World's End (Hingham)
Encyclopedia
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
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"....
in Hingham, Massachusetts
Hingham, Massachusetts
Hingham is a town in northern Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and suburb in Greater Boston. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...
. The peninsula is bordered by the Weir River
Weir River (Massachusetts)
Weir River is a short stream and estuary that empties into Hingham Bay, part of Boston Harbor in Massachusetts, United States. The name is attributed to the location of a fishing weir in the stream...
to the North and East and Hingham Harbor (part of 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...
, and 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:...
) to the West. The land is composed of four drumlin
Drumlin
A drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín , first recorded in 1833, is an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine.-Drumlin formation:...
s (Pine Hill, Planter's Hill, and the double drumlins of World's End proper) harboring tree groves interspersed with fields attractive to butterflies and grassland-nesting birds, and offers walking paths and views of the Boston skyline.
The adjacent neighborhood, an upper-middle class residential subdivision with several waterfront homes, is also colloquially called World's End.
History
In the mid to late 19th century, the peninsulaPeninsula
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"....
was purchased and turned into an extensive estate by John Brewer, who raised livestock there. In 1889, noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
was commissioned by Brewer to design a residential subdivision there. The design was made and the roads and trees set in place, but the homes were never built.
The site was mooted in 1945 as a possible location for the nascent United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, but New York City was chosen instead. In the mid 1960s, a proposal was made to build a nuclear power plant on World's End, but this did not happen.
In 1967, the northern two-thirds of the World's End peninsula was acquired by the Trustees of Reservations and made a public park. In 1996, it was made 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...
, but the Trustees of Reservations continue to manage the site.