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All the United States Massachusetts Hingham World's End
AO Edited

World's End

Plans for this peninsula included houses, the United Nations Headquarters, and a nuclear power plant. When none of them worked out, it became an expansive park.

Hingham, Massachusetts

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Will Milne
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World’s End   Bill Ilott/CC BY-ND 2.0
World’s End   Bill Ilott/CC BY-ND 2.0
World’s End   Bill Ilott/CC BY-ND 2.0
World’s End   Bill Ilott/CC BY-ND 2.0
World’s End   liz west/CC BY 2.0
World’s End in the fog   Dr.frog/Public Domain
World’s End   lee/CC BY-ND 2.0
Rocky Neck   Willymjr / Atlas Obscura User
  Ivan66 / Atlas Obscura User
  Ivan66 / Atlas Obscura User
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View from World’s End   tonjialinderoth / Atlas Obscura User
  panzerkunst / Atlas Obscura User
  panzerkunst / Atlas Obscura User
The Bar   Willymjr / Atlas Obscura User
Giant Tree   Willymjr / Atlas Obscura User
The Boston Skyline peaks over from the left of the Bar over the Bay   Willymjr / Atlas Obscura User
Planters Hill Autumn   Willymjr / Atlas Obscura User
Rocky Neck view West   Willymjr / Atlas Obscura User
Full Foliage at the World’s End   Willymjr / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Jutting into Hingham Harbor lies a cluster of drumlins; glacier-carved, spoon-like hills that rise above the coast around it. John Brewer purchased the land in the 19th century and built an estate for raising cattle. Within 30 years the peninsula was entirely owned by the Brewer family.

At the end of the 1800s, the family contacted Frederick Law Olmsted, a famous landscape architect now known for his role in the creation of New York City's Central Park, as well as several other iconic parks of the United States, such as Niagara Falls State Park. The Brewers wanted a small portion of the peninsula to be developed into a residential area. Olmsted began to do what he did best, and a framework was made. The lawns, trees, and roads were put into place, but the homes were never established, leaving a skeleton of a residential area with nowhere to reside, a hollow suburbia.

The peninsula saw potential action again in 1945. The United Nations needed a headquarters, and Hingham was a potential location. But once again the land was passed over, as the UN chose New York City. Not so long after, in the 1960s, a Boston energy company had planned on investing in a nuclear power plant to be placed on the Brewer's estate. But the power plant also went with another location 20 miles south to the city of Plymouth, becoming the Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Plant.

With World's End undeveloped, a majority of it was donated to the Trustees of Reservations by the philanthropic beneficiaries of the Brewer estate. The Trustees continue to manage the park, although it is considered a part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Now, it is possible to visit and hike a loop around the World's End peninsula to get an excellent view of the Boston city skyline from a distance.

The only traces of construction and development visible today are the roads, trees, and the grass, which is routinely trimmed low as if Olmsted was still in the process of developing the residential area homes as he was a century ago.

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History Conservation Parks

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Advance passes are required for weekends and holidays, and strongly encouraged for weekdays. Check the website for more details.

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Willymjr

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Martin, ccfinney5, mikermnz, panzerkunst...

  • Martin
  • ccfinney5
  • mikermnz
  • panzerkunst
  • tonjialinderoth
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • Ivan66
  • annadelaneyryan2010

Published

January 11, 2022

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  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_End_(Hingham)
  • https://www.bostonharborislands.org/worlds-end/
  • https://thetrustees.org/place/worlds-end-hingham/
World's End
Hingham, Massachusetts, 02043
United States
42.270933, -70.880046
Visit Website

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