Hingham Bay is the easternmost of the three small bays of outer

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 ...

, part of

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its ...

and forming the western shoreline of the town of Hull and the northern shoreline of Hingham in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

state of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. It lies east of

Quincy Bay Quincy Bay is the largest of the three small bays of southern Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming much of the shoreline of the city of Quincy, Massachusetts. Locally in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy it is known as Wollasto ...

and is met at the southwest by the mouth of

Weymouth Fore River Weymouth Fore River is a small bay or estuary in eastern Massachusetts and is part of the Massachusetts Bay watershed. The headwater of Weymouth Fore River is formed by the confluence of the Monatiquot River and Smelt Brook in the Weymouth Land ...

, also forming part of the waterfront of Weymouth. The bay is home to several of the

Boston Harbor Islands Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most po ...

Description

The bay is roughly wide east to west and long south to north. It is nearly enclosed on all sides, surrounded by peninsulas, former islands joined to the mainland, and

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 ...

. There are two passages to Nantasket Roads and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, one a opening at

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 ...

between Peddocks Island and Windmill Point in the northwest and a passage at West Gut between the island and

Hough's Neck Houghs Neck is a one-square-mile (2.6 km2) peninsula in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is surrounded by Quincy Bay, Hingham Bay and Rock Island Cove. It is lined by Perry Beach, which runs along Manet Avenue; Nut Island, which is just beyond Gre ...

Nut Island Nut Island is a former island in Boston Harbor, part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island has been connected through a short causeway to the end of Hough's Neck (Quincy, Massachusetts), Houghs Neck, becoming part of th ...

, part of the city of Quincy. Along the western portion of Hingham Bay a wide, deep channel allows oceangoing ships access from Hull Gut to Weymouth Fore River. To the north and east the bay is bordered by the town of Hull, where the contiguous water reaching the Hull shore is also known as Hull Bay. On the south, moving west, Hingham Bay is fed by three estuaries: Weir River between Hull and Hingham,

Weymouth Back River The Weymouth Back River, sometimes called Back River, is a short, primarily tidal river in Hingham and Weymouth, Massachusetts, about south of Boston. It arises from a number of tributaries in ponds and swamps, most notably Whitmans Pond, flows ...

between Hingham and Weymouth, and Weymouth Fore River between Weymouth and Quincy.

Bumpkin Island __NOTOC__ Bumpkin Island, also known as Round Island, Bomkin Island, Bumkin Island, or Ward's Island, is an island in the Hingham Bay area of the Boston Harbor. In 1902, Albert Burrage, a Boston philanthropist, had a summer hospital opened on t ...

() in Hingham and Grape Island () in Weymouth, along with the smaller Slate Island and Sheep Island, are part of the

Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is a national recreation area situated among the islands of Boston Harbor of Boston, Massachusetts. The area is made up of a collection of islands, together with a former island and a peninsula, ...

. Spinnaker Island in the north is attached to Hull by a low bridge. Other islands under in size that are associated with the bay include

Button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, ...

, Langlee, Ragged and

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

Islands, all in Hingham Harbor. The southeast part of the bay is separated from Weir River estuary by World's End, a peninsular park owned by

The Trustees of Reservations The Trustees of Reservations is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest land conservation nonprofit orga ...

History

Boston Harbor and its smaller sections such as Hingham Bay are characterized by geography created through

Quaternary glaciation The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma (million years ago) and is ongoing. Although geologists describe ...

s. During the last 100,000 years two glacial periods shaped the typical topography of the area through creation of

drumlin A drumlin, from the Irish word ''droimnín'' ("littlest ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated ...

s and

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

s followed by marine incursion flooding the low levels as the glaciers receded. This geological activity accounts for the variety of necks, peninsulas and islands in the harbor. The native

Massachusett The Massachusett were a Native American tribe from the region in and around present-day Greater Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name comes from the Massachusett language term for "At the Great Hill," referring to the Blue Hills ...

and antecedent tribes populated the islands of Hingham Bay as early as 8,000 years before the present, taking advantage of a rich marine ecology which featured shellfish, fishing and wild flora. The natives were first encountered in 1621 during the

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

of the Atlantic seaboard by settlers from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the 17th century. Native Americans were removed from the islands and Hingham Bay area as a result of

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

in 1675, while fishing continued to be a main activity of the colonists. Military posts were established on

and

Fort Revere Fort Revere is an historic site situated on a small peninsula located in Hull, Massachusetts. It is situated on Telegraph Hill in Hull Village and contains the remains of two seacoast fortifications, one from the American Revolution and one t ...

at the strategically important Hull Gut entrance to Hingham Bay beginning in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. Ships and submarines were produced at

Fore River Shipyard Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901 ...

located on Weymouth Fore River near where the river enters Hingham Bay beginning in the early 20th century. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, hundreds of ships produced for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

at Fore River Shipyard and the associated

Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard The Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard of Hingham, Massachusetts, was a shipyard in the United States from 1941 until 1945. Located on Weymouth Back River, it was owned by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company and operated by the nearby Fore River Shipyard. ...

in Hingham first entered the Atlantic at Hingham Bay. Following the war, the list of possible locations for

United Nations Headquarters The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...

included the unused land at World's End on Hingham Bay. The land was also later considered as a location for a

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

that was eventually built in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. The protection of Hingham Bay has been assisted by the establishment of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area in 1996 and the establishment of the Weir River Estuary Park Committee by the towns of Cohasset, Hingham and Hull in 2002.

References

{{Coastal waterbodies of Massachusetts Bays of Massachusetts Hingham, Massachusetts Hull, Massachusetts Bodies of water of Norfolk County, Massachusetts Watersheds of Boston Harbor