Hull, Massachusetts
Encyclopedia
Hull is a peninsula town in Plymouth County
, Massachusetts
, United States
. The population was 10,293 at the 2010 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in Plymouth County and the fourth smallest in the state. However, its population density is within the top thirty towns in the state.
Hull has been the summer home to several luminaries throughout the years, including former Boston mayor John F. Fitzgerald
(also known as "Honey Fitz"), the father of Rose Kennedy; President Calvin Coolidge
; and Joseph Kennedy, Sr.
forming Nantasket Peninsula, on which the Plymouth Colony
established a trading post
in 1621 for trade
with the Wampanoags. The town was first settled in 1622 and officially incorporated in 1644, when it was named for Hull, England
. Roger Conant was in the area, after leaving the Plymouth Colony and before going to Cape Ann
in 1625. Early industries included fishing
, trade and salvaging shipwreck
s. During the Revolution
, General Benjamin Lincoln
oversaw the evacuation of Boston from here in 1778.
Hull has seven distinct hills and these seven hills are what make the peninsula's topography quite unique. Millions of years ago during the formation of the peninsula, seven glaciers came close to each other and over hundreds of thousands of years dirt, clay, sand, etc., covered the glaciers and the areas between them. This formed the town as it currently stands, and is what created "the seven hills of Hull".
Hull was originally part of Suffolk County
, and when the southern part of the county was set off as Norfolk County
in 1793, it included the towns of Hull and Hingham
. In 1803 those towns opted out of Norfolk County and became part of Plymouth County
.
Lifesaving has been an important part of Hull history. however there are on average 19 to 30 reported cases of drownings every year. The Massachusetts Humane Society placed one of its first Huts of Refuge on Nantasket Beach after the American Revolution. When it expanded its boat houses for lifeboats it places several in Hull at Stoney Beach, on Nantasket Beach, and near Cohasset. Joshua James
(1826–1902), Hull’s most famous lifesaver, became the first Keeper of the Pt. Allerton U.S. Life Saving Station, when it opened in 1889. James and his crews, both Humane Society volunteers and U.S. Life-Savers, are estimated to have saved over 1000 people from shipwrecks. The exact number is not known because Massachusetts Humane Society records were lost in the Great Boston Fire in 1872. The Hull Lifesaving Museum is now located in the 1889 Pt. Allerton Life Saving Station, with the Museum's Maritime Program housed in the old Coast Guard boathouse at Pemberon Point. The new U.S. Coast Guard Station Point Allerton opened at the edge of Hull Village near Pemberton Point in 1969.
Hull features Nantasket Beach
, with fine, light gray sand—generally considered one of the finest beaches in New England
. At low tide, there are acres of sandy tide pools. Beginning the community's development as a tourist resort, in 1825 Paul Worrick established the Sportsman Hotel on Nantasket Avenue. More hotels were built, and by 1840, steamboat
s made 3 trips a day between the town and Boston.
Following the crowds onto the boardwalk
s were gamblers, pickpockets and confidence men, so Paragon Park
was built as a safe place for those seeking amusement. Called a "marvel of fantasy," it once featured a ride based on the Johnstown Flood
. The complex closed in 1984 when the property was sold for condominium development. Today, the only surviving remnants of Paragon Park on the boardwalk are the historic carousel
and clock tower.
, the town has a total area of 28.2 square miles (73.1 km²), of which, 3.0 square miles (7.8 km²) of it is land and 25.2 square miles (65.2 km²) of it (89.26%) is water. Hull is located on narrow Nantasket Peninsula, which juts into Massachusetts Bay
, and is the southern land point at the entrance to Boston Harbor
. Hidden in Hull's bay is Hog Island, now known as Spinnaker Island
. Hog Island was home to Hull's first High School, parts of the island sat very low and fill needed to be brought in to prevent flooding. Spinnaker Island has been developed with condominiums, and is connected to mainland Hull via a low bridge. The town is bordered by Hingham Bay
to the west, Massachusetts Bay to the north and east, and the towns of Cohasset
and Hingham
to the south. Hull is located almost twenty miles (32 km) by land from Boston, although by water, not counting islands, it is just five miles (8 km) from Pemberton Point in Hull to City Point in Dorchester
. Although it is a forty-five minute drive into the heart of Boston, it is a twenty minute boat ride from Pemberton Pier, at the tip of Hull, into Boston's Long Wharf which is close to the North End and Faneuil Hall.
