Winthrop, Massachusetts | |
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Nickname: Winthrop-by-the-Sea | |
Motto: "Where the North Shore begins" | |
![]() Location in Suffolk County and the state of Massachusetts | |
Coordinates: 42°22′30″N70°59′00″W / 42.37500°N 70.98333°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Massachusetts |
County | Suffolk |
Settled | 1630 |
Incorporated | 1852 |
Government | |
• Type | Council-manager |
• Council President | James Letterie |
• Town Manager | Anthony Marino |
Area | |
• Total | 8.32 sq mi (21.55 km2) |
• Land | 1.99 sq mi (5.16 km2) |
• Water | 6.33 sq mi (16.39 km2) |
Elevation | 36 ft (11 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 19,316 |
• Density | 9,701.66/sq mi (3,746.70/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (Eastern) |
Zip code | 02152 |
Area code | 617 / 857 |
FIPS code | 25-80930 |
GNIS feature ID | 0618335 |
Website | www.town.winthrop.ma.us |
Winthrop is a town in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,316 at the 2020 census. [2] Winthrop is an ocean-side suburban community in Greater Boston situated at the north entrance to Boston Harbor, close to Logan International Airport. It is located on a peninsula, 1.6 square miles (4.2 km2) in area, connected to Revere by a narrow isthmus and to multiple portions of Boston by a bridge over the harbor inlet to the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation in the Neighborhood of East Boston, a shared border at the Boston Logan International Airport, and at Deer Island.
Settled in 1630, Winthrop is one of the oldest communities in the United States. It is also one of the smallest and most densely populated municipalities in Massachusetts. It is one of the four cities that comprise Suffolk County (the others are Boston, Revere, and Chelsea). It is the southernmost part of the North Shore, with a 7-mile (11 km) shoreline that provides views of the Atlantic Ocean to the east and of the Boston skyline to the west.
In 2005, the Town of Winthrop voted to change its governance from a representative town meeting adopted in 1920 to a council-manager form of government. Under Massachusetts law, as of 2006 when the new Town Charter took effect, Winthrop became de jure a city. However, it is one of thirteen cities in Massachusetts that chose to remain known as a 'town.' [3]
Winthrop was settled in 1630 by English Puritan colonists as Pulling Point, so named because the tides made hard pulling for boatmen. [4] [5] The present town is named after John Winthrop (1587–1649), second governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and an English Puritan leader. On April 8, 1630, Winthrop departed from the Isle of Wight, England on the ship Arbella , arriving in Salem in June where he was met by John Endecott, the first governor of the colony. John Winthrop served as governor for twelve of the colony's first twenty years of existence. It was he who decided to base the colony at the Shawmut Peninsula, where he and other colonists founded what is now the City of Boston.
Originally part of an area called Winnisimmet by the native Massachusett tribe, [6] Pullen Poynt was annexed by the Town of Boston in 1632 and was used as a grazing area. In 1637, it was divided into fifteen parcels of land that were given by Governor Winthrop to prominent men in Boston with the stipulation that each must erect a building on his land within two years. Few, if any, of these men ever lived on these parcels of land, but their farms prospered. One of these early houses, the Deane Winthrop House, was the home of Governor Winthrop's youngest son, Deane Winthrop, who lived there until his death in 1704. This house is still standing and is also the oldest continually occupied home in the United States. Although occupied, it is also open to the public at select times. The house is maintained by the Winthrop Improvement and Historical Association. [7]
In 1739, what is now Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, withdrew from Boston due to governmental control disputes and became the Town of Chelsea. In 1775, residents of the Town of Chelsea played a key role in the Battle of Chelsea Creek of the American Revolutionary War. [8] Again, the desire for more local control resulted in Revere and Winthrop seceding from Chelsea in 1846 to become North Chelsea. Shortly thereafter, in 1852, Winthrop was incorporated as a town in its own right with a Board of Selectmen and Open Town Meeting form of government. In 1920, Winthrop was the second town in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to apply for and receive a Charter for a Representative Town Meeting, which continued to 2006.
As noted above, Winthrop adopted a home rule charter in 2005 with a council-manager form of government [9] [10] and is no longer governed by a representative town meeting. It is now legally a city, but chooses to be known as a town that has a city form of government. [11] [12] The new Town Charter, which took effect in 2006, was passed in a special election. The Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting were abolished, and legislative powers were vested in an elected Town Council. Executive power, largely ceremonial, resides in the Council President, who is popularly elected. An appointed Town Manager serves as the head of administrative services.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.3 square miles (21.5 km2), of which 2.0 square miles (5.2 km2) is land and 6.3 square miles (16.3 km2) (76.02%) is water. However, according to the Town Government, Winthrop has a land area of just 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2).
