Mount Wollaston - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Wollaston, Massachusetts, is a neighborhood in the city of Quincy

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. Divided by Hancock Street/Route 3A, the Wollaston Beach

Wollaston Beach

Wollaston Beach is a public beach located along Quincy Shore Drive in the Wollaston, section of Quincy, Massachusetts. It is located on Quincy Bay, part of Boston Harbor. It is cared for by the Friends of Wollaston Beach , and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation . At its...

side is called Wollaston Park, while the Wollaston Hill side is called Wollaston Heights.

It is bordered by the North Quincy

North Quincy, Massachusetts

North Quincy is a neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts. It is separated from the city of Boston by the Neponset River, and borders the Quincy neighborhoods of Squantum, Montclair and Wollaston...

neighborhood to the north, Quincy Bay

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 Wollaston Bay...

to the east, the Merrymount

Merrymount (Quincy, Massachusetts)

Merrymount is a primarily residential neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, located between the neighborhoods of Quincy Center and Adams Shore. Although it was the site of Quincy's initial settlement, Merrymount was not substantially developed for residential use until the first half of the 20th...

neighborhood and Quincy Center

Quincy Center (Quincy, Massachusetts)

Quincy Center is an area of Quincy, Massachusetts, centered along Hancock Street and covering the downtown area of the city. The area is a retail shopping locale and also includes the City Hall, the Thomas Crane Public Library, several churches, including the United First Parish Church, where John...

to the southeast and south, and Milton, Massachusetts

Milton, Massachusetts

Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...

to the west. Wollaston is served by the Wollaston Station

Wollaston (MBTA station)

Wollaston is a station on the Red Line of the MBTA subway at the intersection of Beale Street and Newport Avenue in Quincy, Massachusetts. It serves Quincy's Wollaston neighborhood. There is an on-site 550 space parking lot...

on the B branch of the MBTA

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...

Red Line

Red Line (MBTA)

The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2...

, which runs north-south from Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

to Braintree, Massachusetts

Braintree, Massachusetts

The Town of Braintree is a suburban city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a town, Braintree adopted a municipal charter, effective 2008, with a mayor-council form of government and is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The population was 35,744...

.

Mount Wollaston, a similar-sounding 17th century designation for Quincy, is now given to a cemetery in the current neighborhood of Merrymount

Merrymount

Merrymount may refer to:*Merrymount , a neighborhood in the city of Quincy, Massachusetts*Wollaston, Massachusetts, an adjacent neighborhood in Quincy, Massachusetts that bears the original name of Merrymount, Massachusetts...

in Quincy.

Early history

In 1624, Thomas Morton emigrated from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

to the Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...

, in the company of a Captain Wollaston. Unable to get along with the Pilgrim authorities in Plymouth Colony, Wollaston and Morton left the colony in 1625 with a company of 30 or 40 colonists. They cleared the land and built log-huts on the seaward slopes of the hills in what is now Merrymount. The present day Wollaston neighborhood is located west and northwest of the original location of the early colonial settlement.

Wollaston was the home of William and Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson was one of the most prominent women in colonial America, noted for her strong religious convictions, and for her stand against the staunch religious orthodoxy of 17th century Massachusetts...

following their emigration from England in 1636. It was in Wollaston where Anne began her career as a pioneering female preacher in colonial America. William and Eunice Cole first settled in Mount Wollaston upon their arrival from England and were granted 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) of land on February 20, 1637, though they left for Exeter, New Hampshire

Exeter, New Hampshire

Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...

before the year was out. Today Eunice Cole is better known as Goody Cole

Goody Cole

Eunice Cole , maiden name unknown, was a woman from the coast of New Hampshire. Better known as "Goody Cole", she is the only woman convicted of witchcraft in New Hampshire.-Family:...

and was convicted of witchcraft in Hampton, New Hampshire

Hampton, New Hampshire

Hampton is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,976 at the 2010 census. Located beside the Atlantic Ocean, Hampton is home to Hampton Beach, a summer tourist destination....

in 1656, the only woman to ever have been convicted of such charges in New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

The Quincy family

Edmund Quincy, progenitor of the illustrious Quincy family after whom Quincy Market

Quincy Market

Quincy Market is a historic building near Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was constructed 1824–1826 and named in honor of Mayor Josiah Quincy, who organized its construction without any tax or debt.-History:...

in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

and the city of Quincy

Quincy, Massachusetts

are named, emigrated to Massachusetts in 1633. On December 14, 1635, he received a grant of land, approximately 400 acres (1.6 km²), where his son established the Quincy Homestead

Quincy Homestead

The Dorothy Quincy Homestead is a US National Historic Landmark in Quincy, Massachusetts. It was originally established by Edmund Quincy in 1686 as an extensive property upon which were built multiple homes...

