Hull

Hull is a peninsula town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,293 at the 2010 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 (also known as “Honey Fitz”), the father of Rose Kennedy; President Calvin Coolidge; and Joseph Kennedy, Sr.

History

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. Roger Conant was in the area, after leaving the Plymouth Colony and before going to Cape Ann in 1625. 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 close 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 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.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 28.2 square miles, of which, 3.0 square miles of it is land and 25.2 square miles of it (89.26%) is water. Hull is located on narrow Nantasket Peninsula, which juts into Massachusetts Bay, and is the southern land point at the entrance to Boston Harbor. Hidden in Hull’s bay is Hog Island, now known as Spinnaker Island. Hog Island was home to Hull’s first High School, parts of the island sat very low and fill needed to be brought in to prevent flooding. Spinnaker Island has been developed with condominiums, and is connected to mainland Hull via a low bridge. The town is bordered by Hingham Bay to the west, Massachusetts Bay to the north and east, and the towns of Cohasset and Hingham to the south. Hull is located almost twenty miles by land from Boston, although by water, not counting islands, it is just five miles from Pemberton Point in Hull to City Point in Dorchester. Although it is a forty-five minute drive into the heart of Boston, it is a twenty minute boat ride from Pemberton Pier, at the tip of Hull, into Boston’s Long Wharf which is close to the North End and Faneuil Hall.

Click here to view listings:
All listings
Single Family
Condominium
Multi Family
Commercial
Land
Rental