Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city 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, presidents
John Adams and
John Quincy Adams, United States Declaration of Independence signer and first Massachusetts governor
John Hancock, actors
Ruth Gordon,
Lee Remick and
Billy DeWolfe, former ESPN and Monday Night Football reporter
Lesley Visser, writer
John Cheever, and surf guitarist
Dick Dale.
Professional athletes connected to Quincy: Pro baseball players born in Quincy include:
Kevin Buckley of the 1984 Texas Rangers,
Bill Ferrazzi of the 1935 Philadelphia Athletics,
Ralph McLeod of the 1938 Boston Bees,
Ted Olson of the 1936-38 Boston Red Sox,
John Rudderman of the 1884 Boston Reds,
Marc Sullivan of the 1982-87 Boston Red Sox. Professional baseball players that died in Quincy include:
Bill Dam of the 1909 Boston Doves,
Fred "Count" Doe of the 1890 Buffalo Bisons,
Charlie Ganzel of the 1884 St. Paul Apostles, 1885-86 Philadelphia Quakers, 1886-88 Detroit Wolverines, 1890-1897
Boston Beaneaters,
Walter Zink of the 1921 New York Giants. Pro Hockey players born in Quincy include:
Mike Mottau of the 2000-01 and 2001-02 New York Rangers, 2002-03 Calgary Flames, and 2006 free agennt signee of the New Jersey Devils,
Brian Eklund of the 2005-06 Tampa Bay Lighting and Boston Bruins, and
Ed Ronan of the 1991-92 thru 1994-95 Montreal Canadiens and 1996-97 Buffalo Sabres. Pro Football players born in Quincy include:
Pete Kendall 1996-2000 Seattle Seahawks, 2001-2003 Arizona Cardinals, and 2004-present(2006) New York Jets.
Howard Johnson's and
Dunkin Donuts also were founded and started in Quincy.
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 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 the main exhibit of the United States Naval Ship Building Museum. 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 was partially developed by
Amelia Earhart. In 1910 it was the site of the Harvard Aero Meet, only the second air show in America. It was later leased to the Navy for an airfield, and served as a reserve
Squantum Naval Air base into the 1950s.
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 88,025 people, 38,883 households, and 20,530 families residing in the city. The
population density was 2,025.4/km² (5,244.3/mi²). There were 40,093 housing units at an average density of 922.5/km² (2,388.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 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.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.08% of the population.
There were 38,883 households out of which 20.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.7% were
married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.2% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the city the population was 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 were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $47,121, and the median income for a family was $59,735. Males had a median income of $40,720 versus $34,238 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $26,001. About 5.2% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.
Image:John Adams birthplace, Quincy, Massachusetts.JPG|President John Adams birthplace.Image:Old House, Quincy, Massachusetts.JPG|The "Old House", residence of four generations of Adams.Image:Josiah Quincy House, Quincy, Massachusetts.JPG|The Josiah Quincy House.* 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*
Official Webpage*
Quincy, MA Online*
Quincy History*
The Granite Railway
