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Hull Mass. Historians
believe that the interesting history of Hull was determined by its unusual
geography. The town is a long narrow peninsula projecting into Boston harbor,
which the Plymouth Colony used to set up a trading post with local Indians
in 1621. Star-shaped Fort Independence was built in Hull in 1776 to defend
Boston Harbor, and General Benjamin Lincoln oversaw the evacuation of Boston
from this site in 1778.
French Admiral d'Estaing used the
fort to defend the French fleet from British attack when the French were
forced to land for repairs. The town was devastated by loss of manpower
and income during the Revolution when its major businesses of fishing,
shipbuilding and lightering were interrupted by the blockade of Boston.
In 1825 a new industry was launched in Hull when Paul Warrick built the
Sportsman Hotel on Nantasket Avenue, the very first hotel in the town (and
also the very last, since it is the only one still standing).
The magnificent beaches of the town,
easy access to Boston and sea air brought hordes of visitors and by 1840
steamers were making three trips a day between Boston and Hull. Boardinghouses
and elaborate hotels catered to visitors while Hull fishermen and farmers
still pulled nets and farmed in its rural acreage. Claiming and salvaging
wrecks was also a profitable sideline for residents, who established a
lifesaving team which rescued thousands stranded on foundering vessels.
Hull enjoyed an era of grand hotels
and prestigious visitors but gamblers, pick-pockets and confidence men
followed the tourists on the honky-tonk boardwalk until the town licensed
the construction of Paragon Park, described by contemporaries as a "marvel
of fantasy", to provide safe family fun for the guests of the town. When
the amusement park closed in 1985, an entire era ended for the town and
the millions of visitors who had used and enjoyed it for generations. But
another era began as Hull acquired a suburban character with a growing
number of professionals moving into town, drawn by the same beaches, proximity
to Boston and sea air that drew people in the 19th century.
Hull Massachusetts is located in
Eastern Massachusetts, jutting out into the ocean north of Hingham and
Cohasset. Bordered by Hingham Bay on the west and by the Massachusetts
Bay on the north and east. Hull is about 18 miles southeast of Boston. |