Local city information for Hull, MA

Hull is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,050 at the 2000 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in Plymouth County and the fourth smallest in the state. However, its population density is within the top thirty towns in the state.

Hull has been the summer home to several luminaries throughout the years, including former Boston mayor John F. Fitzgerald (a.k.a. "``Honey Fitz"), the father of Rose Kennedy; President Calvin Coolidge; and Joseph Kennedy, Sr.


The Massachusetts tribe called the area "Nantasket," meaning "at the strait" or "low-tide place." It is a series of islands connected by sandbars forming Nantasket Peninsula, on which the Plymouth Colony established a trading post in 1621 for trade with the Wampanoags. The town was first settled in 1622 and officially incorporated in 1644, when it was named for Hull, England. Early industries included fishing, trade and salvaging shipwrecks. During the Revolution, General Benjamin Lincoln oversaw the evacuation of Boston from here in 1778.

Hull has seven distinct hills and these seven hills are what make the peninsula's topography quite unique. Millions of years ago during the formation of the peninsula, seven glaciers came in close proximity to each other and over hundreds of thousands of years dirt, clay, sand, etc, covered the glaciers and the areas between them. This formed the town as it currently stands, and is what created 'the seven hills of hull'.

Hull was originally part of Suffolk County, and when the southern part of the county was set off as Norfolk County in 1793, it included the towns of Hull and Hingham. In 1803 those towns opted out of Norfolk County and became part of Plymouth County.

Lifesaving has been an important part of Hull history. The Massachusetts Humane Society placed one of its first Huts of Refuge on Nantasket Beach after the American Revolution. When it expanded its boat houses for lifeboats it places several in Hull at Stoney Beach, on Nantasket Beach, and near Cohasset. Joshua James (1826-1902), Hull’s most famous lifesaver, became the first Keeper of the Pt. Allerton U.S. Life Saving Station, when in opened in 1889. James and his crews, both Humane Society volunteers and U.S. Life-Savers, are estimated to have saved over 1000 people from shipwrecks. The exact number is not known because Massachusetts Humane Society records were lost in the Great Boston Fire in 1872. The Hull Lifesaving Museum is now located in the 1889 Pt. Allerton Life Saving Station, with the Museum's Maritime Program housed in the old Coast Guard boathouse at Pemberon Point. The new U.S. Coast Guard Station Point Allerton opened at the edge of Hull Village near Pemberton Point in 1969.

Hull features Nantasket Beach, with fine, light gray sand -- generally considered one of the finest beaches in New England. At low tide, there are acres of sandy tide pools. Beginning the community's development as a tourist resort, in 1825 Paul Worrick established the Sportsman Hotel on Nantasket Avenue. More hotels were built, and by 1840, steamboats made 3 trips a day between the town and Boston.

Following the crowds onto the boardwalks were gamblers, pickpockets and confidence men, so Paragon Park was built as a safe place for those seeking amusement. Called a "marvel of fantasy," it once featured a ride based on the Johnstown Flood. The complex closed in 1984 when the property was sold for condominium development. Today, the only surviving remnants of Paragon Park on the boardwalk are the historic carousel and clock tower.

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