NORTH SHORE (MASSACHUSETTS)

The 'North Shore' is a region north of Boston, consisting chiefly of communities in Essex County along Massachusetts Bay.

Contents

Geography

History

Sites of interest

Geography

In its most restrictive sense, the North Shore includes only the coastal cities and towns in Essex County south of Cape Ann: Beverly, Danvers, Peabody, Salem, Marblehead, Swampscott, Nahant, Lynn, Saugus and Lynnfield. Some include the two oceanside suburbs of Suffolk County, Revere and Winthrop, also to be "North Shore."
Others consider the region to take in almost all of eastern Essex County, including coastal and some inland communities all the way up the coast to the New Hampshire state line. Such a definition could stretch as far north as Newburyport and Amesbury, and as far west as Boxford.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council's North Shore Task Force, a regional planning agency, defines the North Shore as also containing Cape Ann and several inland communities. Its North Shore comprises the following cities and towns:

★ Beverly ★ Danvers ★ Essex

★ Gloucester ★ Hamilton ★ Ipswich

★ Manchester ★ Marblehead ★ Middleton

★ Peabody ★ Rockport ★ Salem

★ Swampscott ★ Topsfield ★ Wenham

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.

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; Peabody had the largest concentration of leather tanneries in the world; and Beverly and Marblehead often dispute over 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.

Sites of interest

★ The Peabody Essex Museum- a museum with large collections of maritime artifacts and Asian art.

★ The Salem Witch Museum

★ The Salem Seaport

★ Salem Cycle Local bike shop with famous logo of witch riding a bicycle

★ The Gloucester Seaport

★ Historic Downtown Salem

★ North Shore Spirit minor-league baseball team

★ North Shore Cyclists cycling club

★ North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly

★ Cabot Street Cinema, Beverly- home to the longest-running magic show in the world.