Hingham

History

The town of Hingham was dubbed "Bare Cove" by the first colonizing English in 1633, but two years later was incorporated as a town under the name "Hingham." The land on which Hingham was settled was deeded to the English by the Wampanoag sachem Wompatuck in 1655. The town was within Suffolk County from its founding in 1643 until 1803, and Plymouth County from 1803 to the present. The eastern part of the town split off to become Cohasset in 1770. The town was named for Hingham, a market town in the English county of Norfolk, whence most of the first colonists came, including Abraham Lincoln's ancestor Samuel Lincoln (1622–1690), his first American ancestor, who came to Massachusetts in 1637. A statue of President Lincoln adorns the area adjacent to downtown Hingham Square. Hingham was born of religious dissent. Many of the original founders were forced to flee their native town in Norfolk with both their vicars, Rev. Peter Hobart and Rev. Robert Peck, when they fell afoul of the strict doctrines of the Church of England. Peck was known for what the eminent Norfolk historian Rev. Francis Blomefield called his "violent schismatical spirit". Peck lowered the chancel railing of the church, in accord with Puritan sentiment that the Anglican church of the day was too removed from its parishioners. He also antagonized ecclesiastical authorities with other forbidden practices. Hobart, born in Hingham, Norfolk, in 1604 and, like Peck, a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge, sought shelter from the prevailing discipline of the high church among his fellow Puritans. The cost to those who emigrated was steep. They "sold their possessions for half their value," noted a contemporary account, "and named the place of their settlement after their natal town." (The cost to the…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 15.58%, is water. Hingham is bordered on the east by Cohasset, and Scituate, on the south by Norwell and Rockland, on the west by Weymouth, and on the north by Hingham Bay and Hull. Cohasset and Weymouth are in Norfolk County; the other towns, like Hingham itself, are in Plymouth County. Hingham is southeast of Boston. Hingham lies along the southwestern corner of Boston Harbor. The bay leads to a harbor, which cuts a U-shaped indentation into the northern shore of the town. The town is separated from Hull by the Weir River and its tributary, which leads to the Straits Pond. The northern third of the town's border with Weymouth consists of the Weymouth Back River, which empties out into Hingham Bay. There are several other small ponds and brooks throughout town. The town also has several forests and parks, the largest of which, Wompatuck State Park, spreads into the neighboring towns of Cohasset, Scituate and Norwell. There are also several conservation areas throughout town; the portion of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area in Hingham includes Bumpkin Island, Button Island, Langlee Island, Ragged Island, Sarah Island and the World's End Reservation, which juts out into the bay. There is a marina along the mouth of the Weymouth Back River, and a public beach along the harbor. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Hingham has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Hingham was ? on June 23, 1888, July 17–18, 1900, July 9, 1912, July 22, 2011, and July 24, 2022, while the coldest temperature recorded was on January 22, 1961 and January 22, 1984. |source 2 = National Weather…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  58,025
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  50,779
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  50,654
• American herring gull, Smithsonian Gull

  Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 · Aves
  45,243
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  44,281
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  40,570
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  38,704
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  37,490

Largest nearby schools

• Hingham High
  High · Hingham · 1,167 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• South Shore Charter Public School
  Other · Norwell · 1,054 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Hingham Middle School
  Middle · Hingham · 844 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• Hanover Middle
  Middle · Hanover · 801 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• Scituate High School
  High · Scituate · 763 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• John W Rogers Middle
  Middle · Rockland · 715 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• Hanover High
  High · Hanover · 667 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• South Shore Vocational Technical High
  High · Hanover · 653 students · 9.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
  9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
• M 2.6 — 2015-01-13
  2 km E of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 3.3 — 2015-01-12
  0 km NE of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 2.9 — 2010-06-07
  29 km SE of York Beach, Maine