Ancient Landmark*. 185 



wide, all over the country. It is proper to state, however, that 

 it was the manufacture of buckets by hand, at little shops else- 

 where in town, earlier than the establishment of this factory, 

 that had procured for Hingham the sobriquet of " Bucket Town." 

 Here also were made the " Jacobs Hatchets " esteemed for their 

 excellence and exported all over the world in days gone by. 

 Alas, alas ! how the mercantile, manufacturing, and maritime en- 

 terprises of Hingham have faded away, never to reappear. The 

 Thomas Iron Foundry at Thomas's Pond on Weir River, the 

 Eagle Foundry at the harbor, the Bucket Factory and Hatchet 

 Works at Cushing's Pond, the Cordage Factory, the Iron Works 

 and Factory at Trip-Hammer Pond, — the productions of all these 

 various industries were justly appreciated both in this country 

 and abroad, and none more so than those of the Stephenson Scale 

 Works. The shipyards of Hingham — Hall's, Souther's, and 

 others — launched as noble vessels as sailed under the flag. The 

 fishing interests of the town employed a large fleet of fine schoon- 

 ers, well commanded and manned by hundreds of her stalwart 

 young men. These interests built up more than one fortune, 

 large for those days. 



The house near Main Street was one of the old inns of earlier 

 days. It was known as Brigadier Cushing's Tavern. Reaching 

 Main Street, we will turn to the right. The first hill on the road, 

 going south, was in early days called Mayse's or May's, now 

 Liberty Pole Hill. The country south of this locality, to the 

 town line, is called Liberty Plain. 



At the foot of the southerly slope of this hill, a blind lane 

 leads west through the woods, towards Eel River. This is Eel- 

 River Lane. The gradual rise on Main Street from this point, 

 south, is called Dig- away Hill (in some old papers Didgeway). 

 Further on, to the west of the road, at Gardner Street, is White- 

 Oak Plain. Half-way between Gardner Street and the town 

 line, at Gardner's Bridge, Main Street crosses Beechwoods 

 River, sometimes called Mill River, the little stream flowing 

 northeast from Accord Pond, which unites with others near the 

 centre of the township to form Weir River. 



On the town line where Main Street meets " Queen Ann's Turn- 

 pike," now Whiting Street, is Queen Ann's Corner, and a few 

 rods to the west is Accord Pond, from which Hingham draws its 

 water supply. It is a beautiful sheet of water, of about three- 

 fourths of a mile in length, lying within the limits of three 

 towns, — Hingham, Rockland, and Norwell (formerly South Scitu- 

 atc). The easterly shore is bordered by open country, the west 

 side generally heavily wooded. The forest in this vicinity is 

 largely composed of the Scarlet Oak, and at this season is in a 

 blaze of brilliant coloring. 



It is a singular fact that of all the ponds of any considerable 

 size in Hingham, but one is a natural pond. All the rest, — 

 Cushing's, Fulling-Mill, Trip-Hammer, Thomas's, and the Mill- 



