North Shore (Massachusetts)
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The North Shore of Massachusetts is a region north of Boston.
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[edit] Geography
North Shore of Massachusetts could be taken to mean the entire coast of Massachusetts north of the City of Boston:
North Shore residents might take a broader definition, in light of shared geography; economic and cultural similarities; presence of large Catholic, Orthodox and a significant minority of Jewish religious traditions; historically large communities of Irish, Italian/Sicilian, Polish, Portuguese and Greek decent; and the uniquely "Northern" variation of the Boston dialect that can be found in throughout the area. They might identify northern Suffolk County (including the neighborhood of East Boston in the City of Boston), the eastern quarter of Middlesex County and most of Essex County as belonging to the North Shore region. Excluded is the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts, with exceptions where locals identify themselves as "North Shore" residents, including towns such as Georgetown and Boxford, and west to Billerica.
The Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council's North Shore Task Force, a regional planning agency, defines the North Shore as also encompassing Cape Ann and several inland communities. The North Shore Task Force's definition of the North Shore comprises the following cities and towns:
The southern, and more built-up, North Shore communities belong to the Inner Core Committee, a planning agency for the close-in suburbs of Boston.
[edit] History
The North Shore communities have varied and rich histories: Gloucester was America's first fishing community; Salem was the location of the infamous Witch Trials as well as one of the largest centers of shipping and sixth largest city in early America. The hysteria that led to the Witch Trials began in the part of Salem that is now present-day Danvers. Lynn was once the center of the American shoe industry. Saugus is home to the first integrated ironworks in North America. Peabody had the largest concentration of leather tanneries in the world; and Beverly and Marblehead dispute which town was the birthplace of the American Navy. Newburyport was well known for producing clipper ships and for a brief time in history was the richest city in the Union; it is also home to America's first coast guard station.
[edit] Sites of interest
- The Peabody Essex Museum - a museum with large collections of maritime artifacts and Asian art.
- The Salem Witch Museum
- The Saugus Iron Works
- The Salem Seaport
- Historic Gloucester and Rockport Seaports
- Historic Downtown Salem
- North Shore Navigators collegiate-league baseball team
- The North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, New England's largest regional theater
- The Cabot Street Cinema Theatre in Beverly is home to Le Grand David, the world's longest-running resident stage magic show.
