Bluehills Ski and Ride Area

History of Blue Hills
 
The history of Blue Hills is significant and has played a part in American history for almost four hundred years. In 1614, Capt. John Smith while exploring what is now Boston Harbor documented the sighting of several large hills, of which he named the largest Massachusetts Mount. The word Massachusetts is an Algonquin word meaning "The people living near the great hills." For a short time, at the request of King Charles I, it was renamed Chevyot Hills. The hill was later named by European settlers Great Blue Hill due to the blue hue created by exposed blue granite on the east facing side of the hill, which is the first sign of land on nearing from the coast. The hill officially was named the Great Blue Hill by an act of the Massachusetts legislature in the establishment of warning beacons in 1776.