Pemberton Point Windmill Point |
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Peninsula | |
Aerial view of Pemberton Point, 2008
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Location of Pemberton Point within Massachusetts | |
Coordinates: 42°18′17″N 70°55′10″W / 42.30472°N 70.91944°WCoordinates: 42°18′17″N 70°55′10″W / 42.30472°N 70.91944°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Massachusetts |
County | Plymouth |
Town | Hull |
Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 02045 |
Area code(s) | 339 / 781 |
Pemberton Point (formerly known as Windmill Point) is a peninsula in Hull, Massachusetts. It is located at the tip of the Nantasket Peninsula, in Boston Harbor.
Historic manuscripts have called the location "Windmill Point" since the 1820s. The windmills for which the point were named were used by two brothers to pump seawater into vats to be used for harvesting salt. The salt would then be used to pack fish.
On July 13, 1909, fourteen-year-old Rosie Pitenhof swam across the Hull Gut from Peddocks Island to Pemberton Point and back, believed to be the first to do so.
Hull High School, the town's public high school, opened on the point in 1957.
An Enertech 40 kW wind turbine was installed on Pemberton Point and started energy production in March 1985. The turbine was funded by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, and was sited adjacent to the high school. It was damaged beyond repair by a storm in March 1997, and was removed after a new wind turbine, nicknamed "Hull Wind 1", was installed nearby at the end of 2001.
Hull Wind 1, a new Vestas V47 turbine capable of producing 660 kW, began producing power on Pemberton Point in December 2001. It stands 150 feet (46 m) tall. It is the first commercial wind turbine on the East Coast of the United States and in the whole of New England. It is also the first commercial urban turbine in North America. During its first year of operation, it saved Hull over $100,000. In 2003, planning began for an additional wind turbine known as "Hull Wind 2". It was initially suggested that it be located near Hull Wind 1, but after concerns were expressed by nearby residents over having two in close proximity, the new Vestas V80 1.8 MW wind turbine was installed on a landfill to the east, away from Pemberton Point, and began operation in May 2006.