Massachusetts (MA).

• Region: New England
• Population: 6,981,974 (ranked 16th) (2022 estimate)
• Capital: Boston (pop. 650,706) (2022 estimate)
• Largest city: Boston (pop. 650,706) (2022 estimate)
• Number of counties: 14
• State nickname: Bay State; Old Colony State
• State motto: Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem (By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty)
• State flag: White field with state coat of arms in blue and yellow

One of the original thirteen colonies, Massachusetts became the sixth state to join the Union on February 6, 1788. It is situated on the East Coast of the United States and is bordered by Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. One of the most densely populated states, Massachusetts is the financial and cultural center of New England, and its capital, Boston, is a major shipping center and air terminal. The state is a popular tourist destination due in large part to its historical significance and natural beauty.

State Name: Believed to be derived from the Algonquian words massa ("great"), wadchu ("hill"), and set ("near"), in reference to the Great Blue Hill in Quincy, south of Boston. Since colonial times, it has also been referred to as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and its nicknames include the Bay State and the Old Colony State.

Capital: The state's largest city, Boston, is the capital of Massachusetts and is located on Massachusetts Bay in the eastern part of the state. Boston was first settled in 1630 and served as the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony before its incorporation as a city in 1822. One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston is often referred to as the "Cradle of Liberty" because of its central role in the events of the American Revolutionary War. Its nicknames include "the Hub" and "Beantown."

Flag: The flag of Massachusetts features the state coat of arms on a white field. On a blue shield is the image of an Algonquian man holding a bow and arrow, which is pointing downward in a gesture of peace, and a five-pointed white star that signifies the state's status as one of the earliest states to join the Union. Above the shield is an arm holding a sword, representing a willingness to fight for liberty. A blue ribbon emblazoned with the motto "Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem" (By the Sword We Seek Peace, but Peace Only under Liberty) is wrapped around the shield. The flag was adopted in 1901 and amended in 1971.

State and National Historic Sites

• Adams National Historical Park (Quincy)
• Boston African American National Historic Site (Boston)
• Boston National Historical Park/Freedom Trail (Boston)
• Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (Brookline)
• John F. Kennedy National Historic Site (Brookline)
• Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site (Cambridge)
• Lowell National Historical Park (Lowell)
• Minute Man National Historical Park (Concord, Lincoln, Lexington)
• New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park (New Bedford)
• Salem Maritime National Historic Site (Salem)
• Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site (Saugus)
• Springfield Armory National Historic Site (Springfield)

Official Symbols

• Flower: Mayflower
• Bird: Black-capped chickadee
• Tree: American elm
• Fish: Cod
• Song: "All Hail to Massachusetts" by Arthur Marsh

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Population: 6,981,974 (ranked 16th) (2022 estimate)
• Population density: 895.0/sq mi
• Urban population: 91.3% (2020 estimate)
• Rural population: 8.7% (2020 estimate)
• Population under 18: 19.2% (2022 estimate)
• Population over 65: 18.1% (2022 estimate)
• White alone: 69.6% (2022 estimate)
• Black or African American alone: 9.5% (2022 estimate)
• Hispanic or Latino: 13.1% (2022 estimate)
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 0.5% (2022 estimate)
• Asian alone: 7.7% (2022 estimate)
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 0.1% (2022 estimate)
• Two or More Races: 2.7% (2022 estimate)
• Per capita income: $48,617 (ranked 1st)
• Unemployment: 2.5% (2023 estimate)

American Indian Tribes: Historically, the Massachusett, Narragansett, Nashua, Pocomtuc, and Pennacook peoples all made their home in Massachusetts. In 2022 the state had two federally recognized American Indian tribes: the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. Today, the state's Indigenous population is predominantly made up of the Nipmucs and the Wampanoags.

ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY

• Total area: 10,554 sq mi (ranked 44th)
• Land area: 7,800 sq mi (73.9% of total area)
• Water area: 2,754 sq mi (26.1% of total area)
• Shoreline: 1,980 miles
• National parks: 16
• Highest point: Mount Greylock (3,491 feet)
• Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean (sea level)
• Highest temperature: 107° F (New Bedford, August 2, 1975)
• Lowest temperature: –40° F (Chester, January 22, 1984)

Topography: As the Algonquian origin of its name suggests, Massachusetts is hilly. During the last ice age, the area was covered with land-altering glaciers, resulting in a greater variety of landscapes than is usually seen in small states. The lowlands along the Atlantic seaboard feature rocky shores, sandy beaches, and salt marshes and are generally not very fertile. Between the late 1800s and the 2010s, the sea level rose by about eight inches along the Massachusetts coast; sea levels continued to rise during the 2020s. In southeastern Massachusetts, the coastal plain of the Cape Cod peninsula and its islands, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, were formed by glacial deposits. The hilly uplands of the western and central half of the state, known collectively as the Berkshire Hills, are divided by the Connecticut River Valley, around which the state's best farmland may be found. The rugged, hard rock of the White Mountains lies east of the Connecticut Valley in Worcester County.

Major Lakes

• Assawompset Pond
• Great Quittacas Pond
• Lake Quinsigamond
• Lake Webster
• Long Pond
• Monponsett Pond
• Quabbin Reservoir (Artificial)
• Wachusett Reservoir (Artificial)

Major Rivers

• Blackstone River
• Charles River
• Connecticut River
• Hoosic River
• Housatonic River
• Merrimack River

State and National Parks: There are more than 150 state parks, forests, and reservations and 16 national parks in Massachusetts, including Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (Boston), Cape Cod National Seashore (Wellfleet), October Mountain State Forest (Lee), and Mount Greylock State Reservation (Lanesborough). Together, these public lands total more than 450,000 acres.

Natural Resources: Massachusetts is known for the variety of nonmetallic minerals found in its mines. Chief among these resources are lime, clay, marble, sand, and gravel, all of which are commercially viable for their use as building materials. Other important resources include fertile offshore fishing grounds, an abundance of shellfish and other marine life in coastal and inland waters, and good harbors.

Plants and Animals: Some 60 percent of the state's land area is covered with forests and woodlands. Deciduous trees, such as oaks, beeches, maples, and birches account for most of the forest growth, along with some pines and other species of evergreens.

In the spring, violets, American white hellebores, mayflowers, azaleas, rhodoras, ferns, and other plants and flowers provide colorful displays throughout the state. Coastal regions and marshy upland areas are dominated by marsh grasses, rushes, and sedges. When the leaves begin to change each autumn, hordes of tourists and nature enthusiasts travel to the region to view the dramatic and colorful foliage.

As a result of hunting and other environmental factors, large wild animals are rare in Massachusetts, although conservation initiatives have helped revive the state's deer population. Smaller animals commonly found in the state's forests include muskrats, porcupines, foxes, rabbits, raccoons, bats, snakes, chipmunks, mice, and skunks. Game birds and other birdlife, particularly water birds, are prominent in Massachusetts, attracting both hunters and bird-watchers to the state. Ponds, lakes, and streams are home to trout, perch, bass, sunfish, and pickerel, and coastal waters teem with lobsters and other shellfish.

Climate: New England is known for its erratic and sometimes sudden changes in weather, and Massachusetts is no exception. Average temperatures in Boston range from 31.8 degrees in winter to 71.1 degrees in summer. Western Massachusetts is generally cooler than the eastern part of the state. The earliest fall frost usually arrives in October or November, with the last frost occurring in late April or early May. In both summer and winter, the ocean breeze often regulates coastal temperatures.

Average rainfall ranges from forty-three to fifty inches per year, depending on location. Precipitation is evenly distributed each month, creating favorable conditions for crops. Snowfall in the western mountains usually amounts to between thirty-seven and seventy-five inches, but snowfall is lighter in the east, where the snow melts more quickly. Rainfall is becoming more common in winter and spring. Droughts are also possible, though.