Hull is separated from Cohasset and Hingham by the Weir River
Estuary, which is state-recognized as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The estuary contains almost 600 acres (2.4 km²) of undeveloped land, including almost 140 acre (0.5665604 km²) undeveloped of undeveloped land in Hull, of which close to 80 percent is protected from development. The estuary is important as a nursery for fish and other marine life. Over 100 species of birds also use the Weir River Estuary. The Weir River Estuary Center, owned by the town and being developed by the Weir River Watershed Association, located at the entrance to Hull on George Washington Boulevard, is expected to open by summer 2009.
Black Rock Beach connecting to Cohasset is the town's only landed connection to the mainland, although two bridges link the town to Hingham. Town neighborhoods include (from south to north) Green Hill, Straits Pond, Crescent Beach, Gunrock, Atlantic Hill, West Corner, Rockaway, Rockaway Annex, Nantasket Beach, Sagamore Hill, Hampton Circle, Sunset Point, Kenberma, Strawberry Hill, Waveland, Windermere, Allerton, Spinnaker Island
, Stony Beach, Telegraph Hill, Hull Village, and Pemberton. The areas west of the northerly two miles of the three-mile-long Nantasket Beach constitute the majority of the town's landed area. The southern hills near the Town Hall are composed of volcanic rock created 600 million years ago. Green Hill near Cohasset and all of the hills out along the peninsula—Sagamore, Hampton, Sunset Point, Strawberry, Allerton, Telegraph, and Hull Hill—are drumlins formed by the last glacier about 14,000 years ago. The lands between the hills are tombolos, or tying sand bars. Telegraph Hill above Stony Beach is the site of Fort Revere Park
, a park located at the site of a former defense installation which was active during the first half of the twentieth century. It is capped with an observation tower, which provides spectacular views of the rest of Boston Harbor, as well as much of the northern coast of the South Shore. The tower was sited on one of the five points of the star-shaped Fort Independence
, which was created during the American Revolution
.
The lands of Hull also include Peddocks Island
, a part of the Boston Harbor Islands State Park.
There are no freeways in Hull. Route 228
becomes Nantasket Avenue at the center entrance to Hull. The main entrance is on George Washington Boulevard which connects to Route 3A at the Hingham rotary. The avenue continues on through the rest of town, to Main Street in Hull Village, which then goes on past the Pt. Allerton Coast Guard
station ending at Windmill Point, also known as Pemberton Point, at the high school near the Hull Wind 1 windmill. The MBTA's
bus service extends into neighboring Hingham, and the Greenbush Line
of the commuter rail recently re-opened, with its closest station being at Nantasket Junction
, site of the former Hingham Lumber Company lumber yard, which is where the Hull branch of the railroad once connected. This Hull branch was the first electrified railroad in America in 1895. Commuters to Logan International Airport and Boston (and in the summer to Boston Harbor Islands) can take the MBTA Commuter Boat
, which leaves from Pemberton Point, the very tip of Hull. The nearest air service can be reached at Logan International Airport
in Boston. Air travelers to and from Hull should also consider TF Green Airport in Providence, RI.
Hull has many homegrown artists. On Nantasket avenue the local art gallery displays the visual art of the locals. Painters can be seen on the beach or at sunset point painting the horizons or beach landscapes.
The Hull Performing Arts is the town's community theatre organization. In 2010, they were honored with a Massachusetts Cultural Council "Gold Star" Award for their production of the original full-length musical On This River, which raised funds and awareness for the Weir River Estuary, a state-designated Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Their production of the original musical Toilers of the Sea: The Life of Joshua James, which features Hull's two most famous residents, lifesaver Joshua James
and Irish patriot and poet John Boyle O'Reilly
, premiered in July 2010.
of 2000, there were 11,050 people, 4,522 households, and 2,821 families residing in the town. The population density
was 3,648.9 people per square mile (1,408.1/km²). There were 5,366 housing units at an average density of 1,771.9 per square mile (683.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.95% White, 0.46% Black or African American
, 0.31% Native American, 0.89% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races
, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.09% of the population.
There were 4,522 households out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples
living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $52,377, and the median income for a family was $62,294. Males had a median income of $43,030 versus $34,738 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $26,331. About 5.6% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.7% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.
, and is currently represented by William Keating
. The state's senior (Class II) member of the United States Senate
, re-elected in 2008, is John Kerry
. The junior (Class I) senator, elected in 2010, is Scott Brown
.
