North Shore (Massachusetts)

{{Infobox settlement

| name = North Shore

| settlement_type = Region of Massachusetts

| image_skyline = North_Shore_MA.png

| image_alt = Map of the North Shore region of Massachusetts highlighted in yellow based on the region defined by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, with areas sometimes included in the region on other lists highlighted in light brown

| image_caption = The North Shore region of Massachusetts

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = {{US}}

| subdivision_type1 = State

| subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Massachusetts}}

| subdivision_type2 = Metropolitan area

| subdivision_name2 = Greater Boston

| coordinates = {{Coord|42.6|N|70.8|W|region:US-MA_type:adm2nd|display=title,inline}}

| population_as_of = 2010

| population_footnotes =

| population_total = 636,187

| pop_est_as_of =

| blank_name_sec1 = Largest municipality (population)

| blank_info_sec1 = Lynn (94,654)

| blank1_name_sec1 = Largest municipality
(land)

| blank1_info_sec1 = Ipswich (42.51 square miles)

| parts_type = Subregions

| parts_style = para

| p1 = Merrimack Valley, Cape Ann

}}

The North Shore is a region in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, loosely defined as the sea coast between Boston and New Hampshire. Its counterpart is the South Shore region extending south and east of Boston.

The North Shore is a significant historical, cultural, and economic region of Massachusetts. The southern North Shore includes historic towns that are now part of the Boston metropolis. The Salem witch trials took place here. At the northern end, the Merrimack Valley was an important center of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. The North Shore includes a number of places that are significant in the literary and cultural history of the United States.

The North Shore landscape includes seaports, fishing villages, and rocky coastline dotted with marshes and wetlands, as well as beaches and natural harbors. Cape Ann is the largest promontory.

Definition

The North Shore has no fixed definition as a region. It may include only those communities between Boston and Cape Ann, as defined by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (whose purview does not go beyond Greater Boston);{{cite web|author=Metropolitan Area Planning Council|url=http://www.mapc.org/subregions/nstf|title=North Shore Task force|access-date=2011-03-09|publisher=MAPC.org}} or the larger part of Essex County, including parts of the Merrimack Valley, as defined by the North Shore Chamber of Commerce.{{cite web|url=http://www.northshorechamber.org/member-benefits/community-profiles.html|title=Community Profiles|access-date=2019-05-09|website=North Shore Chamber of Commerce}} The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, which defines regions in terms of watershed, refers to the North Shore as the coastal region of Massachusetts north of Boston stretching from Salisbury to Revere, including the inland city of Amesbury.{{cite web|author=Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management|url=http://www.mass.gov/czm/ns.htm|title=CZM's North Shore Region|access-date=2011-03-09|publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts}}

=Coastal=

North Shore of Massachusetts could be taken to mean the entire coast of Massachusetts from New Hampshire to Boston (listed in order, north-to-south):

=Economic=

Image:Rockport_harbor.jpg

The Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council's North Shore Task Force,[http://www.mapc.org/subregions/nstf North Shore Task Force] a regional planning agency, defines the North Shore as also encompassing Cape Ann and several inland communities. When combined with the North Shore Chamber of Commerce's definition of the region, the North Shore comprises the following cities and towns:

=Cultural=

The North Shore has historically been viewed as a wealthy, exclusive collection of towns and fishing villages,{{cite news|author=Simon, Stephanie|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703584804576143792676029586|title=Massachusetts's North Shore|access-date=2011-03-10|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=2011-02-18}} but also contains some working-class cities and suburbs of Boston.{{cite news|author=Baker, Jeff|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2011/03/townie_review_pieces_of_a_shat.html|title='Townie' review: Pieces of a shattered childhood by Andre Dubus III|access-date=2011-03-10|work=The Oregonian|date=2011-03-05}} In 1893, The New York Times described the region as a notable summer destination for the socialites, politicians, and businessmen of New York and New England, dotted with hotels, cottages, and burgeoning gentlemen's clubs.{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/09/03/109705908.pdf|title=On the Famous North Shore|access-date=2011-03-09|work=The New York Times|date=1893-09-03}} Salem, known worldwide as the location of the Salem witch trials; the working-class fishing city of Gloucester;{{cite news|author=Simon, Stephanie|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703584804576143792676029586|title=Massachusetts's North Shore|access-date=2011-03-10|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=2011-02-18}} and the region's many beaches make it a popular tourist destination.{{cite web|author=Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism|url=http://www.massvacation.com/rtc/north-of-boston.php|title=North of Boston at a glance|access-date=2011-03-09|publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts}}

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 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 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 the birthplace of the United States Coast Guard. Newburyport maintains the largest collection of Federal period commercial and residential architecture in the nation.

Sites of interest

File:Newburyport downtown.jpg

The Peabody Essex Museum: A museum with large collections of maritime artifacts and Asian art.
National Register of Historic Places listings in Salem, Massachusetts
The Salem Witch Museum
Historic Downtown Salem
The Salem Seaport
The Saugus Iron Works
The Swampscott Fish House: The oldest active fish house in the country.
Newburyport's historic district maintains the nation's largest collection of Federal period architecture
Historic Gloucester and Rockport Seaports
North Shore Navigators collegiate-league baseball team
The North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, New England's largest regional theater
The Larcom Theatre in Beverly built in 1912 is the oldest, operating Vaudeville theatre in the region, also once home to Le Grand David.
The Cabot Street Cinema Theatre in Beverly was home to Le Grand David, the world's longest-running resident stage magic show, until 2013.
Castle Hill in Ipswich
Revere Beach, the first public beach in the United States, in Revere
The Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers, the only home of a victim of the Salem witch trials open to the public