Quincy Homestead Indoor Tours Resume

5.21.2022

News

The 2022 Quincy Homestead tour season began on Saturday, May 21 st with a
ceremonial ribbon cutting performed by Quincy Mayor, the Honorable Thomas P. Koch,
accompanied by Quincy city Councilor-At-Large Noel DiBona, State Senator John F. Keenan,
Wendy Pearl, Director of Cultural Resources for DCR, and Lydia Kimball, President of the
NSCDA-MA. Homestead co-chair Carrie Hawley opened the festivities by extending a heartfelt
thankyou to a bevy of organizations who have generously supported the maintenance and upkeep
of the 342 year old property.  Highlighted were the Quincy Community Preservation Committee,
the Massachusetts Department of Recreation and Conservation, and the Colonial Warriors who
all provided generous grants for the recent restoration of the homestead and the archeological
dig.  This was an exciting opportunity for members of the community to see the conservation
measures performed over the past two years.

First time visitors expressed delight at their first opportunity to tour the inside of the National
Historic Landmark.  The over fifty visitors who toured throughout the day were treated to an in-
depth tour of the historic property and the Quincy family, as well as an impromptu musical
performance on the homesteads 1750 spinet by a docent wearing period costume similar to the
dress worn by Dorothy Quincy Hancock in her famous Copley portrait.

The Homestead is significant for five generations of the influential Quincy family who occupied
the property during the Colonial period of 1636-1763, and for its majestic Georgian architecture.
It is known to have been visited by American patriots such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams
and John Hancock and was the childhood home of Dorothy Quincy Hancock, First Lady of
Massachusetts, and wife of John Hancock, who was president of the Second Continental
Congress, first signer of the Declaration of Independence, and first Governor of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Quincy Homestead Committee would like to thank Starbucks and Montilios Bakery for
providing coffee and a beautiful cake for visitors to enjoy. Additional tours of the property will
be held beginning on the half hour from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm (last tour starts at 1:30 p.m.) on the
following dates:
Saturday, June 25, 2022
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Saturday, September 10, 2022
Saturday, September 24, 2022

The Quincy Homestead and grounds are owned by The Massachusetts Department of Recreation
and Conservation and are operated in cooperation with The Massachusetts Chapter of the
National Society of Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA-MA) in a public-private partnership.