. Four generations later, Josiah Quincy I built a mansion, the Josiah Quincy House

Josiah Quincy House

The Josiah Quincy House , located at 20 Muirhead Street in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, was the country home of Revolutionary War soldier Colonel Josiah Quincy I, the first in a line of six illustrious Josiah Quincys that included three Boston mayors and a president of...

, on a 200 acre (0.809372 km²) site known as the "Lower Farm." The house still stands on Muirhead Street in Wollaston. In 1848, the fourth Josiah Quincy

Josiah Quincy, Jr.

Josiah Quincy, Jr. was mayor of Boston , as was his father Josiah Quincy III and grandson Josiah Quincy . He was the author of Figures in the Past . As a member of the Massachusetts State Legislature in 1837, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Massachusetts Board of Education...

built another, the "Josiah Quincy Mansion," as his summer home. The Quincy family land in Wollaston, which bordered on Adams family land, was passed from the Quincys to the Adams via Abigail Smith's marriage to John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

19th century

The Quincy land was later developed in the 1870s and 1880s as a fine residential neighborhood: one of the area's first commuter neighborhoods. Residents were given a one year free pass on the Old Colony Railroad from Wollaston Station to downtown Boston. Wollaston MBTA station

Wollaston (MBTA station)

occupies the same site as the old station. In 1896, the Quincy estate was subdivided into "prestigious building lots" called Wollaston Park, and the Josiah Quincy Mansion became part of the 12 acres (48,562.3 m²) campus of the Quincy Mansion School for Girls.

20th century

In 1919, Wollaston became home to the Eastern Nazarene College

Eastern Nazarene College

The Eastern Nazarene College is a private, coeducational college of the liberal arts and sciences in Quincy, Massachusetts near Boston, in the New England region of the United States. Known for its strong religious affiliation, distinctive liberal arts core curriculum, and excellence in science...

, which moved onto the old Quincy Mansion School property. The Mansion stood as part of the college until 1969. Angell Hall is now in the spot on campus where the Mansion once stood.

The first Howard Johnson's

Howard Johnson's

Howard Johnson's is a chain of hotels and restaurants, located primarily throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the United States, with over 1,000 restaurants...

restaurant was established in Wollaston in 1925. The city of Quincy has placed a stone marker next to the Wollaston MBTA station parking lot designating that location as the original site of the first Howard Johnson's. This building was torn down before the opening of the new Wollaston station in 1971. The original Howard Johnson offices were located a short distance up the street, on the corner of Beale Street and Newport Avenue. The initials "HJ" can be seen in tiles on the walkway in front of the Beale Street entrance. The circa 1925 restaurant/pharmacy building can be seen here in its early days. Eastern Nazarene bought the old candy factory and executive offices on Old Colony Avenue in the late 1990s and developed them into its Old Colony Campus.

The basement of what is now a Japanese restaurant at the corner of Hancock Street and Bass Street is rumored to have served as the original rehearsal room for the Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys

Dropkick Murphys are an Irish-American punk rock band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The band was initially signed to independent punk record label Hellcat Records, releasing five albums for the label, and making a name for themselves locally through constant playing and yearly St....

when the popular Irish-influenced punk band was starting out in the mid-'90s. However, the band quickly developed a following and the original practice space was abandoned when too many teenagers began hanging around in front of the building while the band was rehearsing. Another rumor maintains that the Dropkick Murphy's practice space was in the basement of Sean's Barbershop on Hancock Street which is now a mobile phone store across the street from Papa Gino's restaurant.

Both actress Ruth Gordon

Ruth Gordon

Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...

and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

John Cheever

John William Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the Westchester suburbs, old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy,...

were born on Winthrop Avenue on Wollaston Hill, and American character actor Billy De Wolfe

Billy De Wolfe

Billy De Wolfe was an American character actor. He was active in films from the mid-1940s until his death in 1974. He was a good friend of Doris Day from the time of their meeting during the filming of Tea for Two until his death...

was also born in Wollaston.

Most young people in Quincy refer to it as "Wolly Beach". It has several restaurants including "The Clam Shack" and "Tony`s" that serve seafood and are generally open in the summer and close in the winter.

Early history

The Quincy family

19th century

20th century

See also