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88-707: The sanctuary's headquarters are located in Scituate , Massachusetts. The sanctuary lies within Massachusetts Bay , 25 miles (40 km) east of Boston , Massachusetts , 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Gloucester , Massachusetts, and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Provincetown , Massachusetts. The heart of the sanctuary is Stellwagen Bank, an underwater plateau stretching 19 miles (17 nmi; 31 km) north to south, and 6 miles (5.2 nmi; 9.7 km) across at its widest near its southern end. The bank is, on average, 100 to 120 feet (30 to 37 m) below

176-526: A local favorite. According to the official parade website, the parade began in Minot, Massachusetts , in 1995 as a small procession around the block to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. An annual outdoor event in the Scituate Harbor area featuring live music, entertainment, artisan crafts, kids activities and historical site visits. The event takes place for one weekend in the month of August. Scituate

264-527: A result of melting ice, the land has continued to rise yearly in Scandinavia, mostly in northern Sweden and Finland, where the land is rising at a rate of as much as 8–9 mm per year, or 1 m in 100 years. This is important for archaeologists, since a site that was coastal in the Nordic Stone Age now is inland and can be dated by its relative distance from the present shore. The term Würm

352-446: A schooner grounded off Third Cliff apparently died before a large crowd watching from shore "literally frozen to the ropes" while unsuccessful rescue efforts continued through the day and their apparently lifeless bodies were covered by nightfall. A small fishing fleet is still based in Scituate Harbor, although today the town is mostly residential. In 1810, a lighthouse was erected on the northern edge of Scituate Harbor. This lighthouse

440-797: A still lesser extent, glaciers existed in Africa, for example in the High Atlas , the mountains of Morocco , the Mount Atakor massif in southern Algeria , and several mountains in Ethiopia . Just south of the equator, an ice cap of several hundred square kilometers was present on the east African mountains in the Kilimanjaro massif , Mount Kenya , and the Rwenzori Mountains , which still bear relic glaciers today. Glaciation of

528-452: A typical year, Scituate's temperatures fall below 50 °F (10 °C) for 184 days per year. Annual precipitation is typically 46.4 inches (1,180 mm) per year (high for the US) and snow covers the ground on no days per year or 0% of the year (the lowest in the US). It may be helpful to understand the yearly precipitation by imagining nine straight days of moderate rain per year. The humidity

616-949: Is Marshfield Municipal Airport . The nearest national and international air service can be reached at Logan International Airport in Boston . T. F. Green Airport , located outside Providence, Rhode Island , is an alternative to Logan, although it is located farther away. The Greenbush Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail begins in Scituate with the Greenbush station, proceeds north to Scituate's second stop, in North Scituate , where it continues to Cohasset and Hingham and finally South Station in Boston. The ride into Boston lasts approximately forty- five minutes. In late 2015,

704-404: Is Route 123 , which terminates at Route 3A, just 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from the town line. There is no air service in town; the closest regional airport is Marshfield Municipal Airport , and the closest national and international air service is at Logan International Airport in Boston. There are two MBTA commuter rail stations . One is just off Route 3A in North Scituate , and the other

792-471: Is below 60% for approximately 34.4 days, or 9.4% of the year. The town is highly prone to the effects of nor'easters , major storms that slam the region every winter. The strongest of these storms can produce devastating coastal flooding and hurricane force winds in Scituate and other coastal Massachusetts towns. There are no divided highways that run through Scituate, but there are two state roads, Route 3A and Route 123 . The nearest airport to Scituate

880-535: Is considered a South Shore community, located just south of the mouth of greater Boston Harbor . The town is not contiguous; Humarock is a part of Scituate which can only be reached from Marshfield . The latter was formerly connected to the town, but that connection was lost when the mouth of the South River shifted northward as the result of the Portland Gale of 1898. The town's shore varies, with

968-639: Is derived from " satuit ", the Wampanoag term for cold brook, which refers to a brook that runs to the inner harbor of the town. European colonization brought a group of people from Plymouth about 1627, who were joined by colonizers from the county of Kent in England. They were initially governed by the General Court of Plymouth , but on October 5, 1636, the town incorporated as a separate entity. The Williams-Barker House , which still remains near

