Nantasket Beach

Last updated

Nantasket Beach Reservation
General View, Nantasket Beach, MA.jpg
Nantasket Beach circa 1910
Relief map of USA Massachusetts.png
Red pog.svg
Location in Massachusetts
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Nantasket Beach (the United States)
Location Hull, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates 42°17′30″N70°52′28″W / 42.29167°N 70.87444°W / 42.29167; -70.87444 [1]
Area39 acres (16 ha) [2]
Elevation0 ft (0 m) [1]
EstablishedUnspecified
Operator Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Website Nantasket Beach Reservation

Nantasket Beach is a beach in the town of Hull, Massachusetts. It is part of the Nantasket Beach Reservation, administered by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. [3] The shore has fine, light gray sand and is one of the most highly rated beaches in Greater Boston. [4] Due to its gentle slope, at low tide, the beach extends several hundred yards in width, forming tide pools that have become a well known, pictoresque characteristic of the site, renowned for their reflections of the sunsets and sunrises. The northern part of the beach is private, administered by the Town of Hull, and does not allow visitors to park except as guests of residents. The beach is a habitat for federally protected species, including the Piping Plover, Least Tern, and occasionally harbor seals. [5] [6]

Contents

Name

The name "Nantasket" is derived from Wampanoag and means "at the strait" or "low-tide place" [7] or "where tides meet," as Hull is a peninsula. Nantasket was settled not long after Plymouth Colony and before Massachusetts Bay. Roger Conant was in the area after leaving the Plymouth Colony and before going to Cape Ann in 1625. Until Hull was incorporated in 1644, English settlers referred to the whole local region as "Nantasket Peninsula."

History

Nantasket has been the summer refuge of many eminent Americans, such as U.S. President John F. Kennedy, his brother Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and his wife Rose Kennedy. [8] [9] Others include U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, former mayor of Boston John F. Fitzgerald, Irish-American poet John Boyle O'Reilly, who had a house on the peninsula, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who spent time at Nantasket in July 1841, reflecting on "the beauty of the good" and "the book of flesh and blood". [10] [11] [12] In 1825, Paul Warrick established "The Sportsman Hotel" on Nantasket Avenue. Later, more hotels were built and steamboats made three trips a day between Nantasket Beach and Boston in the 1840s. By 1888, the Old Colony Railroad linked Boston to Hull in the nation's first electrical railroad. [12] In 1905, an amusement area called Paragon Park was built adjacent to the beach. A carousel built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC #85) in 1928 was included. This was closed in 1984.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennedy family</span> American political family

The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from County Wexford, Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy became the first Kennedy elected to public office, serving in the Massachusetts state legislature until 1895. At least one Kennedy family member served in federal elective office from 1947, when P. J. Kennedy's grandson John F. Kennedy became a member of Congress from Massachusetts, until 2011, when Patrick J. Kennedy II retired as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Cod National Seashore</span> Protected area on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) encompasses 43,607 acres on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. CCNS was created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, when he signed a bill enacting the legislation he first co-sponsored as a Senator a few years prior. It includes ponds, woods and beachfront of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. The CCNS includes nearly 40 miles (64 km) of seashore along the Atlantic-facing eastern shore of Cape Cod, in the towns of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Chatham. It is administered by the National Park Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hull, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piping plover</span> Species of bird

The piping plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black stripe running along the breast line. This chest band is usually thicker in males during the breeding season, and it is the only reliable way to tell the sexes apart. The bird is difficult to see when it is standing still, as it blends well with open, sandy beach habitats. It typically runs in short, quick spurts and then stops.

The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is a national recreation area situated among the islands of Boston Harbor of Boston, Massachusetts. The area is made up of a collection of islands, together with a former island and a peninsula, many of which are open for public recreation and some of which are very small and best suited for wildlife. The area is run by the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership. It includes the Boston Harbor Islands State Park, managed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Twenty-one of the 34 islands in the area are also included in the Boston Harbor Islands Archeological District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Harbor</span> Estuary and harbor of Massachusetts Bay

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Conservation and Recreation</span> State agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission is "To protect, promote and enhance our common wealth of natural, cultural and recreational resources for the well-being of all." The agency is the largest landowner in Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revere Beach</span> Public beach in Revere, Massachusetts, U.S.

Revere Beach is a public beach in Revere, Massachusetts, located about five miles (8 km) north of downtown Boston. The beach is over three miles (4.8 km) long. In 1875, a rail link was constructed to the beach, leading to its increasing popularity as a summer recreation area, and in 1896, it became the first public beach in the United States. It is still easily accessible by the MBTA Blue Line from Boston, and can accommodate as many as one million visitors in a weekend during its annual sand sculpture competition. The Revere Beach Reservation and Revere Beach Reservation Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horseneck Beach State Reservation</span>

Horseneck Beach State Reservation is a public recreation area comprising more than 800 acres (320 ha) on the Atlantic Ocean in the southern portion of the town of Westport, Massachusetts. The reservation is one of the state’s "most popular facilities ... welcom[ing] hundreds of thousands of visitors per year." It is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles River Reservation</span>

