174 History of Hingham. 



money in not entirely successful attempts to remove it by sub- 

 marine blasting. 



There were formerly Salt "Works east of Mansfield's Cove. 



A few rods farther on is Hersey's Wharf, at the present time 

 as stanch a structure as it was when it was constructed. Upon 

 this wharf, and on the beach west of it, were built several fine 

 ships, besides numerous barks, brigs, and schooners ; for this 

 was Hall's Shipyard. West of this wharf is the steamboat pier. 

 Upon Summer Street, on the hill just above Hersey's wharf, is a 

 large white house at the south side of the road, now the mansion 

 of a private estate. This was, in former times, one of the old 

 inns, and was known as the Wompatuck House. 



After crossing another stone wharf, now disused, we find this 

 beach extending along toward a line of wharves at The Cove at 

 the head of the harbor. The earliest settlers at the harbor called 

 the place Bare Cove, from the fact that the receding tide leaves 

 the fiats bare ; and by this name the settlement was designated 

 and assessed, until later it received the name of Hingham. 



Previous to the building of Summer Street, the only highway 

 leading from the cove to the village lying between the disused 

 wharf above referred to and Neck Gate Hill, was along the upper 

 edge of this beach ; people and teams going down into the dock 

 below the mill-dam at the Cove, at low tide, crossing the mill 

 stream and passing along the beach on their way east. Summer 

 Street here was constructed from material taken from Ward's 

 Hill, a high knoll of sand and gravel rising south from the beach, 

 now known as Cobb's Bank, which in early times extended sev- 

 eral hundred feet to the eastward. It is fast disappearing under 

 the demand for sand and gravel for filling purposes. 



Along the water side north of Ward's Hill there were also ves- 

 sels built. 



The low land lying between Summer Street and the railroad 

 track, and east of Ward's Hill, was formerly Wakely's Meadow, 

 or Brigadier's Meadow. Within a very few years this meadow 

 was salt, and the owner, wishing to reclaim it, caused it to be 

 drained into the harbor, the pipes passing under Summer Street. 

 In digging beneath this street at the old sea-level, the contractor 

 unearthed old piles and the stone retaining walls of wharves, thus 

 proving the early existence of landing places for vessels far within 

 the limits where it is now possible for them to come. 



The meadow belonged early to Thomas Wakely. It afterwards 

 was the property of Brigadier-General Theophilus dishing, and 

 received its later name in this connection. Thomas Wakely was 

 an early settler with Rev. Mr. Hobart, in 1635. 



The high land south of Wakely's Meadow, beyond the railroad 

 track, is Peck's Pasture. Robert and Joseph Peck came to this 

 country in 1638. 



Following the ancient water line from the harbor up through 

 the mill-dam, we reach The Mill-Pond. Here stood the Corn 



