor, are natural assets bringing summer visitors, the main source of revenue.
The Town Hall with a fine auditorium is the headquarters of the South Shore Players, who present several plays every summer.
The St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (1900), 0.1 m., south of the Center on Main St., designed by Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson, is notable for its beautiful stained- glass windows and Carillon of 51 bells. It is built of seam-faced granite, varied with wood and plaster. Its design is modified perpendicular Gothic.
Right from the village 0.4 m. is the junction with Summer St .; left here and right on Border St. to the John Smith Tablet, 0.7 m., commemorating the discoverer of Cohasset and bearing excerpts from Smith's 'Generall Historie' describing his fight with the Indians. From the roof of the colonnade behind the tablet is a view of the Atlantic and the rocky ledges offshore, scene of many shipwrecks, including that of the Danish ship 'Maria' in 1783. On Grampus Rocks, one and a half miles offshore the brigantine 'St. John' of Galway foundered Oct. 7, 1849, and many Irish immigrants lost their lives. These and other tragedies brought about the erec- tion of Minot's Light, 2.5 m. offshore. The original light, an iron structure, com- pleted in 1850, was destroyed in 1851 by a storm that killed its two keepers. The present granite tower, 114 feet high, was built in 1860. The 1-4-3 flash of its 75,000 candlepower beam is a familiar sight on Massachusetts Bay.
State 3A here traverses a wooded country. At 10.4 m. is Bound Rock, which was a marker on the boundary between Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Settlement.
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At 12.6 m. is the junction with First Parish Rd.
Left on this road at 0.8 m. is the junction with Branch Rd .; left, Branch Rd. passes through EGYPT (Town of Scituate), which is largely occupied by Dreamwold, a magnificent estate owned by Thomas W. Lawson, the spectacular Boston finan- cier, who made and lost a series of fortunes in stock-market speculations. The place is surrounded by a mile or so of white fence, covered in season with pink rambler roses. At strategic intervals Lawson made retreats to this place where he bred prize horses and pedigreed bulldogs, and listened to the notes of a carillon installed in a tower on the estate.
At 2.5 m. on First Parish Rd. is SCITUATE (Indian, Satuit or Seteat, 'Cold Brook'), 0.7 m. (town, alt. 46, pop. 3846, sett. about 1630, incorp. 1636). The vil- lage suffered during the Indian wars and, in a decisive battle near the Stockbridge Mansion, was barely saved from total destruction.
The War of 1812, bitterly opposed by the town, injured local business. According to a local legend, when an English man-of-war burned vessels in the harbor, two little girls, Rebecca and Abigail Bates, scared off a landing party at Lighthouse Point by beating on dishpans, firing guns, and otherwise simulating a lively force of defenders hidden behind a shed.
Scituate was early engaged in shipbuilding, fishing, and brickmaking, and later had saw, grist, fulling, and clothing mills. Today it is one of two communities in the United States preparing Irish moss, a marine alga growing on rocks and used in brewing and dyeing, and in making a delicate blanc mange peculiarly suitable for the diet of invalids.
The Cudworth Cottage (open weekdays, 9-5 during July and Aug.), near the Town Hall, built in 1723, is an unpainted two-and-a-half-story structure housing a collec- tion of relics of the local historical society.
At 14.1 m. is the junction with State 123 and Old Oaken Bucket Rd.
1. Right on Old Oaken Bucket Rd. at 0.2 m. before a white frame house shaded by elm and horse-chestnut trees, is the Well made famous by a native, Samuel Wood- worth (1785-1842), in his poem 'The Old Oaken Bucket.'
2. Left at the junction with State 123 is a dirt road leading left to Stockbridge Pond, 0.1 m. and the Site of the Stockbridge Mansion, built before 1660. The house was used as a garrison to protect near-by mills. A story is told of a Mrs. Ewell, who, hearing the war-whoops of approaching Indians, left her infant grandson sleeping and ran to the Stockbridge garrison, sixty rods away, to spread the alarm. Refusing to stay in the garrison, she ran back home, where she found the baby still asleep and unharmed. At the lower end of the pond stands a restored Old Mill, a small building with unpainted, shingled walls.
At 14.2 m. on State 3A is the large Judge William Cushing (1732-1810) Boulder. Cushing held important legal offices in Massachusetts, and was a member of the convention that framed the State Constitution of 1779, and of the first United States Supreme Court; in Chief Justice Jay's ab- sence, he administered the oath of office to George Washington in 1793. MARSHFIELD, 20.2 m. (town, alt. 24, pop. 2073, sett. 1632, incorp. 1642). The British garrison stationed here was withdrawn in 1775, before the attack of Colonial soldiers.
