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Onset
Onset is a census-designated place and village located in the town of Wareham in Plymouth County in the US state of Massachusetts. The population was 1,292 at the 2000 census.
History
Onset was developed in the 1880s as a summer camp meeting for Spiritualists. Many of the cottages still standing in Onset were built as second homes for individuals from Boston and other northeastern cities who gathered to hear mediums communicate with the dead. While it was run by the Spiritualists, the village was known as Onset Bay Grove.
Whether you call it Pine Point, Old Pine, Onkowam, Pine Neck, or Onset, Onset Village is rich in history. You can pick up a brochure at the Onset Bay Association office at 4 Union Avenue or the Wareham Public Library entitled "Tour the historic Victorian Village of Onset." A detailed map and description of historic sites will lead you on your own walking tour and provide you with even more history.
Onset really started to flourish in 1848 when trains arrived from Boston to carry industrial goods to market, thus introducing Bostonians to Onset. Cottages were built, hotels constructed; and as the tourist population grew, the tourists arrived daily by train, sailboat, and steamers. Onset was once a major terminus for the old side wheeler steamboat ferries. The route included New Bedford, Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
Tourists enjoyed hotels (the Oak Crest and Anchor Inn on Onset Avenue were the filming sites for the movie, "Kennedys of Massachusetts"), restaurants, theaters, stores, shops, trolley cars, and a casino where people danced to the likes of Tommy Dorsey, Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington. The bathing pavilion had the capacity to give 1,000 bathers woolen suits (word has it tourists rented the suits), comfortable dressing rooms and large Turkish towels.
To wind up the summer season, a Harvest Festival was held in the fall complete with a clambake and dancing.
Other events through the years included fireworks, illumination of the beach; and in the 1950’s, bonfires on Shell Point became a July 4 tradition. Some were 50 feet high and, once ignited after the fireworks were over, burned all night.
Around 1930, with the advent of the automobile and highways opening up the Cape Cod areas, tourists began bypassing Onset. An urban revitalization coupled with the crowded Cape Cod areas and traffic congestion are causing people to rediscover Onset.
Geography
Onset is located at (41.746424, -70.663251).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.4 km² (1.3 mi²). 2.8 km² (1.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (16.92%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,292 people, 568 households, and 323 families residing in the village. The population density was 461.9/km² (1,192.7/mi²). There were 910 housing units at an average density of 325.3/km² (840.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 74.46% White, 7.74% African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.24% Asian, 13.08% from other races, and 3.25% from two or more races....
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