What to See in Hingham - Top Sights and Attractions

Church in Hingham, Massachusetts. The Old Ship Church is a Puritan church built in 1681 in Hingham, Massachusetts. It is the only surviving 17th-century Puritan meetinghouse in America. Its congregation, gathered in 1635 and officially known as First Parish in Hingham, occupies the oldest church building in continuous ecclesiastical use in the United States. On October 9, 1960, it was designated a National Historic Landmark and on November 15, 1966, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Old Ship Church is, according to The New York Times, "the oldest continuously worshiped-in church in North America and the only surviving example in this country of the English Gothic style of the 17th century. The more familiar delicately spired white Colonial churches of New England would not be built for more than half a century." Within the church, "the ceiling, made of great oak beams, looks like the inverted frame of a ship," notes The Washington Post. "Built in 1681, it is the oldest church in continuous use as a house of worship in North America."

The most distinctive feature of the structure is its Hammerbeam roof, a Gothic open timber construction, the most well-known example being that of Westminster Hall. Some of those working on the soaring structure were no doubt ship carpenters; others were East Anglians familiar with the method of constructing a hammerbeam roof.^[1]

Movie theater in Hingham, Massachusetts. Loring Hall Cinema is a historic building located in downtown Hingham, Massachusetts. The cinema was originally opened in 1852 as a meeting hall with the intent to provide the town with a suitable building for lectures, picnics, and social meetings of all kinds. In 1936, the building was converted into a single screen motion picture house that still operates today. The Loring Hall cinema is currently run by the local Patriot Cinemas company.

The facility was purchased by Philip Scott in February 1964. On June 17, 1981, The Hingham Historical Society presented the Scott family with an architectural recognition award for their effort to maintain the architectural heritage of the town.^[2]

Historical landmark in Hingham, Massachusetts. The General Benjamin Lincoln House is a National Historic Landmark at 181 North Street in Hingham, Massachusetts, United States. It was the birthplace and principal residence of Continental Army Major General Benjamin Lincoln, a well-respected military leader of the American Revolutionary War. The house has portions that are said to date to the 1630s, with significant additions made principally during the 18th century, possibly making it one of the nation's oldest wood-frame buildings. The last major modifications to the house were probably undertaken by General Lincoln in the late 18th century.

The house had remained in the hands of Lincoln family descendants but was listed for sale in 2020. Changes to the interior and exterior are authorized only in consultation with Historic New England, a major regional historic preservation organization.^[3]

The Cushing Homestead is a historic house at 210 East Street in Hingham, Massachusetts. The home is a 2+1⁄2-story rear saltbox, and has traces of both 17th-century English style as well as later 18th-century Georgian. The two rooms that originally made up the house look much today as they likely did before the house was later enlarged.

The house was built in 1678 by town clerk and magistrate Daniel Cushing of Bachelor's Row for his son Peter Cushing, born in 1646. Peter Cushing later operated a mill on land across from the home. The home is one of Hingham's oldest and was added to the National Historic Register in 1973. It has also been designated a Massachusetts Historic Landmark. The house sits on a ten-acre lot.

The white clapboard structure centers on a five-bay facade that faces south. Inside, the house has sponge painting believed to have been done applied before 1700, as well as an enormous original working fireplace. The property of the Cushing Homestead includes a barn, corncrib and a forge. Also on the property are the ancient mill site and dam, a former Native American fishing hole, old stone walls and markers, and a large hayfield – all speaking to Hingham's early agricultural beginnings.

"It is probably one of the most important homesteads in Hingham, beautifully maintained inside and out,’’ says Hingham-based architectural historian Monique Lehner.

The property's barn, said to be the oldest in the United States, is constructed of timber that originally was part of Hingham's first meeting house, replaced by the Old Ship Church in 1681. The barn is a shingle-covered structure in a pitched roof style, and has ornamental red trim. The house has been occupied for over three centuries by descendants in the male line of the original builder, the son of Puritan Matthew Cushing, who arrived in Hingham from Norfolk, England, in 1638.

Among the Cushing family members who have occupied the home since it was built was Capt. Peter Cushing (1741–1783), grandson and namesake of the first owner. A selectman and constable of Hingham, Capt. Cushing commanded a company of troops during the Revolutionary War under fellow townsman General Benjamin Lincoln.

An elm tree on the property, a local landmark for years, was famous as the place where pastor John Brown preached to a group of Minutemen from Cohasset in 1775. The soldiers afterwards took part in the Siege of Boston under Col. (later Brigadier General) John Greaton.^[4]

Historical place in Hingham, Massachusetts. The Lincoln Historic District is a historic district in Hingham, Massachusetts, United States. It is roughly located on North and South Streets from West to Water Streets, Main Street south to Garrison Road, and Lincoln Street and Fearing Road north to Miles. It encompasses the earliest streets laid out in Hingham at the time of its founding in 1635, covering more than 300 years of development and a cross section of Hingham's architectural history. It includes some of the town's oldest buildings, including most notably the Old Ship Church and the General Benjamin Lincoln House, both National Historic Landmarks. The district takes its name from the large number of Lincolns who were among Hingham's early settlers.

The district features Early Republic, Late Victorian, and Colonial architecture and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.^[5]

Historical place in Hingham, Massachusetts. The South Hingham Historic District is a historic district roughly along Main St. from Cushing St. to Tower Brook Road in Hingham, Massachusetts. This area of Main Street is predominantly residential, and is distinctive for its boulevard-like character, which was envisioned in town planning documents as early as the late 17th century. A significant feature of the area is the presence of conservation land behind the properties on much of this stretch of Main Street, which has effectively throttled large-scale development. These properties include the Jacob Meadow, Mildred Cushing Woods, and Crooked Meadow River Area. The oldest structure in the district is the 1650 Edward Wilder House at 597 Main Street.

The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.^[6]