Village, Town & Country
88th Annual Tour of Historic Hingham Homes
Hingham’s 88th annual tour of historic local homes yields a panoramic view of South Shore history glimpsed through seven homes and a handful of public buildings that span three and a half centuries. From its beginnings in 1633 as a cluster of English colonial villages, through the emergence of the bedroom community most of us are familiar with today, Hingham has remained an unusually stable community. In Hingham, over a thousand historic buildings have survived. Houses built in the 1680s stand in enchanting juxtaposition with structures built decades and centuries later, in a streetscape that still evokes its rural beginnings. In this year’s Tour, we trace the comparatively slow transformation of Hingham from rural outpost in the 17th century, through the growth of its marine trades and small cottage industries in the 18th and 19th centuries, to its more rapid development into a fashionable streetcar suburb in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While that suburban identity is firmly identified with Hingham today, the community still remains an authentic place to experience the New England past, merely by walking its streets, and for two special days each year, to go deeper into that past by entering a few of its most archetypal homes. With sincerest thanks to our homeowners and volunteers, we are happy to host the 88th Historic Hingham House Tour.