Tropical storms and hurricanes occur occasionally during the late summer and early autumn months. Winter storms called “nor'easters” occur when warm, moist air masses from the south clash with colder, drier air from the north.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

Major Colleges and Universities

• Amherst College (Amherst)
• Bentley University (Waltham)
• Berklee College of Music (Boston)
• Boston College (Newton)
• Boston University (Boston)
• Brandeis University (Waltham)
• Emerson College (Boston)
• Hampshire College (Amherst)
• Harvard University (Cambridge)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge)
• Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley)
• Northeastern University (Boston)
• Simmons University (Boston)
• Smith College (Northampton)
• Tufts University (Medford)
• Wellesley College (Wellesley)
• Western New England University (Springfield)
• Westfield State University (Westfield)
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester)
• University of Massachusetts (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell)

Major Museums

• Boston Children's Museum (Boston)
• Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (Amherst)
• Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge)
• George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum (Springfield)
• Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston)
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston)
• Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (North Adams)
• Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)
• Museum of Science (Boston)
• New Bedford Whaling Museum (New Bedford)
• Norman Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge)
• Peabody Essex Museum (Salem)
• Salem Witch Museum (Salem)
• Clark Art Institute (Williamstown)
• Worcester Art Museum (Worcester)

Major Libraries

• American Antiquarian Society (Worcester)
• Boston Athenæum (Boston)
• Boston Public Library (Boston)
• Harvard College Library (Cambridge)
• John F. Kennedy Presidential Library (Boston)
• Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston)
• State Library of Massachusetts (Boston)

Media

The two most prominent daily newspapers are the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. In addition to WGBH, one of the country's leading public broadcasting stations, the state is home to many other commercial television and radio stations.

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• Gross domestic product (in millions $USD): 688,391.6 (ranked 12th) (2022 estimate)
• GDP percent change: 2.0%

Major Industries: Within the state's diversified economic structure, the financial services, insurance, real estate, and rental industries account for the largest portion of the state's gross domestic product during the early 2020s. The second-largest industry was professional and business services, which accounted for a slightly smaller share at that time. Among the major manufactured goods produced in the state are computers and electronic equipment machinery, chemicals, and processed metals. The life sciences, information technology, renewable energy, fishing, and creative industries are also key to the state's economy.

Tourism: In 2022, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development, domestic and international travelers combined directly spent $24.2 billion in Massachusetts. That year the tourism industry supported 131,200 jobs in the state. By that point the sector had largely recovered from the losses it experienced in 2020 due to the travel restrictions and declining demand which resulted from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Popular tourist destinations in Boston include the Freedom Trail, a three-mile long series of sixteen historic sites, and the USS Constitution. Cape Cod and the surrounding islands, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, are popular destinations for vacationing visitors during the summer months. Historic sites in Plymouth and Salem are year-round tourist favorites, and Concord's Walden Pond, the inspiration for Henry David Thoreau's book Walden (1854), is a popular site among nature lovers as well as literary enthusiasts.

Energy Production: 51.2 percent of Massachusetts' household electric heat was provided by natural gas in 2021. None of the state’s electricity came from coal while about 20 percent was generated by solar energy. The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth supplied about one-sixth of the state's electricity in 2018, but the plant closed in 2019. Electric power produced in Massachusetts is also shared with other New England states. In 2021 the state ranked eighth in the US for production of solar energy.

Agriculture: Major Massachusetts farm products include milk, aquaculture products, eggs and poultry, fruit and vegetables, and cattle. Among the state's top agricultural commodities are greenhouse and nursery products, cranberries, corn, and hay. Each year, Massachusetts is a top producer of cranberries nationwide.

Airports: There are about thirty regional and municipal airports in Massachusetts, the largest being Boston's Logan International Airport.

Seaports: Boston is the state's largest port. The Port of Boston contributed more than $8.2 billion to the economy in 2022. The Paul W. Conley Container Terminal in South Boston handles mostly container goods while the Flynn Cruiseport serves as a major terminal for cruise ships. The second-largest port, in Fall River, specializes in larger cargo, such as motor vehicles. Other ports include Gloucester, New Bedford, and Salem, which all maintain active fishing industries.