On the state level, Hull is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives
as a part of the Third Plymouth district, which includes Cohasset, Hingham and Scituate. The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate
by Senator Bob Hedlund (R-Weymouth) as a part of the Plymouth and Norfolk district, which includes the towns of Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate and Weymouth. The town is patrolled on a secondary basis by the First (Norwell) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police
. The closest courthouse is the 2nd District Court located in Hingham, MA, right outside of the town of Hull's perimeters on George Washington Boulevard.
Hull is governed on the local level by the open town meeting
form of government, and is led by a town manager and a board of selectmen
. The town hall, as well as the police headquarters and the Green Hill Fire station, are all located in the southern portion of town, closest to the mainland. The fire Department Headquarters is in Waveland, and there is a branch firehouse in Hull Village as well, although it has been closed for some time. The fire department provides advanced life support services and brings patients to nearby South Shore Hospital, Quincy Medical Center, or into Boston if deemed necessary by EMS. There are two post offices, at Kenberma and Allerton, which serve the central and north parts of town, respectively. The town's public library is located on Main Street in Hull Village in a stone Victorian
mansion, built in 1889 as a summer home by John Boyle O'Reilly (1844–1890, famed as an Irish patriot, editor of the Catholic weekly Pilot, and poet). The library has recently been troubled with budget-cuts, but remains open. The home was built on the site of an earlier house, where Susanna Haswell Rowson
(1764–1826) and Robert Haswell
lived as children during the start of the American Revolution. Susanna eventually became America's first bestselling novelist with the publishing of her story, Charlotte Temple
.
, and their chief rival is similarly-sized Cohasset High School
.
The town does not have any private schools but does have agreements to send students to regional vocational schools. The nearest private schools are located in neighboring Hingham, and the nearest vocational high school is located in Weymouth.
Life-Saver
Johnny Earle Founder of Johnny Cupcakes
David Grossack
Attorney and activist
Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Plymouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of 2010, the population was 494,919. Its county seats are Plymouth and Brockton...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 10,293 at the 2010 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in Plymouth County and the fourth smallest in the state. However, its population density is within the top thirty towns in the state.
Hull has been the summer home to several luminaries throughout the years, including former Boston mayor John F. Fitzgerald
John F. Fitzgerald
John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald was an Irish-American politician and the maternal grandfather of three prominent United States politicians—President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Senators Robert Francis Kennedy and Edward Moore Kennedy.-Early life and family:Fitzgerald was born in...
(also known as "Honey Fitz"), the father of Rose Kennedy; President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
; and Joseph Kennedy, Sr.
History
The Massachusetts tribe called the area "Nantasket," meaning "at the strait" or "low-tide place." It is a series of islands connected by sandbarsBar (landform)
A shoal, sandbar , or gravelbar is a somewhat linear landform within or extending into a body of water, typically composed of sand, silt or small pebbles. A spit or sandspit is a type of shoal...
forming Nantasket Peninsula, on which the Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
established a trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
in 1621 for trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
with the Wampanoags. The town was first settled in 1622 and officially incorporated in 1644, when it was named for Hull, England
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
. Roger Conant was in the area, after leaving the Plymouth Colony and before going to Cape Ann
Cape Ann
Cape Ann is a rocky cape in northeastern Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean. The cape is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Boston and forms the northern edge of Massachusetts Bay. Cape Ann includes the city of Gloucester, and the towns of Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and...
in 1625. Early industries included fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, trade and salvaging shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
s. During the Revolution
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, General Benjamin Lincoln
Benjamin Lincoln
Benjamin Lincoln was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War...
oversaw the evacuation of Boston from here in 1778.
Hull has seven distinct hills and these seven hills are what make the peninsula's topography quite unique. Millions of years ago during the formation of the peninsula, seven glaciers came close to each other and over hundreds of thousands of years dirt, clay, sand, etc., covered the glaciers and the areas between them. This formed the town as it currently stands, and is what created "the seven hills of Hull".
Hull was originally part of Suffolk County
Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Suffolk County has no land border with Plymouth County to its southeast, but the two counties share a water boundary in the middle of Massachusetts Bay.-National protected areas:*Boston African American National Historic Site...
