Weymouth, Massachusetts, United States

🇺🇸 Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, and one of 13 municipalities in the state to have city forms of government while retaining "town of" in their official names. It is named after Weymouth, Dorset, a coastal town in England, and is the second-oldest settlement in Massachusetts, second only to Plymouth. It is one of the South Shore's more affordable towns and offers a short commute into Boston, MBTA bus and rail service, and a town beach.

History A failed colony Weymouth was settled in 1622 as Wessagusset Colony founded by Thomas Weston, who had been the main financial backer of Plymouth Colony. The settlement was a failure, as the 60 men from London were ill-prepared for the hardships required for survival. They also may have lacked the motivation of the Pilgrims, as this colony was purely economic in motivation and the men had not brought their families.

By winter, poor planning and bad management led to supplies running out, and the Plymouth colonists had little to share. The situation grew desperate and Weymouth men began to sell their clothes, hire themselves out as laborers, and even steal from the local Massachusett Indians. The Indians were soon taunting the Weymouth men and robbing them of what little food they gathered clamming and foraging in the woods. By now, many in the colony were starving or ill, and law and order had broken down. The lowest point came when a settler was accused of stealing supplies from the Massachusetts, and the Massachusett leaders demanded the thief's execution; the Weymouth men complied, but legend has it that they may have executed a dying, sick settler instead.

By April 1623, word came of conflict between American Indians and the Virginia colonists, and tension increased between the Wessagusset colonists and the Indians. Massachusetts and other tribes began plotting to attack and destroy what was left of the floundering colony and the more successful Plymouth Colony. Wampanoag Chief Massasoit heard about the plot but soon fell ill and nearly died. A party from the Plymouth Colony came to his village and nursed him back to health, and he warned them of the plot. Governor William Bradford decided to preempt the planned attack, and sent Myles Standish to Weymouth with the Plymouth militia and their Indian guide Hobbamock to end the threat. Using the promise of a meal of pork, Standish lured five of the more bellicose Massachusett Indians inside the stockade, including Wituwamat, a large man who had belittled Standish because he was short and had bragged about murdering a number of French shipwreck survivors. Once inside, there was a brief struggle and the Indian leaders were killed.

Ten of the original 60 colonists starved to death and two others were killed in conflicts with the Indians. Forty-five colonists joined Plymouth or went north to Maine, and from there most returned to England. Three men who had left the colony to live among the Indians as laborers could not be warned in time and were subsequently killed by them after Standish had released the women and children.

Robert Gorges attempted to form a colony at the site later that year as the centre of a more royalist and Anglican system of government for New England. He brought William Morrell as religious leader and expected Governor Bradford to acknowledge his supremacy and act as his agent. Within weeks, the New England winter caused Gorges to leave with most of the settlers. Those who remained formed the nucleus of the permanent settlement. and the oldest in what would become Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1630, it was officially incorporated into the Massachusetts Bay Colony; the name was changed to Weymouth in 1635 with the addition of 100 families under the leadership of Joseph Hull. These groups experienced some difficulty integrating together, especially due to conflicting pressures from the Puritans of Boston and the Pilgrims of Plymouth, but Weymouth was a stable and prominent town with its current boundaries by 1635. It was included as part of Suffolk County when it was formed on May 10, 1643. The oldest surviving house in Weymouth is the Bickman House (c. 1650) located at 84 Sea Street.

Post-colonization Weymouth was heavily involved in the shoemaking industry from the first years of the 18th century right through to 1973, when the Stetson Shoe Company closed its doors. The building is currently being used for medical offices.

The original town hall was destroyed by fire in 1914 and was replaced in 1928 with a town hall that is a replica of the old Massachusetts State House in Boston. In May 2018, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker designated a tract of land near Lakeview Manor and the eastern and northern borders of Whitman's Pond as an "opportunity zone" under the Congressional Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Points of interest • The house where Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams and mother to President John Quincy Adams, was born is in Weymouth. • A portion of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, which was closed in 1996 under the Base Realignment and Closure Act, was located in Weymouth. The property has been slated for development, which will be called Union Point. Plans include a parkway, residences, a sports facility, and a movie studio. • Union Point Sports Complex, a 25-acre (10 ha) sports complex.

Parks Weymouth has 43 parks, playgrounds, memorials, recreation areas and facilities:

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 21.6 square miles (56 km²), of which 17 square miles (44 km²) is land and 4.6 square miles (12 km²) (comprising 21.29%) is water.

Weymouth contains the Weymouth Back River and the Weymouth Fore River; its surroundings, formerly industrial, are now set aside as parks and natural areas, including Webb Memorial State Park. There are many streets named after people and trees.

Weymouth residents often designate which of four "districts" they live in: • North Weymouth is considered anything north of the intersection of Church Street, North Street and Green Street. Some of the sites around North Weymouth are Great Esker Park, George Lane Beach, Webb State Park, the Wessagusset Yacht Club, Boston skyline views, and the Abigail Adams Historical Society. Historically North Weymouth was a blue collar area, However, recently it has started to include up-and-coming waterfront property that rivals similar in pricier towns. Many small cottages are being bought up and redone on the waterfront. This is notable on streets such as Regatta Road. North Weymouth is the most densely populated area of the town. • South Weymouth is mostly south of Route 3. South Weymouth is home to the former Naval Air base that is being redeveloped into residential and commercial properties and is one of the areas biggest development projects. South Shore Hospital and Weymouth High School are in South Weymouth. South Weymouth has its own town square called Columbian Square. • East Weymouth is somewhat in the centre of Weymouth, including Whitman's Pond, Jackson Square, and Town Hall. East Weymouth has several fine examples of Victorian homes, including Queen Anne, shingle, and colonial revival homes. Some particularly fine examples of these homes are being restored on Hillcrest Road. East Weymouth has many longtime working class residents who take pride in their hometown. • Weymouth Landing spans a mile around Weston Park. After recent years of blight in the main commercial area it is being redeveloped. Weymouth Landing is the border between Weymouth and Braintree and is where the Fore River splits into tributaries.

Weymouth is bordered on the north by Hingham Bay and Boston Harbor. Weymouth's territory includes Grape Island, Slate Island, and Sheep Island, all part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Weymouth is bordered on the west by Quincy, Braintree, and Holbrook. It is bordered on the south by Abington and Rockland. Weymouth is bordered on the east by Hingham.

Transport Weymouth is served by several MBTA bus routes as well as three MBTA Commuter Rail stations: two on the Greenbush Line, at Weymouth Landing and East Weymouth, and one on the Kingston Line at South Weymouth. Numbered routes that pass through Weymouth include Massachusetts Routes 3, 3A, 18, 53, 58 and 139.

Government Weymouth was founded in 1635, from the territory known as Wessagusett which was described in 1622—just two years after the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth. Weymouth held the distinction of having the oldest continuous town meeting form of government, for 365 years. In 1999, Weymouth residents voted to change to a city form of government.