Hingham is a town located in Plymouth County on the South Shore of Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 19,882.
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Hingham, please see the article Hingham (CDP), Massachusetts.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 64.9 km2 (25.0 mi2). 58.2 km2 (22.5 mi2) of it is land and 6.7 km2 (2.6 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 10.26% water.
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 19,882 people, 7,189 households, and 5,478 families residing in the town. The population density is 341.6/km2 (884.8/mi2). There are 7,368 housing units at an average density of 126.6/km2 (327.9/mi2). The racial makeup of the town is 97.51% White, 0.40% Black or African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. 0.75% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 7,189 households out of which 37.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% are married couples living together, 8.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 23.8% are non-families. 21.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.72 and the average family size is 3.19.
In the town the population is spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100 females there are 89.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $83,018, and the median income for a family is $98,598. Males have a median income of $66,802 versus $41,370 for females. The per capita income for the town is $41,703. 3.5% of the population and 2.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 4.7% of those under the age of 18 and 3.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Hingham was first settled as "Bare Cove" in 1633, and it was officially incorporated as a town in 1635 under the name "Hingham". The eastern part of the town became Cohasset, Massachusetts in 1770. The town was named for Hingham, England, a village located in Norfolk where a number of the first colonists came from and the ancestral home of some of Abraham Lincoln's ancestors, including Samuel Lincoln (1622-1690), who and came to Massachusetts in 1637. There is a statue of President Lincoln located adjacent to downtown Hingham Square.
Hingham is home to the United States' oldest continually-used wooden house of worship, the Old Ship Church, built in 1681, which currently serves members of the Unitarian Universalist faith. The meetinghouse name comes from the fact that the roof and ceiling rafters resemble the upside-down hull of ship, especially to the early settlers who worshipped there. The town also has many other late eighteenth century and nineteenth century homes still standing. Many of these homes can be found in six historic districts set up to maintain their unique character into the future.
In 1889, a wealthy Hingham resident, John Brewer, commissioned Frederick Law Olmstead to design a residential subdivision on a peninsula Brewer owned adjacent to Hingham Harbor. While Law's tree-lined horse-cart paths were made, the residential buildings were never constructed. At the conclusion of World War II, Hingham failed in a 1945 bid to use the peninsula as the location for the planned United Nations Secretariat. Later it was considered the site for a nuclear power plant. Fearing it would eventually be developed, townspeople organized an effort in the 1960s to preserve the area as open space. Today this natural conservation land is called World's End and is maintained by the Trustees of Reservation.
Source:
HinghamMassachusetts.com
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