Weymouth, Massachusetts

Weymouth is a city{{ref|city-town}} located in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, Weymouth had a total population of 53,988.

History

The site of Weymouth first saw European inhabitants in 1622 as Wessagusset, an offshoot of the Plymouth settlement. In 1624, according to city lore, the settlement was bolstered by the arrival of the ship "Charity" from Weymouth, England, including one Richard Harding, the ancestor of President Warren Harding. It became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 with 500 inhabitants and was officially incorporated in 1635, then assuming its present name.

Related Topics:
1622 - Plymouth - Weymouth, England - Warren Harding - Massachusetts Bay Colony - 1635

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Myles Standish is credited with saving the settlement in its early years from Indian attack, hoping that doing so would preempt an attack on Plymouth.

Related Topics:
Myles Standish - Plymouth

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Weymouth boasts the house where Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams, was born.

Related Topics:
Abigail Adams - John Adams

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Weymouth was heavily involved in the shoemaking industry from the first years of the 1700s right through to 1973, when the Stetson Shoe Company closed its doors.

Related Topics:
Shoemaking - 1700s - 1973

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Three Weymouth citizens have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor: William Seach, serving in the Boxer Rebellion in China; Eldon Johnson, serving in World War II; and Ralph Talbot, a pilot in World War I.

Related Topics:
Congressional Medal of Honor - William Seach - Boxer Rebellion - China - Eldon Johnson - World War II - Ralph Talbot - World War I

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A portion of the former Naval Air Station South Weymouth, which was closed in 1996 under the Base Realignment and Closure Act was located here.

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