Weymouth’s Webb Memorial Park: In addition to being a former NIKE missile launch sight during the Cold War, and the location of a Revolutionary War battle in 1775, this is a park offers sweeping views of the southwest corner of Boston Harbor. The park was named for a Weymouth police officer, William K. Webb and has a history dating back over three centuries. Much like Deer Island, this park offers a way to get a beautiful view of the harbor while feeling like you are on an island without actually being on an island!
Looking west at the peninsula of Webb Memorial Park in Weymouth at dusk:
Complete with walking trails through dense scrubby bushes and sand dunes giving way to beaches- This peninsula feels just like any Boston Harbor Island:
A view of Quincy Bay from the Western side of Webb Park on a late fall day, after the leaves have fallen from the sumac plants.
The Eastern side of Webb Memorial Park looking east toward Hewitt’s Cove on a bright winter day. Its hard to believe that this area was once a NIKE missile silo, part of a network of missile defense systems that guarded Boston during the cold war.
Looking North: Slate Island in the foreground, with Bumpkin Island in the middle, and Allerton Point in Hull in the far background:
The Rocky Coastline of the North side of the peninsula at low tide:
A wintertime view toward the city from Webb Park, with a fishing boat passing through the Western Way:
A big piece of beach rubbish (an old dock?) washed up on shore, which is fairly typical of these Boston Harbor Islands. In the background: Grape Island on the left, Slate Island and Bumpkin Island in the distance:
A view of the park on a calm summer morning, looking toward the city:
A wintertime view of the Western side of Webb Park, with the Fore River and Weymouth neck visible through the brush:
A monument to The “Grape Island Alarm” a Revolutionary War battle in which the British Navy was defeated. The battle occurred in May of 1775, shortly after the battle of Lexington and Concord, the fight broke out when colonial militiamen tried to thwart the efforts of the loyalist owner of Grape Island, Elisha Leavitt to permit the British military forces to use hay from the island to feed their horses. Just a week later, the Battle of Chelsea Creek broke out over a similar issue, access to resources and livestock.
The park is accessible via Neck Street from Route 3A in Weymouth. Named for William K. Webb, a WWII veteran and police officer from Weymouth, the park was converted from a military operation to a place for the public in the late 1970s. Prior to that time, the site was used to house NIKE-Ajax missiles, which were stored in launch-ready silos underground. The missile site was connected to a radar and command center on nearby Spinnaker Island, which is now a condo complex in Hull, MA.
More about access to the park and its history can be read here.
