Hingham, MA

Stops in Hingham

The west Hingham neighborhood, where many Irish immigrant families lived and worked, is walkable. Parking is available in nearby downtown Hingham. You can then walk to Elm Street to begin your tour either from Main Street or from South Street by way of Lafayette Street.

For information on a docent-guided walk through this Irish immigrant neighborhood, contact the Hingham Historical Society.

“By the 1870s, Crowe’s Lane, Hersey near Elm Street, upper Elm, Emerald Street, and Bates Court were an Irish village, close to the industries of North and West Hingham.” – Not All Is Changed (1993, Hingham Historic Commission.)

Walk along Elm St. & Emerald St.

Walk along Elm and Emerald Streets where the many mid-late 19th century homes still create a charming street vista. Irish…

St. Paul’s Cemetery

The land for St. Paul’s Cemetery in Hingham, MA was acquired by the primarily Irish congregation of St. Paul Parish…

Walk along Hersey St. to Crowes Ln.

The Crowe children were all born in Hingham. By the 1910 census, Crowes Lane off Hersey Street was formally recognized…

Continue along Hersey St., cross South St. to North St., you will find Thaxter St.

This is another chance to walk along and admire a neighborhood with many late 19th/early 20th century homes. As documented…

St. Paul’s Catholic Church

Walk along North St. to St. Paul's Church (at the corner of Fearing St.) St Paul’s Catholic Church is one…

From St. Paul’s Church, look across Fearing St. to the current site of the Post Office.

In the late 19th/early 20th century, the Cushing House hotel, located here, employed Irish immigrant women who cooked and cleaned.…

Continue to the Hingham Cemetery near Hingham Harbor

Here, the prominent monument to those from Hingham who fought and died in the Civil War includes the following Irish…

Continue along Hersey St., cross South St. to North St., you will find Thaxter St.

7 Thaxter St, Hingham, MA 02043, USA

Continue to the Hingham Cemetery near Hingham Harbor

Hingham Cemetery, Hingham, MA

From St. Paul’s Church, look across Fearing St. to the current site of the Post Office.

St. Paul's Church, Hingham, MA

St. Paul’s Cemetery

St. Paul's Cemetery, Hingham, MA

St. Paul’s Catholic Church

St. Paul's Church, Hingham, MA

Walk along Elm St. & Emerald St.

21 Emerald St, Hingham, MA 02043, USA

Walk along Hersey St. to Crowes Ln.

Crowes Lane, Hingham, MA

About Hingham

Irish immigrants came to Hingham between the 1850s and 1870s. According to the history Not All Is Changed (L.L. and F.R. Hart, 1993, Hingham Historic Commission), the largest number were from County Cork, though Tipperary and other Irish counties were represented among the families who made Hingham their new home.

Those who settled here had little education and chose Hingham for the work opportunities, often in the town’s factories. The immigrant Irish community in Hingham in the late 19th and early 20th century was concentrated in West Hingham. The Irish also settled in smaller residential clusters in other parts of Hingham.

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