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1056-605: Is derived from a river in the Alpine foreland, roughly marking the maximum glacier advance of this particular glacial period. The Alps were where the first systematic scientific research on ice ages was conducted by Louis Agassiz at the beginning of the 19th century. Here, the Würm glaciation of the LGP was intensively studied. Pollen analysis , the statistical analyses of microfossilized plant pollens found in geological deposits, chronicled

1144-540: Is just east of the intersection of Routes 3A and 123 in the Greenbush neighborhood , which is the line's eastern terminus. The line is connected to an existing line in Braintree , providing service to South Station in Boston . Named places in the town include: "The Harbor" refers to the business district as well as the harbor itself. Scituate Harbor is used mostly by pleasure boaters and fishermen. At one time, dozens of commercial fishermen lived in Scituate, but

1232-537: Is land and 14.2 square miles (36.8 km ), or 44.60%, is water. Scituate is bordered on the east by Massachusetts Bay , on the south by Marshfield , on the west by Norwell and Hingham , all of which are in Plymouth County , and on the northwest by Cohasset , in Norfolk County . The town is 19 miles (31 km) northeast of Brockton and 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Boston . Scituate

1320-692: Is located in Scituate. The town is also home to the Lawson Tower, a water tower surrounded by a wooden façade, with an observation deck with views of most of the South Shore from the top. Financier and muckraker Thomas Lawson built his Dreamworld estate in Scituate. The Lawson Tower remains and the Dreamworld condominium complex pays tribute. During World War II, the Fourth Cliff Military Reservation defended

1408-597: Is located near Scituate Center, and is a member of the Old Colony Library Network (OCLN). The town also operates a highway department, as well as several parks, beaches and marinas. The Coast Guard also has a station at Scituate Harbor. In 2002, Scituate voters adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA) for the acquisition, preservation, restoration or creation of open space, historical purposes, land for recreational use and

1496-738: Is mentioned as a good fishing spot in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's short story, The Village Uncle . Last Glacial Period The Last Glacial Period ( LGP ), also known as the Last glacial cycle , occurred from the end of the Last Interglacial to the beginning of the Holocene , c.  115,000  – c.  11,700 years ago, and thus corresponds to most of the timespan of the Late Pleistocene . The LGP

1584-556: Is now known as Old Scituate Light . During the War of 1812 , a British naval raiding party having landed on the beach near the lighthouse was deterred by the two daughters of the lighthouse keeper. The young girls, Abigail and Rebecca Bates, marched to and fro behind sand dunes playing a fife and drum loudly. The British invaders were duped into thinking that the American army was approaching and fled. The girls and this incident became known as

1672-540: Is part of a larger sequence of glacial and interglacial periods known as the Quaternary glaciation which started around 2,588,000 years ago and is ongoing. The glaciation and the current Quaternary Period both began with the formation of the Arctic ice cap . The Antarctic ice sheet began to form earlier, at about 34 Mya, in the mid- Cenozoic ( Eocene–Oligocene extinction event ), and the term Late Cenozoic Ice Age

1760-732: Is used to include this early phase with the current glaciation. The previous ice age within the Quaternary is the Penultimate Glacial Period , which ended about 128,000 years ago, was more severe than the Last Glacial Period in some areas such as Britain, but less severe in others. The last glacial period saw alternating episodes of glacier advance and retreat with the Last Glacial Maximum occurring between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. While

1848-517: The 17th century it was observed that the area made for excellent fishing . Large cod and tuna were caught frequently in the area, and whaling ships caught many whales in the area. In 1854, the United States Navy sent Lieutenant Commander Henry Stellwagen to survey and map the area. It was known that there was an ocean bank in the area, but its extent and shape were not known. Sounding could show ships how close they were to

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1936-585: The American lobster , sea scallops , squid , and ocean quahogs are also prevalent. Many marine birds live at Stellwagen Bank, including gannets , shearwaters , storm petrels , fulmars , puffins and razorbills . Reptiles also are present, primarily represented by the leatherback sea turtle . Possibly the most famous animals on Stellwagen Bank are its marine mammals . Five species of seals ( harp seals , gray seals , harbor seals , hooded seals , and ringed seals ), and numerous whale species swim in