Winthrop is connected by land skirting the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, which is shared across the Belle Isle Inlet with East Boston. The town was originally separated from Deer Island. Although still an island by name, Deer Island has been connected to Winthrop since the former Shirley Gut channel, which once separated the island from the town, was filled in by the New England Hurricane of 1938. The town is considered the northern dividing line between Boston Harbor to its west and Massachusetts Bay to its east.
The town is divided into several neighborhoods with a central downtown area, including Court Park and Cottage Park along the Boston Harbor side of town, and Point Shirley, Cottage Hill, Winthrop Beach, Ocean Spray, and Winthrop Highlands on the Massachusetts Bay side. The town is bordered by Revere to the north, and Boston on the northwest, west, and southeast. The water rights of the town extend to the edge of the county, and border those of Nahant in Essex County. As a result of the expansion of Logan International Airport, part of four of the runways (4L/22R, 4R/22L, 15R/33L, and most of 15L/33R) lies within what was once the water rights of the town. By land, Winthrop is 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from Beacon Hill, the measuring point for all road signs in Massachusetts.
Deer Island, though within the city limits of Boston, is located in Winthrop Bay. It ceased to be an island in the 1930s when Shirley Gut, which separated it from Winthrop, was filled in. The island has a sordid past as an internment camp for Native Americans during King Philip's War, a quarantine station where many immigrants died, and the site of a county jail. Today, the island is home to the mammoth Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant, which provides sewage treatment for the Boston area. [13] In spite of the presence of the water treatment plant, Deer Island has been part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area since 1996 and the remainder of the island consists of park land and offers walking, jogging, sightseeing, picnicking, and fishing. Part of the park land consists of a man-made earthen berm that partly conceals the treatment plant from view from Winthrop. The island is now popular with many Winthrop residents, due to the park landscaping and views of Boston Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean.
Massachusetts Route 145 passes through the town as its only state route and the only connection to the mainland (via Main Street and Winthrop Parkway at opposite ends of town). It enters from the Orient Heights neighborhood of East Boston then passes in a loop around the main body of the town (bypassing Cottage Hill and Point Shirley) before leaving the town to the north, turning into the Winthrop Parkway in Revere. Two bus routes are provided by Paul Revere Transportation, which run from Point Shirley through the highlands and center of the town and terminate at Orient Heights. Paul Revere Transportation has operated the bus service in town since 1991. The service, which is subsidized by the MBTA, operates as Route 712 Point Shirley or Winthrop Beach to Orient Heights Station via Winthrop Highlands and Route 713 Point Shirley or Winthrop Beach to Orient Heights via Winthrop Center. [14] Prior to this, the service was operated by Rapid Transit, which began bus service in Winthrop on January 28, 1940, the day immediately following the closure of the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad (known as the "Narrow Gauge") which had a Winthrop Branch (1877–1940) with nine stations. The Blue Line of the MBTA subway system crosses near the town, with stops at Orient Heights Station, Suffolk Downs Station, and Beachmont Station, all of which are just a half mile from the city limits. A water transportation dock is located at the public landing and provides ferry service across Boston Harbor. Currently, the town operates the service seasonally (May through October) between Winthrop, Quincy, and Rowes Wharf.
Year | Pop. | ±% |
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1860 | 544 | — |
1870 | 532 | −2.2% |
1880 | 1,043 | +96.1% |
1890 | 2,726 | +161.4% |
1900 | 6,058 | +122.2% |
1910 | 10,132 | +67.2% |
1920 | 15,455 | +52.5% |
1930 | 16,852 | +9.0% |
1940 | 16,768 | −0.5% |
1950 | 19,496 | +16.3% |
1960 | 20,303 | +4.1% |
1970 | 20,335 | +0.2% |
1980 | 19,294 | −5.1% |
1990 | 18,127 | −6.0% |
2000 | 18,303 | +1.0% |
2010 | 17,497 | −4.4% |
2020 | 19,316 | +10.4% |
2022 | 18,510 | −4.2% |
Source: U.S. Decennial Census [15] [16] |
As of the census [17] of 2000, there were 18,303 people, 7,843 households, and 4,580 families residing in the town. The population density was 9,208 inhabitants per square mile (3,555/km2). There were 8,067 housing units at an average density of 4,058.5 per square mile (1,567.0/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 94.44% White, 1.68% Black, 1.15% Asian, 0.16% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.36% from other races, and 1.16% of two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race comprised 2.69% of the population.
