Moon Island (Massachusetts)

The John R. Nelson House is a historic house located at 4 Brunswick Street in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Spectacle Island is a 114-acre island in Boston Harbor, 4 miles (6.4 km) offshore of downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is part of the city of Boston. The island has a varied history, and today is a public park with a marina, visitor center, cafe, lifeguarded swimming beach, and five miles of walking trails, forming part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. It is served all year by ferries from Boston, and on weekends and summer weekdays by a shuttle boat to and from nearby islands.

Thompson Island is an island in the Boston Harbor, about 1 mile offshore from downtown Boston, Massachusetts. The island is managed by the Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center, a non-profit education organization. The island is open to visitors on Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day through Labor Day; otherwise access is by arrangement only. Thompson Island is one of the largest, most accessible and ecologically diverse islands in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.The island has a size of 170 acres (0.69 km2), and the highest point is a drumlin that reaches a height of 78 feet above sea level. The rest of the island comprises low rolling hills and a salt marsh. The island has a mixed vegetation, including hardwood tree stands, remnant pear and apple orchards, ornamental trees and shrubs, and salt marsh grasses. The island has open meadows, forests, marine wetlands, sumac groves, and a variety of other geological features as well. Amenities include a formal school campus complete with classrooms, dormitories, dining hall, auditoriums, gymnasium, lab space, outdoor challenge courses, and climbing towers. At low tide, a sandbar connects it to Squaw Rock on the Squantum peninsula, allowing land travel between the two.

Massachusetts's 7th congressional district is a congressional district located in eastern Massachusetts, including roughly three-fourths of the city of Boston and a few of its northern and southern suburbs. The seat is currently held by Democrat Ayanna Pressley. Due to redistricting after the 2010 census, the borders of the district were changed, with most of the old 7th district redistricted to the new 5th district, and most of the old 8th district comprising the new 7th district. With a partisan lean of D+35 according to the Cook Political Report, the 7th is the most Democratic district in Massachusetts, and one of the most Democratic districts in the United States. According to The Boston Globe and the latest census data, approximately 33 percent of the population of the district were born outside of the United States, with approximately 34 percent of the population white, 26 percent African American, and 21 percent Latino.In 2019, Ayanna Presley became the first female and person of color to represent the district as well as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Congress.

The Broad Sound Channel Inner Range Lights were a pair of lighthouses in Boston Harbor. They were removed around 1950 when the channel they helped to mark was superseded by a parallel channel to the north.

Squantum is a neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts, connected to the mainland by a causeway that crosses over a wetland area of the bay. Often thought of as a peninsula, Squantum proper is technically a barrier island as it is surrounded on all four sides by water and is only connected to the mainland and Moon Island via causeways. Located in the northernmost portion of the city, Squantum is bordered on the north by Dorchester Bay and Boston Harbor, on the east by Moon Island and Quincy Bay, on the south by Quincy Bay and North Quincy, and on the west by the Marina Bay development. The population of the neighborhood in 2000 according to the United States Census Bureau was 2,626. Squantum has scenic, waterfront views of Boston Harbor and the Boston skyline and has many of Quincy’s most expensive homes. Squantum residents are the wealthiest of any neighborhood in Quincy, according to the 2010 United States Census Bureau, and the home ownership rate is approximately 92%. The neighborhood is further characterized by its tree-lined streets, its "island getaway" feel, close-knit community, and its annual Squantum Fourth of July Parade. As described in a 2020 book, "One road leads in and out of a square mile of land that is a playground for children and a haven for adults." Squantum also has one of the largest Irish populations, on a per capita basis, of any neighborhood in the United StatesThe neighborhood includes two public beaches (Nickerson Beach and Orchard Beach), as well as state-owned Squantum Point Park, which has hiking trails and points for canoeing or kayaking. It is also home to Squantum Elementary School and the First Church of Squantum.

Quincy Bay is the largest of the three small bays of southern Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming much of the shoreline of the city of Quincy, Massachusetts. Locally in the Wollaston neighborhood of Quincy it is known as Wollaston Bay. The bay is home to Moon Island, Long Island, and Hangman Island. Quincy Bay extends from Squantum and Dorchester Bay in the northwest to Hough's Neck and Hingham Bay in the east. Its southwestern shore is Wollaston Beach. The Squantum Yacht Club and the Wollaston Yacht Club are on Quincy Bay along Wollaston Beach. Quincy Shore Drive, one of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation parkways in the Greater Boston area, travels 2.1 miles (3.4 km) along Quincy Bay, offering panoramic views of the Boston Harbor Islands and the Boston skyline.

Hangman Island, also known as Hayman's Island, is an island in the Quincy Bay area of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island is a barren outcrop of bedrock, with a permanent size of half an acre rising to only three feet above sea level, plus an intertidal zone of a further 5 acres (20,000 m2). Access is by private boat only.On a 1775, London chart, this island was labeled Hayman's Island and shows a greater area than presently exists. There is no historical evidence that this island was used as a location for hanging criminals. The source of its current name has a hazy history. In 1882, several fishermen built fishing shacks on Hangman Island and were reported to have cultivated a vegetable garden here among the rocks.

