Historical Site Markers

Look for these markers around Weymouth to discover historically significant sites.

abigail adams birthplace

Abigail Adams Birthplace

Marker Location: 180 Norton Street

Abigail Smith Adams, the wife of John Adams, 2nd President, and Mother of John Quincy Adams, 6th Presidents, was born here in 1744.


 

arnold tavern

Arnold Tavern

Marker Location: Commercial Street at Washington Street, opposite Sacred Heart School

An inn and stagecoach stop operated by Samuel Arnold at the fork of the Plymouth and Bridgewater Trails. This Tavern served as a meeting place for the Committee of Safety for Weymouth and nine of the neighboring towns during the Revolutionary War.


 

first church

First Church in Weymouth

Marker Location: 17 Church Street

Gathered in 1623, settlers from England formed the nucleus of the first parish. The town meeting form of government originated here. The first meetinghouse was on Burying Hill. The present site was purchased in 1682 and this meeting house was erected in 1833. 


 

town house

First Town House

Marker Location: Middle Street at Washington Street, near exit of Winter Court

Here in 1852 at the geographical center of Weymouth was built the first "town house" or town hall, later used as a high school. During King Philip's War in 1675, this was the location nearest to Boston at which settlers battled Indians and houses were burned.


 

rice tavern

Rice Tavern

Marker Location: 870 Broad Street

Built in the early 1770's, an ordinary operated by Josiah Rice, the "Innholder," known as the half-way house on the Boston to Plymouth Trail.*

*An ordinary refers to a tavern or inn in the colonial era that served a complete meal at a fixed price.


 

old south union church

Second Parish Meeting House

Marker Location: 25 Columbian Street

Here, in 1722, the settlers of the southerly end of Weymouth erected their first meeting house on the land of Jacob Turner at the junction of several trails called "the Great Plain." That building was replaced in 1785 and again in 1854 by the present edifice.