2024-1024: The Central Rocky Mountains ), Wisconsinan or Wisconsin (in central North America), Devensian (in the British Isles), Midlandian (in Ireland), Würm (in the Alps ), Mérida (in Venezuela ), Weichselian or Vistulian (in Northern Europe and northern Central Europe), Valdai in Russia and Zyryanka in Siberia , Llanquihue in Chile , and Otira in New Zealand. The geochronological Late Pleistocene includes

2112-632: The GATRA bus program was implemented in Scituate. The program provides low-cost bus transportation within the town. On the national level, Scituate is a part of Massachusetts's 8th congressional district , and is currently represented by Stephen Lynch . On the state level, all of Scituate's voting precincts are represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of the Fourth Plymouth district, which also includes

2200-670: The Himalayas , and other formerly glaciated regions around the world. The glaciations that occurred during this glacial period covered many areas, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and to a lesser extent in the Southern Hemisphere. They have different names, historically developed and depending on their geographic distributions: Fraser (in the Pacific Cordillera of North America), Pinedale (in

2288-472: The Holocene , the current geological epoch . The LGP is often colloquially referred to as the "last ice age", though the term ice age is not strictly defined, and on a longer geological perspective, the last few million years could be termed a single ice age given the continual presence of ice sheets near both poles. Glacials are somewhat better defined, as colder phases during which glaciers advance, separated by relatively warm interglacials . The end of

2376-607: The Lesotho Highlands and parts of the Drakensberg . The development of glaciers was likely aided in part due to shade provided by adjacent cliffs. Various moraines and former glacial niches have been identified in the eastern Lesotho Highlands a few kilometres west of the Great Escarpment , at altitudes greater than 3,000 m on south-facing slopes. Studies suggest that the annual average temperature in

2464-546: The Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Plymouth and Norfolk district , which includes the towns of Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield Norwell and Weymouth. Scituate is governed on the local level by the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a town administrator and a board of selectmen . The town hall, police and fire station 3 are all located in buildings along Route 3A, just down

2552-727: The Owen Stanley Range , and the Saruwaged Range . Mount Giluwe in the Central Cordillera had a "more or less continuous ice cap covering about 188 km and extending down to 3200-3500 m". In Western New Guinea , remnants of these glaciers are still preserved atop Puncak Jaya and Ngga Pilimsit . Small glaciers developed in a few favorable places in Southern Africa during the last glacial period. These small glaciers would have been located in

2640-720: The Sierra Nevada in northern California . In northern Eurasia, the Scandinavian ice sheet once again reached the northern parts of the British Isles , Germany , Poland , and Russia, extending as far east as the Taymyr Peninsula in western Siberia. The maximum extent of western Siberian glaciation was reached by about 18,000 to 17,000 BP, later than in Europe (22,000–18,000 BP). Northeastern Siberia

2728-645: The United States Congress authorized a national marine sanctuary in the area. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary on November 14, 1992. In 1999, the submersible DeepWorker 2000 was used to quantify the species of fish as well as the space resources within the sanctuary. Remotely operated underwater vehicles were used from 1993 to 2003 to make additional observations of

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2816-732: The Upper Mississippi River , which in turn was formed during an earlier glacial period. In its retreat, the Wisconsin episode glaciation left terminal moraines that form Long Island , Block Island , Cape Cod , Nomans Land , Martha's Vineyard , Nantucket , Sable Island , and the Oak Ridges Moraine in south-central Ontario, Canada. In Wisconsin itself, it left the Kettle Moraine . The drumlins and eskers formed at its melting edge are landmarks of

2904-584: The grooves left by these glaciers can be easily observed. In southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta, a suture zone between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets formed the Cypress Hills , which is the northernmost point in North America that remained south of the continental ice sheets. The Great Lakes are the result of glacial scour and pooling of meltwater at the rim of

2992-586: The isostatically depressed area, a temporary marine incursion that geologists dub the Yoldia Sea . Then, as postglacial isostatic rebound lifted the region about 9500 BP, the deepest basin of the Baltic became a freshwater lake, in palaeological contexts referred to as Ancylus Lake , which is identifiable in the freshwater fauna found in sediment cores. The lake was filled by glacial runoff, but as worldwide sea level continued rising, saltwater again breached

