My Hometown: The Good, The Bad, and the Completely Made Up

Every kid that ever went to elementary school in Weymouth has been to Abigail Adams' house. They also went to the state prison for a ninth grade field trip for health class for some reason. I think the moral was "Be sure to wash behind your ears, or a big guy named Angel with a giant crucifix tattooed on his chest will do it for you." Anyway, I'd imagine the the Abigail Adams house has seen a spike in attendance since HBO aired it's critically-acclaimed John Adams miniseries. There's no way to tell for sure, short of looking it up, and I don't feel like doing that. But they must be keeping busy, otherwise they would have had time to update their website. When was that thing designed, 1996? Get with the times, Abigail Adams' Birthplace and Museum! Book Laura Linney to give some tours or something.

The point is, every kid growing up here knew the wife of the second President of the United States was from Weymouth. And thanks to Johnny Depp and Blow, we know major cocaine supplier George Jung hails from here, too. So are Daily Show correspondents Rob and Nate Nate Corddry. There's a little sign near a house were Hal Holbrook grew up.

On a more serious note, in 2001, after the Fourth of July fireworks display on Wessagusset Beach, a kid named Matt Nagle was involved in a huge brawl and was stabbed in his spinal chord and paralyzed from the shoulders down. He volunteered for groundbreaking medical procedures and in 2004, became the first person to control an artificial hand using a brain-computer interface. Basically, he had a chip implanted in his brain, and the hand was controlled by his thoughts. That's freaking crazy. Unfortunately, he died last year, three years after getting the implant and over six years after he was stabbed. He was a year behind me in high school, but I didn't know him.

But there's more. You know "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you," the first words ever spoken on a telephone? Mr. Watson was Alexander Graham Bell's assistant, Thomas A. Watson, born in, you guessed it, Salem MA! Um, but he's buried in Weymouth, and that's all that matters, right? In 1883 he founded the Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company, on the Weymouth Fore River, which is actually in Quincy, near the Braintree town border. Over the years many warships were built there, especially during World War II. The shipyard closed in 1986, and the 328 foot tall Goliath crane, which always looked like one of those Imperial walkers from Star Wars to me, was sold to Daewoo and as of last month, is being dismantled to be relocated to Romania. I probably should have taken some pictures. I wonder if it's completely gone now? Nuts.

Hey, know who else I just found out was raised in Weymouth? Creepy Saw actor Tobin Bell. That part is completely true. Now for something completely made up, I direct you to the bastion of accuracy, Wikipedia, for Mr. Bell's entry:

In 1991 Bell opened "The Tobin Bell School of Acting" in his home town of Weymouth, Massachusetts. Among the more famous alumni are Ben Affleck, Michael Clarke Duncan, Keanu Reeves and Jenny McCarthy. Tara Reid was also a student at the school but failed to pass the rigorous six-month course. Tim Curry is known to be a generous backer of the school and an admirer of Bell.

Zing. Well played, Wikipedia editor All Hallow's Wraith. It seems that's gone undetected since May 2.

Posted in: Weymouth,Wikipedia