, and when the southern part of the county was set off as Norfolk County
Norfolk County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Adams National Historical Park* Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area * Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site* John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site-Demographics:...
in 1793, it included the towns of Hull and Hingham
Hingham, Massachusetts
Hingham is a town in northern Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and suburb in Greater Boston. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...
. In 1803 those towns opted out of Norfolk County and became part of Plymouth County
Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Plymouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of 2010, the population was 494,919. Its county seats are Plymouth and Brockton...
.
Lifesaving has been an important part of Hull history. however there are on average 19 to 30 reported cases of drownings every year. The Massachusetts Humane Society placed one of its first Huts of Refuge on Nantasket Beach after the American Revolution. When it expanded its boat houses for lifeboats it places several in Hull at Stoney Beach, on Nantasket Beach, and near Cohasset. Joshua James
Joshua James (lifesaver)
Joshua James, United States Life-Saving Service was a sea captain and later in life a Lifesaving Station Keeper...
(1826–1902), Hull’s most famous lifesaver, became the first Keeper of the Pt. Allerton U.S. Life Saving Station, when it opened in 1889. James and his crews, both Humane Society volunteers and U.S. Life-Savers, are estimated to have saved over 1000 people from shipwrecks. The exact number is not known because Massachusetts Humane Society records were lost in the Great Boston Fire in 1872. The Hull Lifesaving Museum is now located in the 1889 Pt. Allerton Life Saving Station, with the Museum's Maritime Program housed in the old Coast Guard boathouse at Pemberon Point. The new U.S. Coast Guard Station Point Allerton opened at the edge of Hull Village near Pemberton Point in 1969.
Hull features Nantasket Beach
Nantasket Beach
Nantasket Beach is a beach in Hull, Massachusetts. The shore has fine, light gray sand and is one of the busiest beaches in Greater Boston. At low tide, there are acres of tide pools.-Name:...
, with fine, light gray sand—generally considered one of the finest beaches in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. At low tide, there are acres of sandy tide pools. Beginning the community's development as a tourist resort, in 1825 Paul Worrick established the Sportsman Hotel on Nantasket Avenue. More hotels were built, and by 1840, steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
s made 3 trips a day between the town and Boston.
Following the crowds onto the boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
s were gamblers, pickpockets and confidence men, so Paragon Park
Paragon Park
Paragon Park was an amusement park located on Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts. It closed in 1984.-Rides:Among the amusement rides in operation during Paragon Park's history was a traditional-style Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel with hand-crafted horses, a bumper cars ride known as...
was built as a safe place for those seeking amusement. Called a "marvel of fantasy," it once featured a ride based on the Johnstown Flood
Johnstown Flood
The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889. It was the result of the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam situated upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, made worse by several days of extremely heavy rainfall...
. The complex closed in 1984 when the property was sold for condominium development. Today, the only surviving remnants of Paragon Park on the boardwalk are the historic carousel
Carousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
and clock tower.
Geography
Hull is located at 42°17′10"N 70°52′35"W (42.286347, -70.87663). According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 28.2 square miles (73.1 km²), of which, 3.0 square miles (7.8 km²) of it is land and 25.2 square miles (65.2 km²) of it (89.26%) is water. Hull is located on narrow Nantasket Peninsula, which juts into Massachusetts Bay
Massachusetts Bay
The Massachusetts Bay, also called Mass Bay, is one of the largest bays of the Atlantic Ocean which forms the distinctive shape of the coastline of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Its waters extend 65 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Massachusetts Bay includes the Boston Harbor, Dorchester Bay,...
, and is the southern land point at the entrance to Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeast.-History:...
. Hidden in Hull's bay is Hog Island, now known as Spinnaker Island
Spinnaker Island (Massachusetts)
Spinnaker Island is an island in the Hingham Bay area of Boston Harbor in Massachusetts...
. Hog Island was home to Hull's first High School, parts of the island sat very low and fill needed to be brought in to prevent flooding. Spinnaker Island has been developed with condominiums, and is connected to mainland Hull via a low bridge. The town is bordered by Hingham Bay
Hingham Bay
Hingham Bay is the easternmost of the three small bays of outer Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming the western shoreline of the town of Hull and the northern shoreline of Hingham in the United States state of Massachusetts. It lies east of Quincy Bay and is met at the southwest by...
to the west, Massachusetts Bay to the north and east, and the towns of Cohasset
Cohasset, Massachusetts
Cohasset is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, though it is not contiguous with the main body of the county. The population was 7,542 at the 2010 census.- History :...
and Hingham
Hingham, Massachusetts
Hingham is a town in northern Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and suburb in Greater Boston. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...
to the south. Hull is located almost twenty miles (32 km) by land from Boston, although by water, not counting islands, it is just five miles (8 km) from Pemberton Point in Hull to City Point in Dorchester
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
. Although it is a forty-five minute drive into the heart of Boston, it is a twenty minute boat ride from Pemberton Pier, at the tip of Hull, into Boston's Long Wharf which is close to the North End and Faneuil Hall.