3080-493: The " American Army of Two " or "Lighthouse Army of Two". Descendants of the Bates family still remain in Scituate. Another notable lighthouse, Minot's Ledge Light , stands approximately one mile (1.6 km) off Scituate Neck. The Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse (also known as Minot’s Light) has been nicknamed the "I Love You Lighthouse" due to the 1–4–3 pattern that its light repeatedly emits. Samuel Woodworth 's Old Oaken Bucket house

3168-697: The 2005–06 school year. The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade takes place on the third Sunday in March and runs from Greenbush-Driftway to Scituate Harbor. In addition to the parade, the celebration includes the Mad Hatter's Ball, the Annual Mayor's Race, and the St. Pat's Plunge into the chilly Atlantic Ocean at Peggotty Beach. These events are fundraisers for local charities. With nearly 50% of Scituate residents being of Irish descent, St. Patrick's Day festivities are

3256-778: The Alpine foreland . Local ice fields or small ice sheets could be found capping the highest massifs of the Pyrenees , the Carpathian Mountains , the Balkan Mountains , the Caucasus , and the mountains of Turkey and Iran . In the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau , there is evidence that glaciers advanced considerably, particularly between 47,000 and 27,000 BP, but the exact ages, as well as

3344-524: The Center for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate at the University of Tromsø , published a study in June 2017 describing over a hundred ocean sediment craters, some 3,000 m wide and up to 300 m deep, formed by explosive eruptions of methane from destabilized methane hydrates , following ice-sheet retreat during the LGP, around 12,000 years ago. These areas around the Barents Sea still seep methane today. The study hypothesized that existing bulges containing methane reservoirs could eventually have

3432-474: The Greenland climate was dry during the LGP, with precipitation reaching perhaps only 20% of today's value. The name Mérida glaciation is proposed to designate the alpine glaciation that affected the central Venezuelan Andes during the Late Pleistocene. Two main moraine levels have been recognized - one with an elevation of 2,600–2,700 m (8,500–8,900 ft), and another with an elevation of 3,000–3,500 m (9,800–11,500 ft). The snow line during

3520-483: The Gulf River (owned by Abraham Lincoln 's great, great, great grandfather); and construction of recreational facilities at Hatherly and Cushing Schools, the athletic complex at Scituate High School , and several playgrounds and sports fields around town. Scituate's public schools provide co-ed classes for grades K–12. Hatherly Elementary School, Cushing Elementary School, Wampatuck Elementary School and (the most recently opened) Jenkins Elementary School serve grades K–5,

3608-570: The LGP as the Devensian . Irish geologists, geographers, and archaeologists refer to the Midlandian glaciation, as its effects in Ireland are largely visible in the Irish Midlands . The name Devensian is derived from the Latin Dēvenses , people living by the Dee ( Dēva in Latin), a river on the Welsh border near which deposits from the period are particularly well represented. The effects of this glaciation can be seen in many geological features of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland . Its deposits have been found overlying material from

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3696-505: The North American Laurentide ice sheet. At the height of glaciation, the Bering land bridge potentially permitted migration of mammals, including people, to North America from Siberia . It radically altered the geography of North America north of the Ohio River . At the height of the Wisconsin episode glaciation, ice covered most of Canada, the Upper Midwest , and New England , as well as parts of Montana and Washington . On Kelleys Island in Lake Erie or in New York's Central Park ,

3784-410: The Polish River Vistula or its German name Weichsel). Evidence suggests that the ice sheets were at their maximum size for only a short period, between 25,000 and 13,000 BP. Eight interstadials have been recognized in the Weichselian, including the Oerel, Glinde, Moershoofd, Hengelo, and Denekamp. Correlation with isotope stages is still in process. During the glacial maximum in Scandinavia, only

3872-415: The Scituate area with a battery of two 6-inch guns . It is now a recreation area for Hanscom Air Force Base . Scituate used to be the site of international broadcasting radio station WNYW , which broadcast on the shortwave bands in the late 1960s. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 31.8 square miles (82.4 km ), of which 17.6 square miles (45.7 km )