In the 19th century, after the construction of a marsh-drainage canal, strawberries and cranberries became the most important crops.
Marshfield was the scene of 'The Dike Shanty,' by Maria Louise Pool; -. 'The Children of Old Park's Tavern,' by Frances A. Humphrey; and 'Into the Wind' and 'Leave the Salt Earth,' by Richard Warren Hatch.
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The Fairgrounds of the Marshfield Agricultural and Horticultural Society, founded in 1867, are on South St. (Annual fair, Aug. 26-29). The State maintains a Pheasant Farm in Marshfield.
Left from the village on South River St. at 2.2 m. is the junction with Peregrine White Rd .; on which at 2.7 m. is the Site of Peregrine White's Homestead. Pere- grine, born on the 'Mayflower,' Nov. 20, 1620, lived here after his marriage.
At 20.8 m. is the junction with Ocean St.
Left on this road 0.7 m. is the junction with Webster St .; right here to a gravel road at 2.4 m .; which leads to the Winslow Burying Ground, 0.5 m., containing the Grave of Daniel Webster (1852), which is on a knoll about 200 yards from the road. About 50 feet behind, and enclosed by an iron fence, is Webster's grave, and near- by are the graves of Peregrine White, Adelaide Phillips, and other notables.
At 2.5 m. on Webster St. is (L) the entrance to The Site of the Daniel Webster House on the former Winslow estate. The present two-and-a-half-story, yellow frame building was erected by the orator's daughter-in-law after his house was burned in 1890.
At 2.9 m. on Webster St. stands the Adelaide Phillips House (open), easily identified by the life-size statue of the singer in the front yard. The music-rooms of the three- story house are arranged as the owner left them.
At 3.2 m. is the Winslow House (now a tearoom; adm. 25g), corner of Caswell St., built in 1699. It is a large hip-roofed house with central chimney, quoin trim, and vestibule entrance; and it has wide fireplaces and a secret chamber.
At 21 m. is Tea Rock Hill, where Marshfield patriots staged a tea party after seizing and burning tea from a local store. A small wooden marker identifies the hill.
At 24.7 m. is the junction with Alden St.
Left on Alden St., at 0.3 m., is the John Alden House (1653) (open).
At 0.6 m. on Alden St. is the junction with St. George St., right on which at the corner of Washington St., is the Transatlantic Cable Station (open by permission), 1.1 m.
At 25.2 m. is DUXBURY (town, alt. 31, pop. 2244, sett. about 1624, incorp. 1637), a residential community. Shortly after 1624, Miles Stan- dish, Elder Brewster, John Alden, and other Pilgrims entered this region, seeking additional land for the growing settlement and pasturage for re- cently acquired herds of cattle.
Between 1633 and 1636 a canal was cut across Gurnet Headland, facili- tating travel between Plymouth and Boston. In 1637 an enactment by the General Court of Plymouth made 'Ducksburrow' a township. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it may have been taken from the Lancastershire seat of the Standish family.
An annual fair, the first in America, was sanctioned for Duxbury by the Colonial Government in 1638. This promoted travel to such an extent that in the same year Francis Sprague was licensed by the Colony 'to keep a victualling on Duxburrow side.' In 1639 a gristmill and a fulling-mill for the finishing of homespun cloth were built, and the next year a large tract of land was set aside as a Common to be used for pasturage.
During the first quarter of the 19th century the town carried on ship- building and shipped cod, mackerel, and clams.
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'Standish of Standish,' a novel by Jane Austin (1831-94), uses Duxbury for much of its background. 'Hobomok,' by Lydia Maria Child (1802-80), tells a story of the Praying Indians of the area.
Right from Duxbury on Depot St. to HALL'S CORNER and the junction with Chestnut St., 0.9 m .; right on Chestnut St. 0.2 m. is the Old Burying Ground in which are the graves of Miles, Lora, and Mary Standish. Miles Standish (1584- 1656) directed in his will that he be buried beside his daughters, Lora and Mary, who had died before him. The grave of John Alden is known to be here, but has not been identified. The oldest original tombstone (1700) is that of the Rev. Icha- bod Wiswall, third minister of the settlement. One of the ancient inscriptions reads:
'Aseneath Soule The Chisel cant help her any.'
