2
On the shore of this cove was established in 1750 the Germantown Glass Works. At this time the whole of Shed's Neck except the school land at the northerly end was purchased by John Franklyn et. al. who at once laid out the tract into squares and streets and named it Germantown. A company of German immigrants settled here and established the glass works which were not successful and in 1752 the property was
purchased by Joseph Palmer and Richard Cranch who erected, in addition to the glass works, a chocolate manufactory, a spermacaetia works, stocking weaving, salt manufacturing and saltpeter. Mr. Palmer erected a dwelling on the northerly side of the lane near the end of the present Bicknell St. Shortly after this the buildings were burned and Mr. Palmer petitioned to the General Court for authority to establish a lottery for the purpose of raising $1250 to relieve the distress caused by the burning of buildings and to provide capital to continue the industries. The dwelling house of Mr. Palmer and the manufacturing buildings were rebuilt and the business was conducted with more or less success through the Revolutionary period, during which time General Palmer contributed large sums of money to the Patriots cause with the result that he was forced in 1784 to dispose of his holdings in Germantown. The industry was abandoned and was not resumed. In this cove was built in 1787 the ship "Massachusetts", her dimensions being keel 116 feet, beam 36 feet 10 inches. She was built for the Canton trade and carried 36 guns.
In the center of the photo is the estate of the late Charles A Hastings who erected his dwelling herein the early [18]70s. This estate has been owned and occupied successively by H.C.Weeden, John Hetterer and is now the residence of Dr. J.P. Murphy. At the exterior right is the house above referred to erected by Harry Edwards and named by him "The Grey Elephant".
The 12 acres of Germantown Point were acquired in 1787 by James Brackett of Braintree and Samuel Brown of Wellfleet who constructed a dike originally across the Point and erected two fish houses, and the balance of the land was covered with fish flakes which were used in the drying of fish for market. A wharf was also constructed on the easterly shore and for over forty years an extensive fish business was conducted here. The records show that numerous whaling vessels landed here with sizable cargoes of whale oil. After the death of Samuel Brown this business was conducted by Charles A. Brown and Elisha Holmes. After the closing out of this industry the old fish house was used for community gatherings.
In 1855 several of the residents of Germantown and the Quincy Point received from the General Court an Act of incorporation as the Quincy Point and Germantown Ferry Company with a capital of twenty five thousand dollars to run a ferry between Quincy Point and Germantown. This ferry was established and operated from the present ferry wharf at Germantown to the opposite shore at Bent's Point. The ferry was operated a few years but not proving financially successful was abandoned.
This ferry was maintained by the inmates of the Sailors Snug Harbor for forty years.
