Pemberton Point (formerly known as Windmill Point) is a peninsula in

Hull, Massachusetts 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 fou ...

. It is located at the tip of the Nantasket Peninsula, in

Boston Harbor 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. History Since ...

History

Historic

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

s have called the location "Windmill Point" since the 1820s. The windmills for which the point were named were used by two brothers to pump seawater into vats to be used for harvesting salt. The salt would then be used to pack fish. On July 13, 1909, fourteen-year-old Rosie Pitenhof swam across the

Hull Gut Hull Gut is a gut (a narrow, naturally dredged deep-water channel) about half a mile wide and thirty-five feet deep, in Boston Harbor running between Pemberton Point in Hull and the East Head of Peddocks Island. Along with its sister channel, Wes ...

from

Peddocks Island Peddocks Island is one of the largest islands in Boston Harbor. Since 1996 it has formed part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the island is home to the now-defunct Fo ...

to Pemberton Point and back, believed to be the first to do so.

Hull High School Hull High School is a public high school located in Hull, Massachusetts, United States. It is located at 180 Main Street at the very edge of town adjacent to the Hull Gut, overlooking Boston Harbor and the Boston skyline. Hull has an approximate ...

, the town's public high school, opened on the point in 1957.

Wind turbines

Hull 1 wind turbine 2775994684 683df13fd6 o

An Enertech 40 kW

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

was installed on Pemberton Point and started energy production in March 1985. The turbine was funded by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, and was sited adjacent to the high school. It was damaged beyond repair by a storm in March 1997, and was removed after a new wind turbine, nicknamed "Hull Wind 1", was installed nearby at the end of 2001.

Hull Wind 1

Hull Wind 1, a new

Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Uni ...

V47 turbine capable of producing 660 kW, began producing power on Pemberton Point in December 2001. It stands tall. It is the first commercial wind turbine on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

and in the whole of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. It is also the first commercial

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

turbine in North America. During its first year of operation, it saved Hull over 100,000. In 2003, planning began for an additional wind turbine known as "Hull Wind 2". It was initially suggested that it be located near Hull Wind 1, but after concerns were expressed by nearby residents over having two in close proximity, the new Vestas V80 1.8 MW wind turbine was installed on a

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

to the east, away from Pemberton Point, and began operation in May 2006.

Facilities

The United States Coast Guard Station Point Allerton was built in 1969 and is located near the point. It was commissioned on April 18, 1970. Point Allerton Lifesaving Station, which opened on October 15, 1889, used to hold the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

before the present station was built. The

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

runs

boats A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

from Pemberton Point to both Long Wharf and

Logan Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partiall ...

. Pemberton Point Pier is a popular fishing location.

References

External links