Straight ahead from Hall's Corner on Standish St. to Crescent St .; right on Cres- cent St. to Monument Rd., on which, left at 1.3 m., is the Standish Monument (open), 130 feet high, on the crest of Captain's Hill. Slabs set in the walls of the base give the Pilgrim history. From the top of the monument there is an extensive view, including the twin Gurnet Lights, which stand on an 80-foot bluff. This bluff was, in 1777, the site of a fort to which signals were sent from a lookout on Cap- tain's Hill.
Straight ahead on Crescent St., 0.5 m., is the Alexander Standish House (open), a plain two-story, gambrel-roofed, frame building with a large central chimney, built by the son of Miles Standish in 1666.
At 28.2 m. is the junction with State 3 (see Tour 27).
TOUR 27B: From WEYMOUTH to EAST BRIDGE- WATER, 15.1 m., State 18.
Via Abington, Rockland, Whitman, and Hanson.
N.Y., N.H. & H. R.R. services this area.
Three-lane concrete highway over most of route.
STATE 18 is a cross-country route connecting two heavily traveled routes running south from Boston. It passes through several rural towns in a hilly and forested countryside.
State 18 runs south from its junction with State 3 about 1 m. southeast of Weymouth (see WEYMOUTH).
At 7 m. is the junction with State 123.
Left on State 123 is ABINGTON, 0.3 m. (town, alt. 104, pop. 5696, sett. 1668, incorp. 1713), occupies a section called by the Indians Manamooskeagin ('Many Beavers'). This name and the beavers appear on the corporate seal of the town. Agriculture and lumbering were at first the main occupations, but very early . Colonel Aaron Hobart operated a foundry. The town is now a manufacturing community producing shoes, dresses, textile machinery, curtains, and ice cream. (See WHITMAN, below.) About 1815, Jesse Reed invented a machine with which
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From Weymouth to East Bridgewater
he could make 80,000 and later, 250,000 tacks a day. During the Civil War, Abington is said to have furnished one half of the shoes worn by the Union Army; the large output resulted from the invention of the Mckay stitcher.
In the Dyer Memorial Library (1932), on Center Ave., are Indian relics, jewels, paintings, ivories, rare china, bric-à-brac, and glassware from the Dyer homestead, all imported by Samuel W. Dyer during his term as United States envoy to France.
The Masonic Building, Washington St., originally erected as a church, has beams that were cut for the U.S. Frigate 'Constitution,' but were rejected by government inspectors.
Island Grove Park, Wilson Place, off Washington St., remains very much in its natural state, its wild beauty enhanced by a pond. Anti-slavery and temperance meetings held beneath the shelter of its majestic old trees, were addressed by Webster, Garrison, Sumner, Phillips, Andrew, and many other stirring orators. A Memorial Boulder, erected in 1909, by Captain Moses N. Arnold of the 12th Massachusetts Volunteers, is inscribed:
Meetings in the cause of abolition of slavery were held in this Grove yearly from 1846 to 1865. On this spot William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and others addressed the people. Suffering all manner of abuse, the abolitionists stood steadfast until the slave was made free. Reader, take heed! Stand for the right, though power and wealth and all your fellows turn against you and persecute you. 'I am in earnest - I will not equivocate - I will not excuse - I will not retreat a single inch - and I will be heard.' Erected by an Abington Soldier, who served and was wounded in the war which ended slavery.
The Memorial Bridge and Arch, an impressive structure commemorating the soldiers and sailors of several wars, was dedicated on June 10, 1912, the 200th anniversary of the town, with President William Howard Taft as the guest of honor. This bridge, which, including the piers, is 300 feet long, is of concrete with iron railings. Fifty feet above the water, the arch is surmounted by a bronze eagle II feet in height. On the supporting columns facing the water are life-size figures in bas-relief, representing a soldier and a sailor of the Civil War.
The Shedd House (private), 770 Washington St., near Wilson Place, has a two- story brick front. It was built before 1700, and the first Dame School in the town was established here in 1732.
Kay's Goat Dairy (open), 365 High St., is one of the few modern goat farms in the State.
Left from Abington on State 123 is ROCKLAND, 3.7 m. (town, alt. 124, pop. 7890, sett. 1673, incorp. 1874), a manufacturing town; pleasant with shaded side- walks and neat homes, it produces shoes and allied products including welts and dyes.
King Philip's Headquarters occupied a field back of the cemetery on Webster St. An ancient map of the town shows a round-house in this field which legend says. was used by King Philip in a raid.