Hull is separated from Cohasset and Hingham by the Weir River
Weir River (Massachusetts)
Weir River is a short stream and estuary that empties into Hingham Bay, part of Boston Harbor in Massachusetts, United States. The name is attributed to the location of a fishing weir in the stream...
Estuary, which is state-recognized as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The estuary contains almost 600 acres (2.4 km²) of undeveloped land, including almost 140 acre (0.5665604 km²) undeveloped of undeveloped land in Hull, of which close to 80 percent is protected from development. The estuary is important as a nursery for fish and other marine life. Over 100 species of birds also use the Weir River Estuary. The Weir River Estuary Center, owned by the town and being developed by the Weir River Watershed Association, located at the entrance to Hull on George Washington Boulevard, is expected to open by summer 2009.
Black Rock Beach connecting to Cohasset is the town's only landed connection to the mainland, although two bridges link the town to Hingham. Town neighborhoods include (from south to north) Green Hill, Straits Pond, Crescent Beach, Gunrock, Atlantic Hill, West Corner, Rockaway, Rockaway Annex, Nantasket Beach, Sagamore Hill, Hampton Circle, Sunset Point, Kenberma, Strawberry Hill, Waveland, Windermere, Allerton, Spinnaker Island
Spinnaker Island (Massachusetts)
Spinnaker Island is an island in the Hingham Bay area of Boston Harbor in Massachusetts...
, Stony Beach, Telegraph Hill, Hull Village, and Pemberton. The areas west of the northerly two miles of the three-mile-long Nantasket Beach constitute the majority of the town's landed area. The southern hills near the Town Hall are composed of volcanic rock created 600 million years ago. Green Hill near Cohasset and all of the hills out along the peninsula—Sagamore, Hampton, Sunset Point, Strawberry, Allerton, Telegraph, and Hull Hill—are drumlins formed by the last glacier about 14,000 years ago. The lands between the hills are tombolos, or tying sand bars. Telegraph Hill above Stony Beach is the site of Fort Revere Park
Fort Revere Park
Fort Revere Park is an historic site situated on a small peninsula located in Hull, Massachusetts. It is situated on Telegraph Hill in Hull Village and houses the remains of two seacoast fortifications, a water tower with an observation deck, a military history museum and picnic facilities. It is...
, a park located at the site of a former defense installation which was active during the first half of the twentieth century. It is capped with an observation tower, which provides spectacular views of the rest of Boston Harbor, as well as much of the northern coast of the South Shore. The tower was sited on one of the five points of the star-shaped Fort Independence
Fort Independence (Massachusetts)
Fort Independence is a granite star fort that provided harbor defenses for Boston, Massachusetts. Located on Castle Island, Fort Independence is the oldest continuously fortified site of English origin in the United States. The first primitive fortification was placed on the site in 1634 and...
, which was created during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
.
The lands of Hull also include Peddocks Island
Peddocks Island
Peddocks Island is one of the largest islands in Boston Harbor. Since 1996 it has formed part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island is located at 42° 17' 32.6" North longitude and 70° 56' 21.6" West latitude. The area of the island is . The island is managed by the...
, a part of the Boston Harbor Islands State Park.
There are no freeways in Hull. Route 228
Massachusetts Route 228
Route 228 is a rather short south–north highway in southeastern Massachusetts.-Route description:Route 228 runs from Route 3 in Rockland, goes through Hingham, and ends at the intersection of George Washington Boulevard in Hull....
becomes Nantasket Avenue at the center entrance to Hull. The main entrance is on George Washington Boulevard which connects to Route 3A at the Hingham rotary. The avenue continues on through the rest of town, to Main Street in Hull Village, which then goes on past the Pt. Allerton Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
station ending at Windmill Point, also known as Pemberton Point, at the high school near the Hull Wind 1 windmill. The MBTA's
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...
bus service extends into neighboring Hingham, and the Greenbush Line
Greenbush Line
The Greenbush Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system. The line restores service along the New Haven Railroad's Greenbush Branch, from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through the towns of Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate on the South Shore of Boston...
of the commuter rail recently re-opened, with its closest station being at Nantasket Junction
Nantasket Junction (MBTA station)
Nantasket Junction Station is a rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail system in Hingham, Massachusetts. The station, located at 190 Summer Street, is the seventh of ten along the MBTA's Greenbush Line, which provides service between Scituate and Boston. The line, which reopened on...