3960-437: The Southern Hemisphere was less extensive. Ice sheets existed in the Andes ( Patagonian Ice Sheet ), where six glacier advances between 33,500 and 13,900 BP in the Chilean Andes have been reported. Antarctica was entirely glaciated, much like today, but unlike today the ice sheet left no uncovered area. In mainland Australia only a very small area in the vicinity of Mount Kosciuszko was glaciated, whereas in Tasmania glaciation

4048-452: The Wisconsin episode. It began about 30,000 years ago, reached its greatest advance 21,000 years ago, and ended about 10,000 years ago. In northwest Greenland, ice coverage attained a very early maximum in the LGP around 114,000. After this early maximum, ice coverage was similar to today until the end of the last glacial period. Towards the end, glaciers advanced once more before retreating to their present extent. According to ice core data,

4136-406: The average family size was 3.13. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males. The median income for a household in the town

4224-452: The coastlinee are forced upwards toward the surface when they come into contact with the steep slopes of the bank’s plateau. This creates upwelling at the shelf break, which occur because there are ocean currents flowing along the coast, slower moving water at the bottom of the ocean due to friction, stratified water separated by density , salinity , and temperature, and a dramatic change in seafloor slope. This upwelling brings nutrients to

4312-407: The creation and support of community housing. Since then, voters have approved funding for many noteworthy projects: restoration of historic treasures like Lawson Tower , Cudworth House, and Stockbridge Mill, and Old Scituate Light ; purchase of increasingly threatened open space—more than 400 acres to date containing much wildlife and scenic trails; acquisition of the Mordecai Lincoln Homestead on

4400-413: The dangerous waters of Boston Harbor , and so better maps were needed. Prior to Stellwagen's hydrographic survey , it was believed there were two small banks in the area, one just to the north of Cape Cod, and one in the middle of the entrance to Massachusetts Bay. Stellwagen showed that they were part of one large bank. As a result, the U.S. Navy named the bank after him in 1855. On October 7, 1992,

4488-400: The dramatic changes in the European environment during the Würm glaciation. During the height of Würm glaciation, c.  24,000  – c.  10,000  BP, most of western and central Europe and Eurasia was open steppe-tundra, while the Alps presented solid ice fields and montane glaciers. Scandinavia and much of Britain were under ice. During the Würm, the Rhône Glacier covered

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4576-427: The fish within the sanctuary and adjacent waters. Scituate, Massachusetts Scituate ( / ˈ s ɪ tʃ u ɪ t / ) is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts , United States, on the South Shore , midway between Boston and Plymouth . The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census. The Wampanoag and their neighbors inhabited the area for thousands of years. The name Scituate

4664-423: The formation of a single contiguous ice sheet on the Tibetan Plateau, is controversial. Other areas of the Northern Hemisphere did not bear extensive ice sheets, but local glaciers were widespread at high altitudes. Parts of Taiwan , for example, were repeatedly glaciated between 44,250 and 10,680 BP as well as the Japanese Alps . In both areas, maximum glacier advance occurred between 60,000 and 30,000 BP. To

4752-412: The general pattern of cooling and glacier advance around the globe was similar, local differences make it difficult to compare the details from continent to continent (see picture of ice core data below for differences). The most recent cooling, the Younger Dryas , began around 12,800 years ago and ended around 11,700 years ago, also marking the end of the LGP and the Pleistocene epoch. It was followed by

4840-451: The harbor, is believed to have been built in 1634. Twelve homes and a sawmill were destroyed in King Philip's War in 1676. In 1710, several Europeans from Scituate emigrated to Rhode Island and founded Scituate, Rhode Island . In 1717, the western portion of the original land grant was separated and incorporated as the town of Hanover , and in 1788, a section of the town was ceded to Marshfield . In 1849, another western section became

4928-447: The last glacial advance was lowered approximately 1,200 m (3,900 ft) below the present snow line, which is 3,700 m (12,100 ft). The glaciated area in the Cordillera de Mérida was about 600 km (230 sq mi); this included these high areas, from southwest to northeast: Páramo de Tamá, Páramo Batallón, Páramo Los Conejos, Páramo Piedras Blancas, and Teta de Niquitao. Around 200 km (77 sq mi) of

