Quincy, Massachusetts
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| City nickname: ""The City of Presidents"" | |||||
| Location | |||||
 Location within the state of Massachusetts |
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| Government | |||||
| County | Norfolk County | ||||
| Mayor | William J. Phelan | ||||
| Physical characteristics | |||||
| Area Land Water |
69.6 km² 43.5 km² 26.2 km² |
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| Population Total (2000) Density |
88,025 922.5 persons/km² |
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| Latitude | 42°15'38" N | ||||
| Longitude | 71°00'21" W | ||||
| Time zone Summer (DST) |
EST (UTC-5) EDT (UTC-4) |
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| Official website: http://ci.quincy.ma.us/ | |||||
Quincy is a city located in Norfolk County, Massachusetts and bears the nickname "The City of Presidents". As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 88,025. Quincy was formed in 1792 and named for Colonel John Quincy, and was originally part of Braintree. Contrary to appearances, the city's name is pronounced as "Kwin-zee".
Quincy was the birthplace of the noted minimalist artist, Carl Andre. Howard Johnson's and Dunkin Donuts also started here.
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History
Before its English settlement, the area that became known as Quincy was noted as having the seat of the great sachems of Massachusett, at Moswetutset Hummock, at the base of what is now known as the Squantum peninsula.
Quincy was first settled by English immigrants in 1625, as Mount Wollaston (with a most unusual history), subsequently became part of Braintree, Massachusetts, was officially incorporated as a separate town in 1792, and made a city in 1888.
Among its several firsts was the Granite Railway, the first commercial railroad in the United States. It was constructed to carry granite from a quarry in Quincy to the Neponset River in Milton so that the stone could be taken to build the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Quincy granite became famous throughout the nation, and stonecutting became the city's principal economic activity.
Second was shipbuilding. Sailing ships were built in Quincy for many years, and the final known clipper ship built was in Germantown in the 1870s. The Fore River area became a shipbuilding center in the 1880s -- originally owned by Thomas Watson of telephone fame -- and many famous warships were built at the Fore River Shipyard, including the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2), the battleships USS Massachusetts (BB-59) and USS Nevada (BB-36), and the USS Salem (CA-139), the world's last all-gun heavy warship, which is still preserved at Fore River as a museum today. John J. Kilroy, the author of the famous Kilroy Was Here graffiti, was a welding inspector at Fore River.
Quincy was also an aviation pioneer; Dennison Field in the Squantum section of town dated from 1910, and was the site of some of the first aerial meets ever. It was leased to the Navy as an airfield, and served as a reserve Naval Air base into the 1950s.
Geography
Quincy is located at 42° 15′ 38″ N, 71° 0′ 21″ W1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 69.6 km² (26.9 mi²). 43.5 km² (16.8 mi²) of it is land and 26.2 km² (10.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 37.60% water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 88,025 people, 38,883 households, and 20,530 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,025.4/km² (5,244.3/mi²). There are 40,093 housing units at an average density of 922.5/km² (2,388.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 79.60% White, 2.21% African American, 0.16% Native American, 15.39% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.85% from other races, and 1.76% from two or more races. 2.08% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 38,883 households out of which 20.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.7% are married couples living together, 10.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 47.2% are non-families. 37.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 13.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.22 and the average family size is 3.03.
In the city the population is spread out with 17.5% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 36.1% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 88.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $47,121, and the median income for a family is $59,735. Males have a median income of $40,720 versus $34,238 for females. The per capita income for the city is $26,001. 7.3% of the population and 5.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 10.1% of those under the age of 18 and 7.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
 President John Adams birthplace. |
 The "Old House", residence of four generations of Adams. |
 The Josiah Quincy House. |
Famous people born in Quincy
- John Adams, 1735
- John Hancock, 1737
- John Quincy Adams, 1767
- Ruth Gordon, 1896
- Billy deWolfe, 1907
- John Cheever, 1912
- Lee Remick, 1935
- Sandy Skoglund, 1946
See also
- The Abigail Adams Cairn
- John Adams birthplace
- John Quincy Adams birthplace
- The Josiah Quincy House
- The Old House
- The Quincy Plan
- Thomas Crane Public Library
- United First Parish Church
