Quincy, MA

Quincy ( KWIN-zee) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston’s immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 101,636, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. Known as the “City of Presidents”, Quincy is the birthplace of two U.S. presidents—John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams—as well as John Hancock, a President of the Continental Congress and the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, as well as being the first and third Governor of Massachusetts.

First settled in 1625, Quincy was briefly part of Dorchester before becoming the north precinct of Braintree in 1640. In 1792, Quincy was split off from Braintree; the new town was named after Colonel John Quincy, maternal grandfather of Abigail Adams and after whom John Quincy Adams was also named. Quincy became a city in 1888.

For more than a century, Quincy was home to a thriving granite industry; the city was also the site of the Granite Railway, the United States’ first commercial railroad. Shipbuilding at the Fore River Shipyard was another key part of the city’s economy. In the 20th century, both Howard Johnson’s and Dunkin’ Donuts were founded in the city.