Weston Park

46 Broad St, Weymouth, MA 02188, USA

Weymouth Parks/Trees/Grounds: (781) 337-5100

https://weymouthma.myrec.com/info/facilities/details.aspx?FacilityID=8014

Owned By: Town of Weymouth

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Weston Park is a multi-use park located behind Tufts Library in Weymouth. Stroller-friendly, it features two playgrounds, a picnic area, and 0.6 miles of walking paths, plus a basketball court and a baseball/softball field. When there’s snow on the ground, it’s a popular spot for sledding.

Features

This tree-lined park is a quiet oasis on the outskirts of Weymouth Landing. Updated in 2019, it features two playground areas — one for toddlers, and one for older children — and a small butterfly garden. A nature observation platform overlooks a small wetland.

The park is named for Thomas Weston, who established Wessagusset (today’s North Weymouth), the second European settlement in Massachusetts. According to the Weymouth Historical Society, in August 1622, Weston’s group of about 60 men arrived in North Weymouth with the intention of establishing a commercial fishing settlement on Hunt’s Hill. By February 1623, their settlement was in serious trouble. Starving, and with their provisions depleted, they began to clash with the Neponset band of the Massachuseuk, the indigenous people who also inhabited the area.

After learning that the settlement was under threat of attack, Plymouth Colony sent a force led by Myles Standish to defend it. What resulted was a clash in which Standish lured members of the Neponset band into a small building and then attacked them, fatally wounding several. Standish was concerned that tribe members, especially Wituwamat, were conspiring against the colonists. Scholars have found no evidence of this plot. While Standish has long been regarded as a hero of Plymouth Colony, it’s important also to acknowledge that he was a destructive force with regard to the native tribes that inhabited the region prior to, and during the time of, European colonization.

The Wessagusset colony was disbanded, but in 1624, it was resettled, partially by colonists from Weymouth, England, with more arriving in 1635. Weston himself, who was more of an investor than a colonist, was arrested and tried by the colony’s Governor Robert Gorges for neglecting his colony and selling off the weapons that were intended to defend it. Weston denied the first charge, but confessed to the second, and was released  “on his word.” He eventually settled, and prospered, in Maryland, but died of the plague in 1647, during a visit to England.

Residents of Wessagusset were supported by Plymouth Colony until they joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Wessagusset incorporated as a town that same year, with its name officially changed to Weymouth.

This land is within the region of the Massachuseuk (or Massachusett) Native American tribe. More detailed information about the indigenous tribes that inhabited the Weymouth area can be found at King Oak Hill Park in Weymouth. The remains of Wituwamat and Pecksuot are now interred at Old North Cemetery in Weymouth. To learn more about local Native American tribes, we encourage you to interact with their members. The Massachusett tribe at Ponkapoag shares information on its website. 

Trail Description

A concrete/paved pathway zigzags in various directions within the park. Its total distance is 0.64 miles. Additional pedestrian access from Commercial Street, Franklin Street, and Front Street.

Habitats and Wildlife

This mostly-grassy park is dotted with maple, pine and elm trees. Close to Weymouth Landing, it is part of the Smelt Brook/Fore River watershed.

Smelt Brook and the Monatiquot River flow together to form the Fore River. The Fore River serves as the boundary line between the towns of Weymouth and Braintree. It flows for about 3 miles, into Quincy, where it meets Town River, and then flows for another 2 miles into Hingham Bay. In ints final few miles, the Fore River is nearly a mile wide in some places.