Cohasset by the Sea

The other day my sister gave me a gift. No, it wasn't wrapped up in holiday paper nor tied with a bow; but rather the gift of a day to ramble in a land I did not know. Being four years older, Fran has always recognised my needs and without a word of condemnation, like Vincent Degas' brother, lends spiritual and material support.

"Bob, I want to take you to Cohasset by the Sea...it's a place you'll just love to roam around and maybe it will provide you with an article or two."

And so it was last Thursday, when the sun was shining bright and the temperature not to cold, Fran rang me up to say "Bob, this is the day...there's little wind and we can go exploring by the sea."

Long before the Pilgrims settled in Plymouth Bay Colony, Massachusetts was home to the rather large Algonquin Nation. These Native Americans had farmed and fished the waters off this crust of land for thousands of years. What is now the village proper of Cohasset was named "Sogoguas" (Hard Rock Place) and the surrounding area "Quonahasset" (the long rocky place).

In 1614, Captain John Smith, "President of Virginia and Admiral of New England", having explored the coast of Virginia to Eastern Maine, called the area now known as Massachusetts "the paradise of the new world." According to his log book, he was the first white man to ease his shallop into the harbor of Cohasset from his ship standing off Minot's Ledge. Learning from the "Indians" of their name for their settlement, he thought the name was "barbarous" and preceded to call it "London" on the map he had drawn. It was only in 1639, on a map drawn by John Winthrop, did London once more become Conahasset. Shortly thereafter land grants were given to settlers from Plymouth Bay and Bostontown. Most settlers chose the high country around Turkey Hill and Thayer and Whitney Hil.

Today these high country meadows are in a public Land Trust and Fran and I spent over an hour walking trails through the woods and farmland. High on the hill, when you look north, one can see the Boston skyline on the horizon.

Though first settled by farmers, Cohasset was soon a booming seafaring township of over 300 people making their livelihood on shipbuilding, trading and fishing. According to town records, by the mid nineteenth century, its mackerel fleet numbered more then 50 schooners. Today,fisherman still ply these waters for lobsters and other shellfish.

In the latter part of the 19th century. Cohasset became a summer colony for the more properous Boston families. Huge estates were built along it's shore.

But you get still get off the beaten track and discover the "real Quonahasset" by the sea... all you need to do is get into the habit of "seeing beyond seeing".