Long Island is located in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. The island is part of the City of Boston, and of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island is 1.75 miles (2.82 km) long and covers 225 acres (0.9 km2). Prior to October 2014, access to the island was via a road over a 4,175-foot (1,273 m) causeway from the Squantum peninsula of North Quincy to Moon Island, and from there, over a 3,050-foot (930 m) two-lane steel bridge – officially named the Long Island Viaduct – from Moon Island to Long Island. Access to the causeway leading to Moon Island and Long Island was controlled by police at a guardhouse at its southern end, and permission needed to be obtained in advance since it is a restricted area. In October 2014, all access to Long Island was cut off for the indefinite future by then Mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh, based on the warning of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that the bridge was unsafe. All those living on Long Island and being serviced by recovery programs or who were guests in the homeless shelter were no longer able to get there. They were abruptly relocated elsewhere on an emergency basis. The bridge to Long Island was demolished on March 23, 2015. The future uses of the island and its buildings are still under discussion.

Sailors' Snug Harbor of Boston was established in 1852 as a retirement home for sailors. It was similar to the much larger Sailors' Snug Harbor on Staten Island. Today, it is a nonprofit organization funding charitable initiatives in fishing communities and for the elderly in eastern Massachusetts.

Wollaston Beach is the largest public beach in the Boston harbor. The beach is located parallel to Quincy Shore Drive in North Quincy, Massachusetts, which was constructed to provide access to the bay beach for Greater Boston. Wollaston beach expands Quincy Bay forming part of Boston Harbor. The northern end of the beach is the Native American historical site, Moswetuset Hummock which is where the original Moswetuset Sac'hem (Chief) had a tribal council. Wollaston Beach is now part of the Quincy Shore Reservation which was introduced by the legislative act in 1899. Quincy Shore Drive parallel to the beach was opened on May 30, 1908. It is maintained (waste management) in summer by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). Wollaston Beach is the largest in Boston Harbor with roughly 2.3 mi (3.7 km) of shoreline. The promenade stands the entire length of the beach and is often busy with walkers, dog walkers, runners, and casual cyclists. The Wollaston beach promenade has a significant seawall as it is impacted by coastal tides. There are seasonal restaurants that predominately offer battered seafood and become popular on weekends. There is ample parking along the Wollaston Beach promenade. The views from Wollaston beach include Boston, South Boston, Squantum, Houghs Neck, and Nut Island. Boston Harbor Islands are also visible. These islands are; Moon, Long, Georges and Peddocks, Spectacle. The Hull Wind Turbine #1 (200 ft (61 m)) is visible beyond Peddocks. The Hull Wind Turbine #2 (330 ft (100 m)) is visible beyond Houghs Neck. Based on water quality tests determining levels of enterococcus, currently, the beach is not unacceptable for bathing. This research was conducted in 2019 by the City of Quincy Health Department. Wollaston Beach has two yacht clubs and is adjacent to the commercial Marina Bay. The southern end of the beach attracts fishing activities. The Squantum Yacht Club and Wollaston Yacht Club have piers to their clubhouse starting at the beach. The Squantum Yacht Club was founded in 1898. The yacht clubs host annual sailing tournaments.

Moswetuset Hummock is a Native American site and the original name of the tribe (Mosetuset) in the region named Massachusetts after them. The wooded hummock in Squantum, Massachusetts, is formally recognized as historic by descendants of the Ponkapoag people. The location was the seat of the ruling Moswetuset Sac'hem (Native American chief) Chickatawbut. During the warm season he conducted tribal council here. Members of the Moswetuset (Massachusett) tribe for centuries made the shore of Quincy Bay their seasonal home. Moswetuset Hummock is understood to be the site where Chickatawbut negotiated with Plymouth Colony commander Myles Standish and Tisquantum, a Patuxet tribe guide. In 1617 an epidemic, probably an infectious disease brought by sailors on a visiting European ship, ravaged the native population here and along the New England coastline. Estimates are that 80% of the people died. By the time of King Philip's War, 1675–77, the numbers of the Moswetuset tribe had drastically declined in the town. But, descendants of these original inhabitants still live in the general area today. In his 1747 volume A History of New-England, historian Daniel Neal described Moswetuset Hummock as the origin of the name of the indigenous Massachusett tribe. The colonists named the Commonwealth of Massachusetts after them: The Sachem or Sagamore who governed the Indians in this part of the country when the English came hither, had his seat on a small hill, or hummock, containing perhaps an acre and a half, about two leagues to the southward of Boston, which hill or hummock lies in the shape of an Indian's arrowhead, which arrow-heads are called in their language MOS, or MONS, with O nasal, and hill in their language is WETUSET hence, this great sachem's seat was called Moswetuset, which signifies a hill in the shape of an arrow's head, and his subjects, the Moswetuset Indians, from whence with a small variation of the word, the Province received the name MASSACHUSETTS. Moswetuset translates to 'shaped like an arrowhead'. In 1970 Moswetuset Hummock was formally recognized and added to the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts. The historic site is also recognized by the Native American descendants known as the Ponkapoag people. Moswetuset Hummock is located on East Squantum Street, the northern end of Wollaston Beach, Quincy Bay. A hummock is a geological term: by definition they are small and less than fifty feet in height. Earth hummocks, in contrast to ice hummocks, are also known as a small rounded knoll, mound of land, or a hillock. Hummocks are believed to be relict features that were formed under colder conditions when permafrost was likely present in the ground.