HINGHAM — Seven years ago, some 47,000 people visited World’s End, the 251-acre conservation property that juts into Hingham Harbor and has been protected from development since 1967. Last year, more than 68,000 people came.

The double-digit increase is sweet news to The Trustees, the group that owns and manages the waterfront property, along with more than 100 other properties across the state. The group not only seeks to preserve these lands but also share them with the public.

“In the last few years we’ve increased The Trustees’ profile by doing much more marketing and much more social media,’’ said John Vasconcellos, senior vice president of the organization’s Boston and South Coast region. “It’s definitely a concerted effort to fulfill our mission, which is not only to save the special places, but to make sure people get to them.’’

But to many people who live near World’s End, the uptick in the number of visitors creates problems.

That’s because the only way to get to the property is via Martin’s Lane, a narrow, twisting, tree-lined street that is also the only way to get to the World’s End neighborhood.

“It’s a wonderful place and people should see it, but the concentration of traffic and congestion is just not right,’’ said Maggie Merrill, who’s lived a few doors down from the property for 32 years.

Merrill said at times she’s been unable to get out of her driveway because it’s blocked by cars waiting to get into the World’s End parking lot. She said her neighbors have had trouble, too.

“It’s gridlock,’’ she said.

The Trustees acknowledge that their success in attracting people to the park has a downside, and say they are working hard to solve the problems. They’ve added staff, hired police details on the busiest days, and started a Twitter account to let people know when the parking lot is full.

The group also has proposed changing the traffic pattern at the park entrance and increasing parking — from 74 to 115 — to accommodate the crowds. The gatehouse where people pay to enter would be moved farther into the property to avoid a bottleneck at the entrance.

“We don’t want to be bad neighbors,’’ said Fran Blanchard, general manager of The Trustees’ South Shore properties.

But the organization also has an obligation to share its properties with the public, Blanchard said, and is committed to getting people outside and away from their electronic devices.

To that end, the group is offering more programs, such as running clubs, costumed children’s “wild walks,’’ and a wind-themed festival scheduled for Labor Day weekend. Almost 2,000 people annually participate in programs at World’s End now, and Blanchard said the goal is to have 4,800.

As part of that goal, the park is part of The Trustees’ “Art and the Landscape’’ initiative. Work is underway on an art installation by Danish sculptor Jeppe Hein, entitled “A New End,’’ which is a walk-through spiral labyrinth made of stainless steel mirrored posts that will open to the public in September.

A Sept. 18 reception will include live music and tours led by the artist, with a quiet yoga class held earlier in the day.

“We’re hoping the sculpture will deepen and change the experience of visitors and hopefully inspire them to see in a new way,’’ Blanchard said.

World’s End itself has been a work in progress.

Created by glaciers, the site was an island at high tide until Colonial farmers dammed the salt marsh to create dry land to grow hay for their livestock. In the 1800s, John Brewer acquired most of the peninsula, as well as Sarah and Langley islands in Hingham Harbor, and built a grand farming estate.

There are maps showing the area called World’s End farm dating to the early 1800s, before Brewer bought it. But a history of the property published by The Trustees says “no one now remembers how or when World’s End got its name.’’

In 1889, Brewer hired famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design a residential subdivision for World’s End. Four miles of tree-lined paths were built, but the 163 houses never materialized.

Two other failed plans would have changed the property even more dramatically. In 1945, it was proposed as the site of the United Nations, and 20 years later a utility company proposed putting a nuclear power plant there.

A lobbying and fund-raising effort prompted The Trustees — then known as the Trustees of Reservations — to buy the property in 1967, protecting it from future development.

In a nod to the past, Blanchard said the organization has purposely maintained the park’s open fields, which are mowed under an arrangement with dairy farmer John Hornstra that gives him half the hay for his cows in Norwell, with the rest going to Weir River Farm in Hingham, another Trustees property.

Blanchard said daily visitors spend an average of 2½ hours exploring and enjoying the site, and while summer weekends are the busiest times, people come throughout the year. Nonmembers pay a $6 fee.

“The Trustees as an organization has made a big effort to raise our profile, and then World’s End is so amazing that people come back,’’ she said.

Neighbor Cindy Hidell, who has lived a few blocks from the property for 40 years, appreciates the love for the site but says she wants The Trustees to be more attuned to the impact of visitors. She particularly objects to the increase in special programs, saying they’re not needed to enhance the site’s appeal.

“There are a lot of places in the Commonwealth that are beautiful and that people should enjoy, but you can’t invite the whole Commonwealth to come at once,’’ Hidell said.

Blanchard said The Trustees organization is committed to finding solutions to the downside of World’s End’s popularity, and, for example, is looking at the neighbors’ suggestions for a shuttle bus for busy events.

“It’s something we have to constantly work at, to find a balance between our neighbors and our visitors,’’ she said.

World’s End, at a glance

251-acre peninsula

in Hingham Harbor; originally an island.

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47,000

visitors in 2009

68,000

visitors in 2015

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Landscape architect

Frederick Law Olmsted designed a plan for a 163-house subdivision connected by tree-lined roads in 1889. Houses were never built, but four miles of carriage roads remain.

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The United Nations considered locating there in 1945.

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A nuclear power plant was proposed there in 1965.

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Owned and managed by

The Trustees since 1967.

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Wildlife includes fox, deer, red-tailed hawks, bobolinks, meadowlarks, northern harriers, and wild turkeys.

SOURCE: The Trustees

Johanna Seltz can be reached at seltzjohanna@gmail.com.