5016-444: The last glacial maximum, the Patagonian ice sheet extended over the Andes from about 35°S to Tierra del Fuego at 55°S. The western part appears to have been very active, with wet basal conditions, while the eastern part was cold-based. Cryogenic features such as ice wedges , patterned ground , pingos , rock glaciers , palsas , soil cryoturbation , and solifluction deposits developed in unglaciated extra-Andean Patagonia during

5104-401: The last glacial period, which was about 10,000 years ago, is often called the end of the ice age, although extensive year-round ice persists in Antarctica and Greenland . Over the past few million years, the glacial-interglacial cycles have been "paced" by periodic variations in the Earth's orbit via Milankovitch cycles . The LGP has been intensively studied in North America, northern Eurasia,

5192-409: The last major ice age . The Laurentide Ice Sheet advanced over the eastern United States 25,000 years ago, pushing in front of it large amounts of earth and rock. The southern margin of the glaciers formed local geographical features including Cape Cod and Stellwagen Bank. Originally, the Stellwagen Bank was above water, but gradually subsided over time as the post-glacial rebound subsided. In

5280-442: The late glacial (Weichselian) and the immediately preceding penultimate interglacial ( Eemian ) period. Canada was almost completely covered by ice, as was the northern part of the United States , both blanketed by the huge Laurentide Ice Sheet . Alaska remained mostly ice free due to arid climate conditions. Local glaciations existed in the Rocky Mountains and the Cordilleran ice sheet and as ice fields and ice caps in

5368-401: The lower Connecticut River Valley . In the Sierra Nevada , three stages of glacial maxima, sometimes incorrectly called ice ages , were separated by warmer periods. These glacial maxima are called, from oldest to youngest, Tahoe, Tenaya, and Tioga. The Tahoe reached its maximum extent perhaps about 70,000 years ago. Little is known about the Tenaya. The Tioga was the least severe and last of

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5456-448: The main Wisconsin glacial advance. The upper level probably represents the last glacial advance (Late Wisconsin). The Llanquihue glaciation takes its name from Llanquihue Lake in southern Chile , which is a fan-shaped piedmont glacial lake. On the lake's western shores, large moraine systems occur, of which the innermost belong to the LGP. Llanquihue Lake's varves are a node point in southern Chile's varve geochronology . During

5544-430: The massive Missoula Floods . USGS geologists estimate that the cycle of flooding and reformation of the lake lasted an average of 55 years and that the floods occurred about 40 times over the 2,000-year period starting 15,000 years ago. Glacial lake outburst floods such as these are not uncommon today in Iceland and other places. The Wisconsin glacial episode was the last major advance of continental glaciers in

5632-502: The mountains of Southern Africa was about 6 °C colder than at present, in line with temperature drops estimated for Tasmania and southern Patagonia during the same time. This resulted in an environment of relatively arid periglaciation without permafrost , but with deep seasonal freezing on south-facing slopes. Periglaciation in the eastern Drakensberg and Lesotho Highlands produced solifluction deposits and blockfields ; including blockstreams and stone garlands. Scientists from

5720-1007: The newly opened Lester J. Gates Middle School , which bears the same name as the old Intermediate school, serves grades six through eight and was opened just in time for the 2017–2018 school year. Scituate High School serves 9–12. Scituate High's teams are known as the Sailors, and their colors are blue, white, and black. The teams compete in the MIAA's Divisions 2 and 3, in the Patriot League. Their chief rivals are Norwell and Cohasset , whom they border, and Hingham, whom they play in their annual Thanksgiving Day football game. High school students may also choose to attend South Shore Vocational Technical High School in Hanover free of charge. Also, many students, specifically in high school, commute to private schools in and around Boston, most commonly, Thayer Academy and Archbishop Williams in Braintree, Boston College High School (boys only) in Dorchester, and Notre Dame Academy (girls only) in Hingham. Boston College High enrolled 61 young men from Scituate in

