WEYMOUTH, a township of Massachusetts, on Boston harbor, twelve m. s.a.e. of Boston, on South Shore railway, containing the four post-villages of Weymouth, East Weymouth, North Weymouth, and South Weymouth, with large factories of nails, boots and shoes, etc. Pop. in '75, 9,819.
WEYMOUTHAxio-MELCOMBE-REGIS, a sea-port, a fashionable watering-place, and a municipal and parliamentary borough of Dorsetshire, on a bend of the coast facing the s.e., and at the mouth of the river Wey, three m. n. of the isle of Portland, and eight m. s. of Dorchester by railway, seven in a straight line. A projecting point, called the Nellie, separates the two quarters—the old town of Weymouth lying to the a. of it, the modern town, Melcombe-Regis,extentling to then, and facing the sea. The two quarters communicate by means of a bridge with a swing in the middle, to permit the passage of ships. The old town is uninteresting in appearance; Melcombe-Regis, elegantly built, stands on a narrow peninsula, with the sea on the e., and an estuary on the side. Its
chief features are the sea-terrace and esplanade, the latter adorned with a statue of George III., who largely patronized Melcombe. The harbor has 14 ft. of water at full tide, and in the bay there is good anchorage in seven or eight fathoms. Portland harbor, just recently completed, will be a source of great trade to the town. Weymouth and-Malcombe-Regis, is the seat of steam-traffic to the. channel islands. Ship-building, rope and sail-making, and the export of Portland stone and Roman cement, employ the great mass of the inhabitants. The town is connected with the Great Western and London and South-western railways, and one connecting it with Portland isle was opened in 1865. Pop. '71, 13,259.