Quincy

City in Norfolk County, east Massachusetts, USA, on Quincy Bay, 13 km/8 mi south of Boston; population (2000 est) 88,000. There are granite quarries, and its imaginative urban redevelopment has made it popular with visitors. A residential community for Boston commuters, Quincy has industries including printing, publishing, and the manufacture of machinery, electronics, plastics, transportation equipment, and soap products.

The area was first settled by Europeans in 1625, and became known as Braintree after being taken over by the Braintree company in 1632. It was abandoned and resettled in 1640. Quincy was created from Braintree in 1792 when the town was incorporated. It was made a city in 1888. Granite quarrying and iron were early industries, and the first (horse-drawn) railroad in the USA was built here to haul granite. From the 1880s until the 1980s, the city was a shipbuilding centre for naval and other vessels.

Quincy (then known as Braintree) was the place of birth and death of John Hancock, the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and the US presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Both presidents are buried in Quincy.

Quincy was originally a trading post, known as Merry Mount because of its reputation for alcohol and celebration; its proprietor, Thomas Morton, was run out of the colony for celebrating May Day, then considered a pagan festival.

The Adams National Historic Park features 11 historic structures celebrating five generations of the Adams family. There are 105 entries on the national register of historic places, and a US naval shipbuilding museum. Quincy is also home to Eastern Nazarene College (1900) and Quincy College (1956).