Houghs Neck is a one-square-mile (2.6 km²) peninsula in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

. It is surrounded by

Quincy Bay 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 ...

Hingham Bay Hingham Bay is the easternmost of the three small bays of outer Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming the western shoreline of the town of Hull and the northern shoreline of Hingham in the United States state of Massachusetts. It ...

and Rock Island Cove. It is lined by Perry Beach, which runs along Manet Avenue; Nut Island, which is just beyond Great Hill at the very end of the peninsula; and Edgewater Drive. Houghs Neck is commonly referred to by locals as "The Neck" and its residents as "Neckahs" ("Neckers") or "Neck Birds". The Hough's Neck Pumping Station (or the "Pumpy" by the locals) is also part of the Boston Harbor Islands, along with Raccoon Island, which can be walked to at low tide. Raccoon Island covers .3 sq. miles. In 1778, founding father

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

left for a diplomatic mission to France from Houghs Neck instead of Boston, to evade capture by the British.

History

Houghs Neck is named for Atherton Hough, previously mayor of

Boston, England Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It lies to the south-east of Lincoln, east of Nottingham and north-east of Peterborough. The town had a population of 45,339 at th ...

, who was granted the land in 1636 as a farm and orchard. The neighborhood's elementary school is also named for Atherton Hough. The peninsula has been called the "flounder capital of the world" and once had six boat rental businesses geared toward catching the bottom dwelling

winter flounder The winter flounder (''Pseudopleuronectes americanus''), also known as the black back, is a right-eyed ("Sinistral and dextral, dextral") flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is native to coastal waters of the western north Atlantic Ocean, A ...

that spent the cold weather months in

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States. History 17th century Since its dis ...

. Due to its proximity to Boston and its coastline, it was considered a summer resort from the late 19th century well into the 20th. Currently, Houghs Neck is a thickly settled neighborhood.

Transportation

Sea Street and Manet Avenue are major thoroughfares in the neighborhood. The

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

provides service to Houghs Neck with the 216 bus route, which links this area to the Red Line train station in Quincy Center.

References

Peninsulas of Massachusetts Quincy, Massachusetts Landforms of Norfolk County, Massachusetts {{NorfolkCountyMA-geo-stub