History & Heritage

Quincy the Gateway to Boston Harbor

Nestled in between the 22 hills of the Blue Hills Reservation and 27 miles of coastline along Boston Harbor and the Harbor Islands, the area we know of today as the City of Quincy has always been a center of human activity and innovation.

For thousands of years Native Americans, including the Massachusett people, thrived on the abundant resources they harvested from the harbors and cultivated in rich coastal soils.  These same resources from soil and sea would draw European settlers to the community with family names likes Adams, Quincy and Hancock.

As the birthplace of John Adams, John Quincy Adams and John Hancock, Quincy has long been recognized for the pivotal role her native sons and daughters played in the fight for American independence and the building of a new nation.  Yet, Quincy’s revolutionary past is just one part of its rich and diverse historic and cultural heritage.

For hundreds of years, this seaside community just south of Boston has been both a source and a destination for trailblazers and innovators whose lives and work would build, shape and transform American life, from granite and shipbuilding to donuts and roadside dining.

Heart of City Quincy Tour

Hear all about the stories of the Hancock Adams Common, both past and present.

This free audio tour is available at the City of Quincy Welcome Center, located at the northern end of the Hancock Adams Common OR by using a smart phone to scan the QR code at any one of the 17 Heart of Quincy Tour stops across the Common and the Hancock Cemetery.

Two mobile app-based tours are available (Hancock Adams Common and Cemetery) https://mapmyvisit.com/listen/HeartofQuincy