There were 7,843 households, of which 23.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.6% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.3 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the town the population was spread out, with 18.6% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $53,122, and the median income for a family was $65,696. Males had a median income of $42,135 versus $36,298 for females. The per capita income for the town was $27,374. About 3.3% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.
By the mid-1990s, large shopping malls in the nearby North Shore region of Massachusetts, especially Square One Mall in Saugus, began to drain small businesses, though a strong small business community still prevails.
Located on Great Head (Water Tower Hill) is the Winthrop Water Tower. It is a red, white, and blue striped tower capable of holding 1 million US gallons (3,800 m3) of water. It is maintained by Winthrop's Water Department. [18]
The town is divided into four unique business areas: the Shirley Street Business District, the Highlands District, the Center, and Magee's Corner District. In July 2017, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced a $2.38 million grant to the town to redevelop its Center Business District. [19]
Winthrop has a weekly newspaper, the Winthrop Sun Transcript , which reports local news, current events, happenings, and town concerns.
Winthrop currently has four schools that are a part of Winthrop Public Schools:
Note: Winthrop Middle School and Winthrop High School are housed in the same building, but are two separate and distinct schools with their own administration.
Winthrop has several places of worship for various denominations. They include:
Most Winthrop residents belong to various Christian denominations, such as Roman Catholicism, Methodism, and Episcopalianism. Adherents of Judaism make up a small, but historically significant, minority. Over the past four decades, the once large Jewish community has dwindled due to frequent migration to other parts of Massachusetts.
Winthrop has numerous beaches due to being surrounded by water. The major beaches are Winthrop Beach and Yirrell Beach; others include Donovan's Beach, Halford Beach, Pico Beach and Short Beach.
Winthrop is home to two historic military forts, Fort Banks and Fort Heath. Fort Banks was a United States Coast Artillery fort, which served to defend Boston Harbor from enemy attack from the sea and was built in the 1890s during what is known as the Endicott period, a time in which the coast defenses of the United States were seriously expanded and upgraded with new technology. Fort Heath was built in 1898 also as a Coast Artillery fort. It is now replaced with the Fort Heath Apartment building, Seal Harbor condominia, and a small park on the bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Revere Beach.
Winthrop has five places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Among numerous baseball fields and recreational parks, Winthrop's recreational facilities include Larsen Rink, an indoor ice skating rink, and Winthrop Golf Course, a private 9-hole, par 35 golf course.
Suffolk County is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston, Chelsea, and Revere, and the town of Winthrop. The traditional county seat is Boston, the state capital and the largest city in Massachusetts. The county government was abolished in 1999, resulting in Suffolk County now functioning only as an administrative subdivision of state government and a set of communities grouped together for some statistical purposes. Suffolk County is located at the core of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the greater Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area.
Winthrop Harbor is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Winthrop Harbor is considered the corner stone of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 6,705. It is located along the northern border of Illinois and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Winthrop Harbor is known for its North Point Marina, and is a warning demarcation point for the National Weather Service's marine warnings for Lake Michigan. With moorage over 1,500 boats, it is the largest marina on the Great Lakes. Nearly one million visitors take advantage of the marina, its associated beaches and other recreational facilities every summer.
Stonington is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. It is located on the southern portion of the island of Deer Isle. The population was 1,056 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Burnt Cove, Oceanville, Green Head, and Clam City. A picturesque working waterfront and tranquil tourist destination in eastern Penobscot Bay, Stonington has consistently ranked among the top lobster ports in the country and is the largest lobster port in Maine. In 2011, 14,854,989 pounds of lobster were landed by Stonington fishermen, with a value of $46.3 million.
Phippsburg is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Kennebec River. The population was 2,155 at the 2020 census. It is within the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, metropolitan statistical area. A tourist destination, Phippsburg is home to Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area, Fort Popham State Historic Site; it is also home to Fort Baldwin which overlooks Fort Popham, and Popham Beach State Park, as well as Pond Island National Wildlife Refuge. The town includes part of Winnegance.
Islesboro is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States, comprising Islesboro Island and several smaller islands. The population was 583 at the 2020 census. It has a summer colony accessible by state ferry service from Lincolnville Beach three miles to the west, by private boat, or by air taxi service. Home to Warren Island State Park, Islesboro includes the village of Dark Harbor.
