Hingham, Massachusetts

Hingham is a town in metropolitan Greater Boston on the South Shore of the state of Massachusetts, in northern Plymouth County. Known for its colonial history and location on Boston Harbor, the town was named after Hingham, in Norfolk, England and was first settled by English colonists in 1633. Among those early settlers was the first American ancestor of Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Lincoln (1622-1690), who came to Massachusetts in 1637.

Hingham is home to the country’s oldest continuously used house of worship, the Old Ship Church, built in 1681, which currently serves members of the Unitarian Universalist faith. Old Ship Church is the only remaining 17th-century Puritan meeting house in New England. The meeting house derives its name from the roof and ceiling rafters, which resemble an upside-down ship’s hull. The town boasts a wide assortment of 18th-century and 19th-century homes, many of which may be found in six designated historic districts.

During World War II, Eleanor Roosevelt, who toured Hingham’s Main Street, referred to it as “the most beautiful Main Street in America.” While strongly rooted in the colonial past, Hingham has in recent years experienced a wave of development, likely spurred by several factors, including close proximity to Boston, high-quality public education, its historic character and the expanding availability of public transportation to Boston.