About 4.2 m. south of the Center on State 123, in the bend of the road opposite the pond, is the First Frame House of Rockland (private), built by the Thatcher family shortly after they established a sawmill on Cushing Rd. in 1703. The old dwell- ing housed slaves who worked at cutting logs for the mill.
At 8.7 m. is the junction with State 27.
Left on State 27 is WHITMAN, 0.6 m. (town, alt. 76, pop. 7591, sett. about 1670, incorp. 1875). Known as 'Little Comfort,' or South Abington, Whitman was named for Augustus Whitman when it became a separate town. Among the
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High Roads and Low Roads
early products were ship timbers and box wood. The white oak timbers of the Frigate 'Constitution' were cut in near-by forests and were squared in local mills. Agriculture is limited, but Whitman is noted for fine specimens of poultry. The dominant industry is shoes; Whitman excels in the production of shanks and shoe finding.
Straight ahead from Whitman on State 27, the G. G. Roberts Corporation (open by permission), 1.2 m., manufacturers of tacks, occupies the factory built by Ben- jamin Hobart, pioneer in this industry. This is the site of the foundry of Colonel Aaron Hobart, where Paul Revere learned to make copper and bronze bells. Colonel Aaron Hobart, among the first in the country to cast church bells, is also believed to be the first person to cast cannon in America.
At 1.3 m. is the Regal Shoe Company (open), one of the largest shoe manufactories in the East, shipping to foreign countries as well as to all parts of the United States. Near-by are the Commonwealth Shoe and Leather Company, a large shoe manufac- turing plant, and the United Shank and Finding Company, a subsidiary of the United Shoe Machinery Corporation, and one of the largest factories of its kind in the world.
At 1.4 m. is the junction with South Ave .; straight ahead on South Ave. is the junc- tion with State 58; (R) on State 58 is NORTH HANSON, 4.1 m. (alt. 68, Town of Hanson). On the corner of Washington and Liberty Sts. is the Elijah Cushing House, built about 1724, a large, commodious two-story house. Part of it is used as an antique shop. From this house Lucy Cushing presented a silk flag to the Pembroke Light Infantry at the outbreak of the War of 1812.
At 5.1 m. on State 58 is HANSON (town, alt. 66, pop. 2417, sett. 1632, incorp. 1820), a residential town, named for Alexander Conte Hanson, a patriot, as- saulted by a Baltimore mob in 1812 for criticizing the Federal administration. The surrounding country is generally level, with many lakes, slowly meandering streams, and a large cedar swamp in the southern part.
Extensive cranberry bogs annually produce about 8,500,000 cans of cranberry sauce and employ many Portuguese who form a foreign-speaking community near Monponsett Pond in the south of the town. This is the only industry surviving from the brief industrial period of 75 years ago when practically every citizen main- tained a shoe shop in his home and did piece-work for neighboring towns.
At 9.4 m. is the Toll House (open as a dining-room), built in 1709, in the section of Whitman known as Westcrook. The road between Westcrook and Joppa was owned by a private corporation during the height of the whaling industry in New Bedford, and this house was the toll house, where the passengers dined, horses were changed, and toll was paid. A rambling yellow clapboarded Cape Cod cottage with varicolored shingled roof, it has dormer windows, an ell, and an extension to the rear. It was restored in 1930. A garden and a terrace were added, neatly en- closed within a picket fence and shaded by two great elms. From the swinging sign at the front to the old lamp-post at the rear topped by its ancient oil-lamp, from the big central chimney of the main block, painted white with a black band at the top to the lively rooster on the weather- vane of the remodeled, attached barn, the Toll House is a charming restoration.
EAST BRIDGEWATER, 12.1 m. (town, alt. 68, pop. 3670, sett. 1649, incorp. 1823), is a small industrial town, rich in bog iron. From the be- ginning this natural resource influenced the development of the town. The establishment here of the first triphammer shop in America initiated a period of manufacturing progress that lasted for almost 200 years.
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From Weymouth to East Bridgewater
Among the ingenious residents of the community were Samuel Rogers, inventor of a machine for cutting and heading a nail in one operation; Melville Otis, who devised the 'spring nipper,' an economical machine for salvaging outmoded nail-making machines; and Eleazer Carver, whose improvements on the cotton gin led to his decoration by the Government of India. Today only three small factories offer local employment; most of the workers commute between East Bridgewater and Brockton.
The Unitarian Church, Central St., was erected in 1794, and altered in 1850. In the belfry of this church hangs a Revere bell, bearing the name of Paul Revere's father and the date 1724.
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