, site of the former Hingham Lumber Company lumber yard, which is where the Hull branch of the railroad once connected. This Hull branch was the first electrified railroad in America in 1895. Commuters to Logan International Airport and Boston (and in the summer to Boston Harbor Islands) can take the MBTA Commuter Boat
MBTA boat
The MBTA Boat system is a public boat service providing water transport in the Greater Boston area via Boston Harbor. Both inner harbor and longer distance commuter ferries are operated...
, which leaves from Pemberton Point, the very tip of Hull. The nearest air service can be reached at Logan International Airport
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...
in Boston. Air travelers to and from Hull should also consider TF Green Airport in Providence, RI.
Culture
Hull has a Youth Baseball league, a Youth Football league, and a Youth Basketball league. Being on the coast Hull is able to maintain a sailing club. The town has an official song, "Underneath a Hullonian Sky," written by Cinzi Lavin.Hull has many homegrown artists. On Nantasket avenue the local art gallery displays the visual art of the locals. Painters can be seen on the beach or at sunset point painting the horizons or beach landscapes.
The Hull Performing Arts is the town's community theatre organization. In 2010, they were honored with a Massachusetts Cultural Council "Gold Star" Award for their production of the original full-length musical On This River, which raised funds and awareness for the Weir River Estuary, a state-designated Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Their production of the original musical Toilers of the Sea: The Life of Joshua James, which features Hull's two most famous residents, lifesaver Joshua James
Joshua James (lifesaver)
Joshua James, United States Life-Saving Service was a sea captain and later in life a Lifesaving Station Keeper...
and Irish patriot and poet John Boyle O'Reilly
John Boyle O'Reilly
John Boyle O'Reilly was an Irish-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, for which he was transported to Western Australia...
, premiered in July 2010.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 11,050 people, 4,522 households, and 2,821 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 3,648.9 people per square mile (1,408.1/km²). There were 5,366 housing units at an average density of 1,771.9 per square mile (683.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.95% White, 0.46% Black or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.31% Native American, 0.89% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.09% of the population.
There were 4,522 households out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $52,377, and the median income for a family was $62,294. Males had a median income of $43,030 versus $34,738 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $26,331. About 5.6% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.7% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.
Government
On the national level, Hull is a part of Massachusetts's 10th congressional districtMassachusetts's 10th congressional district
Massachusetts's 10th congressional district is a political constituency that includes parts of the South Shore of Massachusetts, and all of Cape Cod and the islands. With a population of 635,901 and a land area of , it is the most populous of Massachusetts's ten congressional districts and the...
, and is currently represented by William Keating
William Keating
William Hypolitus Keating was an American geologist. His father, Baron John Keating, of Irish ancestry, had been an officer in the French army in the West Indies and had settled in Wilmington, Delaware. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, and then in France and Switzerland, where he...
. The state's senior (Class II) member of the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, re-elected in 2008, is John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
. The junior (Class I) senator, elected in 2010, is Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a United States senator.Scott Brown may also refer to:-Sportsmen:*Scott Brown , American college football coach of Kentucky State...
.
On the state level, Hull is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Massachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
as a part of the Third Plymouth district, which includes Cohasset, Hingham and Scituate. The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate
Massachusetts Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...
by Senator Bob Hedlund (R-Weymouth) as a part of the Plymouth and Norfolk district, which includes the towns of Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate and Weymouth. The town is patrolled on a secondary basis by the First (Norwell) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police
Massachusetts State Police
The Massachusetts State Police is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state...
. The closest courthouse is the 2nd District Court located in Hingham, MA, right outside of the town of Hull's perimeters on George Washington Boulevard.
Hull is governed on the local level by the open town meeting
Open town meeting
An open town meeting is a form of town meeting in which all registered voters of a town may vote . This form of government is typical of smaller municipalities in the New England region of the United States....
form of government, and is led by a town manager and a board of selectmen
Board of selectmen
The board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms.-History:...