The Charles River Reservation is a 17-mile-long (27 km) urban preserve and public recreation area located along the banks of the Charles River in Boston, Cambridge, Watertown, and Newton, Massachusetts. The reservation is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Point State Reservation</span>

Sandy Point State Reservation is a coastal Massachusetts state park located in the town of Ipswich at the southern tip of Plum Island. The reservation is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and is an important nesting area for the piping plover and the least tern. Access to the reservation is through the adjoining Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crane Beach</span>

Crane Beach is a 1,234-acre (4.99 km2) conservation and recreation property located in Ipswich, Massachusetts, immediately north of Cape Ann. It consists of a four-mile-long (6 km) sandy beachfront, dunes, and a maritime pitch pine forest. Five and a half miles of hiking trails through the dunes and forest are accessible from the beachfront.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wollaston Beach</span> Public beach in Massachusetts, U.S.

Wollaston Beach is the largest public beach in the Boston harbor. The beach is located parallel to Quincy Shore Drive in North Quincy, Massachusetts, which was constructed to provide access to the bay beach for Greater Boston. Wollaston beach expands Quincy Bay forming part of Boston Harbor. The northern end of the beach is the Native American historical site, Moswetuset Hummock which is where the original Moswetuset Sac'hem (Chief) had a tribal council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cohasset station</span> Railway station in Cohasset, Massachusetts, US

Cohasset station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Cohasset, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. It is located off Chief Justice Cushing Highway west of downtown Cohasset. The station was opened with the line on October 31, 2007, providing the first rail service to Cohasset since 1959. Cohasset station is fully accessible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hull Shore Drive and Nantasket Avenue</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

Hull Shore Drive and Nantasket Avenue are a historic coastal parkway in Hull, Massachusetts. Nantasket Avenue, designated as part of Route 228, is the main road through the town of Hull. Hull Shore Drive is a short segment of the road, near the Nantasket Beach Reservation at the southern end of the Hull peninsula. A 1.25-mile (2.01 km) section of the roads was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Kennedy</span> American philanthropist, mother of John F. Kennedy

Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy was an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the Kennedy family. She was deeply embedded in the "lace curtain" Irish American community in Boston. Her father, John F. Fitzgerald, served in the Massachusetts State Senate (1892–1894), in the U.S. House of Representatives, and as Mayor of Boston. Her husband, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., chaired the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (1934-1935) and the U.S. Maritime Commission (1937–1938), and served as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1938–1940). Their nine children included United States President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith. In 1951, Rose Kennedy was ennobled by Pope Pius XII, becoming the sixth American woman to be granted the rank of Papal countess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston</span>

The Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston is a system of reservations, parks, parkways and roads under the control of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) in and around Boston that has been in existence for over a century. The title is used by the DCR to describe the areas collectively: "As a whole, the Metropolitan Park System is currently eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places", as outlined on the department's website. The DCR maintains a separate Urban Parks and Recreation division to oversee the system, one of five such divisions within the department—DCR's Bureau of State Parks and Recreation manages the remainder of Massachusetts state parks. Direct design and maintenance functions for the parkways and roads within the system are provided by the DCR Bureau of Engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quincy Shore Reservation</span>

Quincy Shore Reservation is a public recreation area and protected shoreline on Quincy Bay, Boston Harbor, in Quincy, Massachusetts. Its primary attraction is a 2.3-mile-long (3.7 km) beach, accessible along its entire length by Quincy Shore Drive. The largest beach on Boston Harbor, it is known locally as Wollaston Beach, named for the adjacent Wollaston neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hingham Bay</span> Bay in Massachusetts, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pemberton Point</span> Peninsula in Massachusetts, United States

Pemberton Point is a peninsula in Hull, Massachusetts. It is located at the tip of the Nantasket Peninsula, in Boston Harbor.

References

  1. 1 2 "Nantasket Beach". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. "2012 Acreage Listing" (PDF). Department of Conservation and Recreation. April 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  3. "Nantasket Beach Reservation". MassParks. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  4. Cheryl Fenton (June 13, 2023). "10 best beaches near Boston". TimeOut Magazine. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  5. "Hull beach committee asks public to make way for piping plovers". Wicked Local. April 23, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  6. Sarah Hu (July 9, 2019). "Hull beach committee asks public to make way for piping plovers". Wicked Local. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  7. Trolley trips. Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Elevated Railway Company. 1931. p. 5. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  8. "NANTASKET, JOSEPH P. KENNEDY, MRS. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY, JOSEPH P. KENNEDY, JR., JOHN F. KENNEDY, PATRICK J. KENNEDY, JOHN F. FITZGERALD, CA. 1915-1917". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. June 1917. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  9. "NANTASKET, JOHN F. KENNEDY, 1917". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. June 1917. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  10. The Heart of Emerson's Journals, edited by Bliss Perry, Dover Books, 1958
  11. "NANTASKET, JOHN F. FITZGERALD, CA. 1915-1917". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. June 1917. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  12. 1 2 "TOWN OF HULL, COMMUNITY BRANDING & WAYFINDING PROJECT FINAL REPORT SEPTEMBER 2018". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. September 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2023.