Gunite Pool Opening Service Weymouth MA

Weymouth, Massachusetts
City
Town of Weymouth
Town Hall, built in 1928 as a replica of Old State House in Boston
Seal
Motto:  Latin: Laborare Est Vincere (“To Work Is to Conquer”)
Location of Weymouth in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°13′15″N 70°56′25″W / 42.22083°N 70.94028°W / 42.22083; -70.94028
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Norfolk
Settled	1622
Incorporated	September 2, 1635
Government
• Type	Mayor-council
• Mayor	Mike Molisse (D)
Area
• Total	21.58 sq mi (55.88 km)
• Land	16.76 sq mi (43.42 km)
• Water	4.81 sq mi (12.45 km)
Elevation	89 ft (27 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	57,437
• Density	3,426.0/sq mi (1,322.79/km)
Demonym	Weymouthite
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern)
ZIP Codes	02188–02191
Area code	339/781
FIPS code	25-78865
GNIS feature ID	0619462
Website	www.weymouth.ma.us

Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is one of 13 municipalities in the state to have city forms of government while retaining “town of” in their official names. It is named after Weymouth, Dorset, a coastal town in England, and is the second-oldest settlement in Massachusetts, second only to Plymouth. Weymouth is one of the more affordable towns relative to the South Shore and offers a short commute into Boston, MBTA bus and rail service, and a town beach.

At the 2020 census, Weymouth had a total population of 57,437. It also had a crime rate of 12.42 per 1,000 residents.

The area that is now Weymouth was settled in 1622 as Wessagusset Colony, founded by Thomas Weston, who had been the main financial backer of Plymouth Colony. The settlement was a failure, as the 60 men from London were ill-prepared for the hardships required for survival. They also may have lacked the motivation of the Pilgrims, as this colony was purely economic in motivation and the men had not brought their families.

By winter, poor planning and bad management led to supplies running out, and the Plymouth colonists had little to share. The situation grew desperate and Wessagusset men began to sell their clothes, hire themselves out as laborers, and stole from the local Massachusett Indians. The Indians were soon taunting the men and robbing them of what little food they gathered clamming and foraging in the woods. By now, many in the colony were starving or ill, and law and order had broken down. The lowest point came when a settler was accused of stealing supplies from the Massachusett, and the Massachusett leaders demanded the thief’s execution; the Wessagusset men complied, but legend has it that they may have executed a dying, sick settler instead.

By April 1623, word came of conflict between American Indians and the Virginia colonists, and tension increased between the colonists at Wessagusset and the Indians. Massachusetts and other tribes began plotting to attack and destroy what was left of the floundering colony and the more successful Plymouth Colony. Wampanoag Chief Massasoit heard about the plot but soon fell ill and nearly died. A party from the Plymouth Colony came to his village and nursed him back to health, and he warned them of the plot. Governor William Bradford decided to preempt the planned attack, and sent Myles Standish to Wessagusset with the Plymouth militia and their Indian guide Hobbamock to end the threat. Using the promise of a meal of pork, Standish lured five of the more bellicose Massachusett Indians inside the stockade, including Wituwamat, a large man who had belittled Standish because he was short and had bragged about murdering a number of French shipwreck survivors. Once inside, there was a brief struggle and the Indian leaders were killed.

Ten of the original 60 colonists starved to death and two others were killed in conflicts with the Indians. Forty-five colonists joined Plymouth or went north to Maine, and from there most returned to England. Three men who had left the colony to live among the Indians as laborers could not be warned in time and were subsequently killed by them after Standish had released the women and children.

Robert Gorges attempted to form a colony at the site later that year as the center of a more royalist and Anglican system of government for New England. He brought William Morrell as religious leader and expected Governor Bradford to acknowledge his supremacy and act as his agent. Within weeks, the New England winter caused Gorges to leave with most of the settlers. Those who remained formed the nucleus of the permanent settlement. and the oldest in what would become Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1630, it was officially incorporated into the Massachusetts Bay Colony; the name was changed to Weymouth in 1635. This is most likely due to the recent influx of colonists from Weymouth, Dorset. However, it could have also been named for English explorer George Weymouth, who had relations with Robert Gorges’ father. These groups experienced some difficulty integrating together, especially due to conflicting pressures from the Puritans of Boston and the Pilgrims of Plymouth, but Weymouth was a stable and prominent town with its current boundaries by 1635. It was included as part of Suffolk County when it was formed on May 10, 1643. The oldest surviving house in Weymouth is the Bickman House (c. 1650) located at 84 Sea Street.

Weymouth was heavily involved in the shoemaking industry from the first years of the 18th century right through to 1973, when the Stetson Shoe Company closed its doors. The building is currently being used for medical offices. The town is also the location of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, which was decommissioned in 1997 and is undergoing redevelopment into a mixed-use community known as Union Point.

The original town hall was destroyed by fire in 1914 and was replaced in 1928 with a town hall that is a replica of the old Massachusetts State House in Boston. Weymouth High School, located in South Weymouth, is one of the largest public high schools in the state, with over 1,800 enrolled students. The town is geographically divided into four village centers: North Weymouth, East Weymouth, South Weymouth, and Weymouth Landing. In May 2018, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker designated a tract of land near Lakeview Manor and the eastern and northern borders of Whitman’s Pond as an “opportunity zone” under the Congressional Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Weymouth is served by several MBTA bus routes as well as three MBTA Commuter Rail stations: two on the Greenbush Line at Weymouth Landing/East Braintree and East Weymouth, and one on the Kingston Line at South Weymouth. State routes that pass through Weymouth include Route 3, Route 3A, Route 18, Route 53, Route 58 and Route 139.