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8 fields of World's End remained a habitat for red-tailed hawks, osprey, deer, and red foxes. Meanwhile, the Walker family simply let (human) visitors wander the property and experience its grandeur for themselves. But World's End encountered precarious moments. After World War II, the property was a proposed headquarters for the United Nations. Later, it was a suggested site for a nuclear power plant. Even some preservation-minded organizations suggested turning it into a golf course or private residence. When the aging Walkers put World's End up for sale in October 1967, those potential fates were too much for locals to bear. "The people in Hingham and the surrounding area had, to some degree, become accustomed to how beautiful it was," says Tom O'Donnell, a Hingham resident, longtime town moderator, and veteran of The Trustees' all-volunteer Standing Committee. "The notion that it would no longer be available for public enjoyment was horrifying for the people who were used to it." Fortunately, South Shore residents had faith in The Trustees stewarding their special place, and the Walkers wanted to see the property preserved (without losing money). The catch: the organization needed to raise $650,000 to purchase the property by the December 31, 1967 deadline. "We had something like 60 days to raise the money," O'Donnell says. "And we did it!" After The Trustees paid $200,000 up front, Sam Wakeman, a retired shipyard manager and a World's End neighbor, led the fundraising charge in Hingham and Cohasset and recruited O'Donnell for help. They set up an office at town hall and met with residents in their homes—particularly those facing World's End itself, O'Donnell says, since they'd be the most affected by whatever happened to the landscape. Schoolchildren donated their allowances. Passionate residents reached into their wallets. In the end, 1,800 individuals had made donations. Thanks to these donations and an additional national campaign led by former Standing Committee Chairman Charles Mason, Jr., the World's End purchase was secure. "At the time it wasn't as though The Trustees had great, iconic reservations all over the South Shore and this was just adding to it," O'Donnell recalls. "This was really bringing something new and different to the area in terms of public enjoyment." Today, the distinct location of World's End poses a host of challenges. The most paradoxical is its popularity: some 60,000 visitors pour down the same narrow, winding, traffic-clogged road to World's End each year. Additionally, while the peninsula is sheltered from the brunt of the Atlantic Ocean, its position in the harbor makes its iconic carriage roads vulnerable to storm surges and microbursts. Its fields—a habitat for grassland birds and butterflies—are susceptible to pests, disease, and invasive plant species. Aldous Collins Band at Summer Solstice. Photo by Ann Marie Rollo. Photo by Kerry Riordan Photo courtesy of Richard Cheek