5808-583: The number has dwindled to just a handful. As of the census of 2010, there were 18,133 people, 6,694 households, and 4,920 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,039.6 inhabitants per square mile (401.4/km ). There were 7,685 housing units at an average density of 447.3 per square mile (172.7/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 96.1% White , 0.8% Black or African American , 0.1% Native American , 0.8% Asian , 0.01% Pacific Islander , 1.4% from other races , and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.83% of

5896-407: The population. There were 6,694 households, out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.5% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and

5984-463: The preceding Ipswichian stage and lying beneath those from the following Holocene , which is the current stage. This is sometimes called the Flandrian interglacial in Britain. The latter part of the Devensian includes pollen zones I–IV, the Allerød oscillation and Bølling oscillation , and the Oldest Dryas , Older Dryas , and Younger Dryas cold periods. Alternative names include Weichsel glaciation or Vistulian glaciation (referring to

6072-430: The proglacial rivers' shifting and redepositing gravels. Beneath the surface, they had profound and lasting influence on geothermal heat and the patterns of deep groundwater flow. The Pinedale (central Rocky Mountains) or Fraser (Cordilleran ice sheet) glaciation was the last of the major glaciations to appear in the Rocky Mountains in the United States. The Pinedale lasted from around 30,000 to 10,000 years ago, and

6160-410: The receding ice. When the enormous mass of the continental ice sheet retreated, the Great Lakes began gradually moving south due to isostatic rebound of the north shore. Niagara Falls is also a product of the glaciation, as is the course of the Ohio River, which largely supplanted the prior Teays River . With the assistance of several very broad glacial lakes, it released floods through the gorge of

6248-399: The same fate. During the last glacial period, Antarctica was blanketed by a massive ice sheet, much as it is today. The ice covered all land areas and extended into the ocean onto the middle and outer continental shelf. Counterintuitively though, according to ice modeling done in 2002, ice over central East Antarctica was generally thinner than it is today. British geologists refer to

6336-524: The sill about 8000 BP, forming a marine Littorina Sea , which was followed by another freshwater phase before the present brackish marine system was established. "At its present state of development, the marine life of the Baltic Sea is less than about 4000 years old", Drs. Thulin and Andrushaitis remarked when reviewing these sequences in 2003. Overlying ice had exerted pressure on the Earth's surface. As

6424-486: The south (along the mouth of the North River) being surrounded by salt marshes, the middle (around Scituate Harbor) being sandy, and the coast of Scituate Neck (Minot) in the north exhibiting exposed granite bedrock. It is off these rocks that Minot's Ledge lies, home to the town's most famous lighthouse. The inland of the town is mostly wooded, with several brooks and rivers (including Satuit or "Cold Brook", for which

6512-690: The street from the traditional center of town. There is also a firehouse in Humarock and the Fire Headquarters is on First Parish Rd near Scituate Harbor. Emergency services are also provided by the town, with the nearest hospitals being located in Quincy , Weymouth , Plymouth , and Brockton . There are four post offices throughout the town, located in Humarock, near the harbor, in North Scituate and in Greenbush . The Scituate Town Library

6600-476: The surface for phytoplankton , which attracts larger organisms to feed. Over 130 species from numerous classes of the animal kingdom live at Stellwagen Bank at least temporarily. Some fish found there are the Atlantic cod , silver hake , yellowtail flounder , bluefin tuna , yellowfin tuna , striped bass , bluefish and numerous species of shark including the great white shark . Shellfish such as

6688-432: The surface, while surrounding waters to the west are over 300 feet (91 m) deep and to the northeast as deep as 600 feet (180 m). The underwater cliff-edge of Stellwagen Bank runs parallel to the coastline and is referred to as the " shelf break." The shelf break is a steep slope which descends thousands of feet (hundreds or thousands of meters) to the ocean floor . Deep nutrient-rich ocean currents flowing along

6776-480: The surrounding ice sheets. According to the sediment composition retrieved from deep-sea cores , even times of seasonally open waters must have occurred. Outside the main ice sheets, widespread glaciation occurred on the highest mountains of the Alpide belt . In contrast to the earlier glacial stages, the Würm glaciation was composed of smaller ice caps and mostly confined to valley glaciers, sending glacial lobes into