Kittery Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Kittery, York County, Maine, United States. First settled in 1623, Kittery Point traces its history to the first seafarers who colonized the shore of what became Massachusetts Bay Colony and later the State of Maine. Located beside the Atlantic Ocean, it is home to Fort McClary State Historic Site, and Fort Foster Park on Gerrish Island. Cutts Island is home to Seapoint Beach and the Brave Boat Harbor Division of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge.
Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from Boston. The 2020 census reported Chelsea as having a population of 40,787, thereby making it the second most densely populated city in Massachusetts, behind Somerville. With a total area of 2.46 square miles (6.4 km2), Chelsea is the smallest city in Massachusetts in terms of total area. It is the city with the second-highest percentage of Latino residents in Massachusetts, behind Lawrence.
Revere is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) from downtown Boston. Founded as North Chelsea in 1846, it was renamed in 1871 after Revolutionary War patriot Paul Revere. In 1914, the Town of Revere voted to become a city and was incorporated as a city with the inauguration of its first mayor on January 4, 1915. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 62,186 inhabitants.
Fishers Island is an island that is part of Southold, New York, United States at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, 2 miles (3 km) off the southeastern coast of Connecticut across Fishers Island Sound. About 9 miles (14 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, it is about 11 miles (18 km) from the tip of Long Island at Orient Point, 2 miles (3 km) each from Napatree Point at the southwestern tip of Rhode Island and Groton Long Point in Connecticut, and about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of New London, Connecticut. It is accessible from New London by plane and regular ferry service.
Nahant is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,334 at the 2020 census, which makes it the smallest municipality by population in Essex County. With just 1.0 square mile (2.7 km2) of land area, it is also the smallest municipality by area in the state and is primarily a residential community. The town is situated on a peninsula consisting of two near-islands connected to the mainland by a narrow sandy isthmus traversed by a single causeway known as "Nahant Road". Numerous tourist beaches line the shores, with the most popular being the so-called "Long Beach" and "Short Beach" along the eastern side of the causeway.
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.
Scituate is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census.
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States.
The Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad was a 3 ft narrow-gauge passenger-carrying shortline railroad between East Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts, from 1875 to 1940. Part of the railroad's right of way now forms the outer section of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Blue Line rapid transit service.
Revere Beach station is a rapid transit station in Revere, Massachusetts. Located between Beach Street and Shirley Avenue, it serves the MBTA Blue Line. It serves Revere Beach, a popular summer destination with a substantial year-round resident population. It opened in January 1954 on the site of a former Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad station, as part of an extension to Wonderland. Revere Beach station was closed and rebuilt from 1994 to 1995.
Deer Island is a peninsula in Boston, Massachusetts. Since 1996, it has been part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Although still an island by name, Deer Island has been connected to the mainland since the former Shirley Gut channel, which once separated the island from the town of Winthrop, was filled in by the 1938 New England hurricane. Today, Deer Island is the location of the Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant, whose 150-foot-tall (46 m) egg-like sludge digesters are major harbor landmarks.
Route 145 is a 6.716-mile-long (10.808 km) circuitous south–north urban state highway in Massachusetts. It is entirely within Suffolk County and primarily serves the peninsular town of Winthrop from East Boston and Revere. Its southern terminus is at Route 1A in East Boston and its northern terminus is at Route 16 in Revere.
Fort Heath was a US seacoast military installation for defense of the Boston and Winthrop Harbors with an early 20th-century Coast Artillery fort, a 1930s USCG radio station, prewar naval research facilities, World War II batteries, and a Cold War radar station. The fort was part of the Harbor Defenses of Boston and was garrisoned by the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. The fort's military structures have been replaced by a residential complex, including the luxurious Forth Heath Apartments, and recreation facilities of Small Park, which has both a commemorative wall and an historical marker for Fort Heath.
Ayer is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Originally part of Groton, it was incorporated February 14, 1871, and became a major commercial railroad junction. The town was home to Camp Stevens, a training camp for Massachusetts volunteers during the American Civil War. Later, Fort Devens was established by the federal government to train New England soldiers for World War I. Fort Devens is a major influence on the area, although it is considerably smaller than when it was first closed in the mid-1990s. The town's population was 8,479 at the 2020 census.
The Harbor Defenses of Boston was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of Boston, Massachusetts from 1895 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included both coast artillery forts and underwater minefields. The command originated circa 1895 as the Boston Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of Boston in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of Boston in 1925.