Quincy Map
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). Its population in 2010 was 92,271, making it the 8th largest city in the state.
Quincy is named for Colonel John Quincy, maternal grandfather of Abigail Adams and after whom John Quincy Adams was also named. The name of the city is pronounced kwin-zee, following the family's pronunciation, though it is often mispronounced outside the region as kwin-see. Quincy is the birthplace of former U.S. Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, as well as statesman John Hancock, fourth and longest serving President of the Continental Congress.
Prior to the settlement of the area by English colonists, a hill east of the mouth of the Neponset River near what is now called Squantum was the seat of the ruling Massachusett sachem, or native American leader, Chickatawbut. Called Moswetuset Hummock, it was visited by Plymouth Colony commander Myles Standish and Squanto, a native guide, in 1621. Four years later, a party led by Captain Wollaston established a post on a low hill near the south shore of Quincy Bay east of present-day Black's Creek. The settlers found the area suitable for farming, as Chickatawbut and his group, who used the name Passonagessit (“Little Neck of Land”) for the area, had cleared much of the land of trees. This settlement was named Mount Wollaston in honor of the leader, who soon after 1625 left the area bound for Virginia. The Wollaston neighborhood in Quincy still retains Captain Wollaston's name.
Nearby cities include Brighton, Abington, Somerville, Norwood, Revere.