6864-447: The total glaciated area was in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida , and of that amount, the largest concentration, 50 km (19 sq mi), was in the areas of Pico Bolívar , Pico Humboldt [4,942 m (16,214 ft)], and Pico Bonpland [4,983 m (16,348 ft)]. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the moraines are older than 10,000 BP, and probably older than 13,000 BP. The lower moraine level probably corresponds to

6952-421: The town is named) running through. Scituate has five public beaches: Minot, Sand Hills, Egypt, Peggotty, and Humarock. The town has no freeways running through it; Massachusetts Route 3 runs through neighboring Norwell . Route 3A runs through the town, and is known as Chief Justice Cushing Highway for this stretch, named for Chief Justice William Cushing (1732–1810). The only other state highway in town

7040-470: The town of Marshfield. Patrick Kearney was elected on November 6, 2018, as the state representative for these precincts. He will replace Jim Cantwell, who resigned to take a job with Ed Markey . Kearney was sworn in on January 2, 2019. The third precinct is a part of the Third Plymouth district, which includes Hingham, Hull and Cohasset, and is represented by Joan Meschino. The town is represented in

7128-410: The town of South Scituate, which later changed its name to Norwell . Since then, the borders have remained essentially unchanged. Fishing was a significant part of the local economy in the past, as was the sea mossing industry. The sea was historically an integral part of the town with occasional incidents such as that described February 13, 1894, in which eight men clinging to the vessel's rigging on

7216-595: The waters of Stellwagen Bank. Whale watchers frequently can see humpback whales , minke whales and fin whales and occasionally sight of one of the most critically endangered whale species, the North Atlantic right whale . Other whale species seen include the sperm whale , beluga whale , orca , pilot whale , white-beaked dolphin , Atlantic white-sided dolphin , common dolphin , bottlenose dolphin , Risso’s dolphin , harbor porpoise , blue whale , and sei whale . Stellwagen Bank owes much of its existence to

7304-604: The western parts of Jutland were ice-free, and a large part of what is today the North Sea was dry land connecting Jutland with Britain (see Doggerland ). The Baltic Sea , with its unique brackish water , is a result of meltwater from the Weichsel glaciation combining with saltwater from the North Sea when the straits between Sweden and Denmark opened. Initially, when the ice began melting about 10,300 BP, seawater filled

7392-728: The whole western Swiss plateau, reaching today's regions of Solothurn and Aargau. In the region of Bern, it merged with the Aar glacier. The Rhine Glacier is currently the subject of the most detailed studies. Glaciers of the Reuss and the Limmat advanced sometimes as far as the Jura. Montane and piedmont glaciers formed the land by grinding away virtually all traces of the older Günz and Mindel glaciation, by depositing base moraines and terminal moraines of different retraction phases and loess deposits, and by

7480-418: Was $ 70,868, and the median income for a family was $ 86,058 (these figures had risen to $ 86,723 and $ 108,138 respectively as of a 2010 estimate)16. Males had a median income of $ 60,322 versus $ 40,200 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 33,940. About 1.4% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.5% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over. In

7568-464: Was at its greatest extent between 23,500 and 21,000 years ago. This glaciation was somewhat distinct from the main Wisconsin glaciation, as it was only loosely related to the giant ice sheets and was instead composed of mountain glaciers, merging into the Cordilleran ice sheet. The Cordilleran ice sheet produced features such as glacial Lake Missoula , which broke free from its ice dam, causing

7656-468: Was more widespread. An ice sheet formed in New Zealand, covering all of the Southern Alps, where at least three glacial advances can be distinguished. Local ice caps existed in the highest mountains of the island of New Guinea , where temperatures were 5 to 6 °C colder than at present. The main areas of Papua New Guinea where glaciers developed during the LGP were the Central Cordillera ,

7744-512: Was not covered by a continental-scale ice sheet. Instead, large, but restricted, icefield complexes covered mountain ranges within northeast Siberia, including the Kamchatka-Koryak Mountains. The Arctic Ocean between the huge ice sheets of America and Eurasia was not frozen throughout, but like today, probably was covered only by relatively shallow ice, subject to seasonal changes and riddled with icebergs calving from

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