. The town hall, as well as the police headquarters and the Green Hill Fire station, are all located in the southern portion of town, closest to the mainland. The fire Department Headquarters is in Waveland, and there is a branch firehouse in Hull Village as well, although it has been closed for some time. The fire department provides advanced life support services and brings patients to nearby South Shore Hospital, Quincy Medical Center, or into Boston if deemed necessary by EMS. There are two post offices, at Kenberma and Allerton, which serve the central and north parts of town, respectively. The town's public library is located on Main Street in Hull Village in a stone Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
mansion, built in 1889 as a summer home by John Boyle O'Reilly (1844–1890, famed as an Irish patriot, editor of the Catholic weekly Pilot, and poet). The library has recently been troubled with budget-cuts, but remains open. The home was built on the site of an earlier house, where Susanna Haswell Rowson
Susanna Rowson
Susanna Rowson, née Haswell was a British-American novelist, poet, playwright, religious writer, stage actress and educator....
(1764–1826) and Robert Haswell
Robert Haswell
Robert Haswell was an early American maritime fur trader to the Pacific Northwest of North America. His journals of these voyages are the main records of Captain Robert Gray's circumnavigation of the globe...
lived as children during the start of the American Revolution. Susanna eventually became America's first bestselling novelist with the publishing of her story, Charlotte Temple
Charlotte Temple
Charlotte Temple is a novel by Susanna Rowson. It was first published in England in 1791 under the title Charlotte, A Tale of Truth. The first American edition was published in 1794 and the novel became a bestseller. It has gone through over 200 American editions.Charlotte Temple is the name of...
.
| Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 15, 2008 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Number of Voters | Percentage |
Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
2,801 | 36.08% |
Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... |
841 | 10.83% |
Unaffiliated | 4,060 | 52.30% |
Minor Parties | 61 | 0.79% | |
| Total | 7,763 | 100% | |||||||||||||
Education
Hull has its own school system for its approximately 1,250 students. The Lillian M. Jacobs School, located on Telegraphs Hill above Stony Beach serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The Memorial Middle School is located near the center of the peninsula, adjacent to Bayside Park, and serves sixth through eighth grade students. Hull High School is located at the end of the peninsula. All three schools have recently completed major renovations. Hull High's teams are known as the Pirates, and their school colors are blue and gold. The teams compete in the South Shore LeagueSouth Shore League
The South Shore League is an athletics conference that is part of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association . The League consists of 9 schools, ranging from as far north as Hull, Massachusetts, to as far south as Harwich, Massachusetts. The South Shore League participates in Division 3...
, and their chief rival is similarly-sized Cohasset High School
Cohasset High School
Cohasset High School is a public high school located in Cohasset, Massachusetts, USA. It is located at 143 Pond St. and has an enrollment of 364 students in grades 9-12. The school's mascot is the Skippers and the school colors are navy blue, silver, and white...
.
The town does not have any private schools but does have agreements to send students to regional vocational schools. The nearest private schools are located in neighboring Hingham, and the nearest vocational high school is located in Weymouth.
Notable residents
Joshua JamesJoshua James
Joshua James Huff, better known by his stage name Joshua James, is an American musician currently based in Portland, Oregon and fronts the Chicano Rock group Los Perros Olvidados and the rock group Joshua James and the Runaway Trains.- Early History :...
Life-Saver
Johnny Earle Founder of Johnny Cupcakes
Johnny Cupcakes
Johnny Cupcakes, Inc. is a clothing brand founded in 2001 by Johnny Earle. The clothing line uses cupcakes as the prominent design motif of its merchandise, often replacing iconic symbols with cupcakes...
David Grossack
David Grossack
David C. Grossack is an attorney, writer, and former activist born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the son of noted psychotherapist and author Dr. Martin Grossack and Judith Grossack.-Education:...
Attorney and activist
External links
Local newspapers: The Hull Sun, The Patriot Ledger and The Hull Times- Answer Book/Hull: Everything you need to know
- Town of Hull Official Website
- Top 10 New England Beaches -- Nantasket Beach
- Paragon Park Memories
- Hull Wind Project
- Hull Land Conservation Trust
- Weir River Watershed Association
- HULLMAgazine
- Hull Nantasket Beach Chamber of Commerce
- Hull Lifesaving Museum
- Fort Revere Park
- Hull Public Library