Cohasset

Cohasset is a coastal town about 25 miles south of Boston, bordered by Scituate, Hingham, and Hull. The shore is rocky, with many small ledges and offshore rocks. Cohasset Cove and The Gulf form a long stretch of the Scituate border, while Straits Pond separates Cohasset from Hull. Near the center of the coast lies Little Harbor, a large inlet divided from the ocean by Beach Island. A large portion of the southwestern part of town is occupied by Wompatuck State Park and the Whitney & Thayer Woods Reservation. There are three beaches along the bay, plus the Cohasset Yacht Club, Cohasset Sailing Club, and a public boat launch in Cohasset Harbor. There are 1,970+ acres of conservation land in Cohasset encompassing marshland and forests.

The Cohasset Conservation Commission is responsible for the protection and management of Cohasset's conservation land and for the administration of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and related town bylaws. Conservation land in Cohasset comes from many sources including the town, the Cohasset Conservation Trust, and the Trustees of Reservations.

Cohasset was first seen by Europeans in 1614 but not settled until 1670. It was originally part of Hingham, known as Hingham's Second Parish, but separated in 1770. The town's name came from the Algonquian word "Conahasset," meaning "long rocky place." The shipbuilding and fishing industries expanded in the early 1880s. By the early 1900s, wealthy Bostonians began summering here and building large coastal estates, which gradually became year-round homes through the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1950s Cohasset had become increasingly suburban; the 1960 census showed the population had jumped 56% over the prior decade.