Webb Memorial State Park is a 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...

 state park

State park

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...

 located on a peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 that extends nearly half a mile into the Hingham Bay

Hingham Bay

Hingham Bay is the easternmost of the three small bays of outer Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming the western shoreline of the town of Hull and the northern shoreline of Hingham in the United States state of Massachusetts. It lies east of Quincy Bay and is met at the southwest by...

 area of Boston Harbor

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 northeast.-History:...

. It is composed of three connected drumlins and a low marsh area. Although not itself an island, the state park now forms part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

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, many of which are open for public recreation and some...

.

In the 1860s the peninsula became part of the Bradley Fertilizer factory, and was used for dumping industrial waste. In the 1950s it was used to house the missile launchers for a Nike missile

Project Nike

Project Nike was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the Nike Ajax, in 1953...

 site. The IFC (Integrated Fire Control) and radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 systems for this site were located on what is now Spinnaker Island

Spinnaker Island (Massachusetts)

Spinnaker Island is an island in the Hingham Bay area of Boston Harbor in Massachusetts...

, on the other side of Hingham Bay. The missile site was deactivated in 1974, and in 1977 it was transferred to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and work started on its conversion into a state park. Webb Memorial State Park opened in 1980.

External links

• Boston Harbor Islands Visitors Guide web page for Webb Memorial State Park
• Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Resources web page for Webb Memorial State Park