Duxbury

History

, built ]] The area now known as Duxbury was inhabited by people as early as 12,000 to 9,000 BCE. By the time European settlers arrived there, the region was inhabited by the Wampanoags, who called it Mattakeesett, meaning "place of many fish." In 1620, English settlers known as the Pilgrims established their colony in nearby Plymouth. Per the terms of their contract with financial backers in London, they were required to live together in a tight community for seven years. At the end of that term in 1627, land along the coast was allotted to settlers for farming. Thus, the coastline from Plymouth to Marshfield, including Duxbury, likely named after Myles Standish's ancestral home of Duxbury Hall in Chorley, was parceled out, and many settlers began moving away from Plymouth. When the Minuteman alarm sounded on April 19, 1775, with news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, many volunteers mustered to the regiment of Colonel Theophilus Cotton from Plymouth, Kingston, and Duxbury, and headed for Marshfield to engage the British. The colonial officers held a council of war at the home of Lt. Col. Briggs Alden in Duxbury. Duxbury's shipbuilding era began immediately after the end of the Revolutionary War with the Treaty of Paris. The new nation was granted fishing rights on the Grand Banks, and several families took advantage of the new opportunity and began to build large fishing schooners. The schooners built in the 1790s gave way to larger brigs and eventually three-masted ships. As several merchant families began to amass large fleets, shipyards and other ancillary industries flourished and Duxbury prospered. By the 1840s, Duxbury boasted about 20 shipyards and produced an average of ten large sailing vessels per year. By 1837, there were nearly 40…

Geography

inlet with King Caesar House in the background]] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (36.87%) is water. Duxbury is bordered by Cape Cod Bay to the east, Duxbury Bay, Kingston Bay, and Plymouth to the southeast, Kingston to the southwest, Pembroke to the west and northwest, and Marshfield to the north. The town's border with Plymouth is due to the town's having the only land access to Saquish Neck, a thin, hook-shaped strip of land along Duxbury Bay, at the tip of which is Saquish Head in Plymouth. Duxbury is the sixth largest cranberry producer in Massachusetts and has oyster beds and other shellfish. The town has many ponds and bogs throughout. The Back River lies along the western edge of Saquish Neck, and has many tributaries from the local rivers, brooks, and marshes. There are several sanctuaries, a conservation area and other forests within the town, especially in the western half.

Most-observed species

• Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810)

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  19,793
• Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,453
• Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,949
• Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  16,274
• Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  15,592
• Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766)

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  15,580
• Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766)

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  13,161
• Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758)

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,675

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.5 — 2007-10-19
  2 km WSW of Littleton Common, Massachusetts
• M 2.5 — 2005-11-17
  4 km S of Plymouth, Massachusetts
• M 2.5 — 2002-06-07
  3 km NNW of Hopedale, Massachusetts