Winthrop, Massachusetts

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Winthrop, Massachusetts
Nickname: Winthrop-by-the-Sea
Location in Suffolk County in Massachusetts
Location in Suffolk County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°22′30″N 70°59′00″W / 42.375, -70.983333
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Suffolk
Settled 1635
Incorporated 1852
Government
 - Type City - Town Council
Area
 - Total 8.3 sq mi (21.5 km²)
 - Land 2.0 sq mi (5.2 km²)
 - Water 6.3 sq mi (16.3 km²)
Elevation 36 ft (11 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 18,303
 - Density 9,208.3/sq mi (3,555.3/km²)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 02152
Area code(s) 617 / 857
FIPS code 25-80930
GNIS feature ID 0618335
Website: http://www.town.winthrop.ma.us/

Winthrop is a town in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, occasionally known as Winthrop by the Sea. The population was 18,303 at the 2000 census. Standing on Winthrop's edge one can see the city of Boston and Deer Island.

Contents

[edit] History

The town was first settled in 1635. It was officially incorporated in 1852 and named Winthrop after Deane Winthrop, the son of the first Governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, and is one of the four municipalities in Suffolk County (the others are the cities of Boston, Revere, and Chelsea). It is located on a peninsula, at the beginning of the North Shore, with seven miles of shoreline that provides views of the ocean to the east and of the Boston skyline to the west.

Originally part of an area called Winnesimmet by the Native Americans, the peninsula was annexed by Boston in 1632 and within five years became the grazing area for farm animals of the rapidly growing Boston colony. In 1637 it was divided into 15 parcels of land that were given by Governor Winthrop to prominent men in Boston with the stipulation that each must erect a building on his land within two years. Few, if any, of these men ever lived here, but their farms prospered. One of these early houses, built initially during the first half of the 1600s,and rebuilt in 1675, was the home of Governor Winthrop’s youngest son, Deane Winthrop, who lived there until his death in 1703. This house is still standing and is maintained, for public viewing, by the Winthrop Improvement and Historical Association.[1]

In 1739, what is now Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop withdrew from Boston due to governmental control disputes and became the Town of Chelsea. Again the desire for more local control resulted in Revere and Winthrop seceding from Chelsea in 1846 to become North Chelsea. Shortly thereafter, in 1852, Winthrop was incorporated as a town in its own right with a Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting form of government. In 1920, Winthrop was the second town in the Commonwealth to apply for and receive a Charter for a Representative Town Meeting, which continued to 2006.

In 2006, a new Town Charter, establishing a city form of government, was passed in a special election. The Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting were abolished, and legislative powers were vested in an elected Town Council. Executive power, largely ceremonial, resides in the Council President, who is popularly elected. An appointed Town Manager serves as the head of administrative services.

On July 26, 2007, the Winthrop Sun Transcript reported that a movement was beginning to abolish the Town Council and return to a Representative Town Meeting. The multi-step process to reverse the changes made by the 2006 charter is quite complex, so it remains to be seen what form of government Winthrop will have going forward.

Deer Island, though within the city limits of Boston, is located in Winthrop Bay. It ceased to be an island in the 1930s when Shirley Gut, which separated it from Winthrop, was filled in. The island has a sordid past as an internment camp for Indians during King Philip's War, a quarantine station where many immigrants died, and the site of a county jail. Today the island is home to the mammoth Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant, which treats sewage treatment for the Boston area.[1]

Winthrop includes Snake Island in Boston Harbor as well as a portion of Logan Airport.

Winthrop has a weekly newspaper, the Winthrop Sun Transcript, which reports local current events, happenings, and concerns.

[edit] Geography

View of Boston from Winthrop's Point Shirley (photo taken in August 2003)
View of Boston from Winthrop's Point Shirley (photo taken in August 2003)

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.3 square miles (21.5 km²), of which, 2.0 square miles (5.2 km²) of it is land and 6.3 square miles (16.3 km²) of it (76.02%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 18,303 people, 7,843 households, and 4,580 families residing in the town. The population density was 9,208.3 people per square mile (3,551.2/km²). There were 8,067 housing units at an average density of 4,058.5/sq mi (1,565.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.44% White, 1.68% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.36% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.69% of the population.

There were 7,843 households out of which 23.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.6% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.98.

Winthrop's Yirrell Beach, looking north from Deer Island (photo taken in August 2003)
Winthrop's Yirrell Beach, looking north from Deer Island (photo taken in August 2003)

In the town the population was spread out with 18.6% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $53,122, and the median income for a family was $65,696. Males had a median income of $42,135 versus $36,298 for females. The per capita income for the town was $27,374. About 3.3% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Winthrop's sports team is the Winthrop Vikings.

[edit] Points of interest

  • Deane Winthrop House, Shirley Street- (one of the longest Constant lived in houses in the U.S.)
  • Fort Banks (an underground bunker is all that remains), off Revere and Almont Streets. (Also once used as the Halloween attraction the Haunted Dungeon.)
  • Fort Heath

[edit] Notable natives

[edit] Trivia

Winthrop's sports team is the Winthrop Vikings.

"Winthrop" a song about the town, appears on the 2005 Indigo Girls album Rarities

[edit] References

  1. ^ Deer Island Factsheet. Boston Harbor Islands Partnership. Retrieved on August 21, 2006.
  2. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

[edit] External links

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Municipalities and communities of
Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Cities
Town

Winthrop
Villages