Hull is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, located on a peninsula at the southern edge of Boston Harbor. Its population was 10,072 at the 2020 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in Plymouth County and the eleventh smallest in the state. However, its population density is nearly four times that of Massachusetts as a whole.
Hingham is a town in metropolitan Greater Boston on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts in northern Plymouth County. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,284. Hingham is known for its colonial history and location on Boston Harbor. The town was named after Hingham, Norfolk, England, and was first settled by English colonists in 1633.
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 Northeastern United States.
Green Island, also known as North Brewster Island, is a rocky outer island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, to the north of Calf Island and Hypocrite Channel. The island has a permanent size of 2.5 acres (10,000 m2), plus an intertidal zone of a further 15 acres (61,000 m2), and is exposed from the east and northeast with little soil or plant life. The island is named after Joseph Green, a well-known merchant, who owned the island during Colonial times.
The MBTA boat or MBTA ferry system is a public boat service providing water transportation in Boston Harbor. It is operated by Boston Harbor Cruises (BHC) under contract to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). In 2022, the system had a ridership of 797,700, or about 500 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023. The system consists of three routes that terminate in downtown Boston. F1 service runs from Rowes Wharf to Hewitt's Cove in Hingham. F2H service runs from Long Wharf to Hewitt's Cove, with some trips stopping at Logan Airport, Pemberton Point in Hull, and/or some of the Boston Harbor Islands. F4 service runs in the inner harbor between Long Wharf and the Charlestown Navy Yard. A seasonal pilot service also operates between Long Wharf and East Boston. Two additional seasonal routes, not funded by the MBTA but included on some MBTA documents, run from Boston to Salem and Winthrop.
Spectacle Island is a 114-acre island in Boston Harbor, 4 miles (6.4 km) offshore of downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is part of the city of Boston. The island has a varied history, and today is a public park with a marina, visitor center, cafe, lifeguarded swimming beach, and five miles of walking trails, forming part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. It is served all year by ferries from Boston, and on weekends and summer weekdays by a shuttle boat to and from nearby islands.
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. Managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the island is home to the now-defunct Fort Andrews, active in harbor defense from 1904 to the end of World War II, on its eastern end, and a group of privately owned cottages on its western end. Campsites are also on the eastern end. Ferry service between Peddocks Island and Georges Island is provided on a seasonal basis.
Lovells Island, or Lovell's Island, is a 62-acre (250,000 m2) island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, in Massachusetts. The island is across The Narrows from Georges Island and some 7 miles (11 km) offshore of downtown Boston. It is named after Captain William Lovell, who was an early settler of nearby Dorchester. The island is known as the site of several shipwrecks, including the 74-gun French warship Magnifique in 1782.
Moon Island is an island in Quincy Bay, in the middle of Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. It is the location of the Boston Fire Department Training Academy, and Boston Police Department shooting range. All of the land on the island is owned by the City of Boston but the island is under the jurisdiction of Quincy, Massachusetts. It is also part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
Bumpkin Island, also known as Round Island, Bomkin Island, Bumkin Island, or Ward's Island, is an island in the Hingham Bay area of the Boston Harbor. In 1902, Albert Burrage, a Boston philanthropist, had a summer hospital opened on the island for children with physical disabilities. During World War I the island was used by the U.S. Navy. Starting around 1940, the island was used as a facility for polio patients. However, the hospital closed during World War II and burned down in 1945. Since 1996, it is part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island has an area of 30 acres (120,000 m2), plus an intertidal zone of a further 31 acres (130,000 m2). It is composed of a central drumlin with an elevation of 70 feet (21 m) above sea level, surrounded by a rock-strewn shoreline. A sand spit, exposed at low tide, connects the eastern end of the island to Sunset Point in Hull.
Calf Island, also known as Apthorps Island, is a windswept island situated some 9 miles (14 km) offshore of downtown Boston in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island has a permanent size of 18 acres (73,000 m2), plus an intertidal zone of a further 16 acres (65,000 m2), and has a thin layer of soil that supports vegetation including wild cherry, beach plum, grasses, chives, and mock orange. Access is by private boat only.
Long Wharf is a historic American pier in Boston, Massachusetts, built between 1710 and 1721. It once extended from State Street nearly a half-mile into Boston Harbor; today, the much-shortened wharf functions as a dock for passenger ferries and sightseeing boats.
Grape Island is an island in the Hingham Bay area of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island is part of the territory of the town of Weymouth, Massachusetts. The island has a permanent size of 54 acres (220,000 m2), plus an intertidal zone of a further 46 acres (190,000 m2), and is composed of two drumlins, reaching an elevation of 70 feet (21 m) above sea level, and connected by a marshy lowland. Tidal sand spits extend from the west end towards Weymouth Neck in Webb Memorial State Park and from the east end towards Slate Island.
The Boston Harbor Islands Partnership is a non-profit partnership organization based in Boston, whose purpose is "to coordinate the activities of the Federal, State, and local authorities and the private sector in the development and implementation of a general management plan" for the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The Partnership was established by the United States Congress in 1996, as part of the law which designated the Boston Harbor Islands as a unit of the national parks system.
Webb Memorial State Park is a public recreation area located on a peninsula that extends nearly half a mile into the Hingham Bay area of Boston Harbor in Massachusetts. It is composed of three connected drumlins and a low marsh area. The state park forms the only mainland portion of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
Quincy Point is a neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts. "The Point" is generally defined as the land east of Quincy Center, the downtown district. Quincy Point is bordered on the west by Elm Street, on the east by Weymouth Fore River and the Braintree city line, on the north by Town River and on the south by Quincy Avenue. The area altitude averages about 30 feet (9.1 m) above sea level. The population of this neighborhood in 2000 was 11,414.
Quincy Bay is the largest of the three small bays of southern Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming much of the shoreline of the city of Quincy, Massachusetts. Locally in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy it is known as Wollaston Bay. The bay is home to Moon Island, Long Island, and Hangman Island.
Hull Gut is a gut about half a mile wide and thirty-five feet deep, in Boston Harbor running between Pemberton Point in Hull and the East Head of Peddocks Island. Along with its sister channel, West Gut, which runs between the West Head of Peddocks Island and Hough's Neck in Quincy, Hull Gut forms the southern entrance to the Inner Harbor connecting it to Hingham Bay. To the north the gut intersects with the deep-water shipping lane Nantasket Roads. Strong cross-currents and often heavy traffic make the gut a dangerous waterway. The channel is used by oil tankers and other freighters bound for industries around the Weymouth Fore River in Braintree, Weymouth, and Quincy and, historically, was used by the shipbuilding industry.
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 the mouth of Weymouth Fore River, also forming part of the waterfront of Weymouth. The bay is home to several of the Boston Harbor Islands.