GOVERNMENT

• Governor: Maura Healey (Democrat)
• Present constitution date: 1780 (oldest US state constitution in effect today)
• Electoral votes: 11
• Number of counties: 14
• Violent crime rate: 379 (per 100,000 residents) (2021)
• Death penalty: No (abolished in 1984)

Constitution: The present Constitution of the Commonwealth was written in 1780 by John Adams, Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin. It is the oldest state constitution still in effect in the United States.

Branches of Government

Executive: The governor serves as chief executive officer of the state and is elected every four years. His or her responsibilities include the approval or veto of bills passed by the legislature, the appointment of the heads of state departments, the nomination of judges and other officials, and the preparation of the annual budget. The lieutenant governor serves as acting governor in the event of the governor's absence or death.

The Governor's Council, or Executive Council, consists of the lieutenant governor and eight district councillors, each of whom are elected for two-year terms. The council's function is to verify election results, approve judicial appointments and pardons, and authorize certain public expenditures.

The state's other elected constitutional officers include the secretary of the commonwealth, the attorney general, the treasurer and receiver-general, and the auditor of the commonwealth. These officers serve four-year terms.

Legislative: The Massachusetts state legislature, also called the General Court, is comprised of a 40-member senate and a 160-member House of Representatives. State senators and representatives are elected every two years. Each chamber elects its own leader, who in turn selects the members of each joint committee.

Judicial: The Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state. It consists of six associate justices and a chief justice, appointed by the governor and approved by the executive council. A justice's appointment is valid until the age of seventy. Trials are held in the various departments of the unified trial court, which includes the superior, district, housing, land, juvenile, and probate courts.

HISTORY

ca. 1000 Norse explorer Leif Eriksson may have visited the Massachusetts region.

1500–1600 European fisherman are attracted to the abundant fishing grounds off the New England coast, but no permanent settlement is established. Notable explorers who visit the region during this period include Giovanni da Verrazzano and Bartholomew Gosnold.

1602 Gosnold lands at Provincetown and names the region Cape Cod, in honor of his plentiful codfish catch.

1614 British captain John Smith explores the Massachusetts coast and names the entire area New England. He encounters hostility from the local American Indian tribes.

1615–17 Widespread disease, believed to be of European origin, devastates the Native American population of Massachusetts, reducing it by more than one-half.

1620 The Pilgrims arrive in Plymouth aboard the Mayflower and establish their own articles of governance, known as the Mayflower Compact.

1621 The Pilgrims celebrate the first Thanksgiving.

1626 Salem is settled, and the Massachusetts Bay Colony begins to see an influx of new Puritan settlers.

1630John Winthrop, leader of a group of Puritan settlers, establishes Boston as the capital of the Massachusetts colony.

1635 The first public school in America is established in Boston.

1636Harvard, America's first college, is founded in Newtowne, now Cambridge.

1643 The New England Confederation, consisting of the Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven, and Massachusetts Bay colonies, is formed to fight against local American Indian tribes.

1675–76 The New England Confederation and the Wampanoags, Narragansetts, and Nipmucs clash in King Philip's War, the bloodiest conflict between European colonists and Indigenous people in the region's history. The war results in widespread displacement and massacres of the region's Indigenous people.

1682 After the restoration of the British monarchy, Charles II revokes the colony's charter, inciting uprisings against English colonial rule.

1689 The colonists establish their own provisional government in defiance of the British.

1692 Twenty people are executed as a result of mass hysteria during the infamous Salem witch trials.

1764–67 The British pass a series of legislation, known as the Intolerable Acts, including the Molasses Act, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts, imposing exorbitant new taxes on the colonies.

1770 British soldiers kill five men in the March 5 Boston Massacre, heightening tensions between civilian colonists and the military.

1773 On December 16, colonists destroy a shipment of British tea in response to the Tea Act, which created a monopoly in the tea trade. The defiant act becomes known as the Boston Tea Party, and similar demonstrations occur throughout the colonies.

1775 The first battle of the Revolutionary War is fought at Lexington and Concord on April 19. The Battle of Bunker Hill follows on June 17.

1776 British forces evacuate Boston in March. In July, Congress votes for independence.

1780 The Massachusetts constitution is adopted. John Hancock is elected the state's first governor.

1781 Slavery is abolished in Massachusetts.

1786 Heavily indebted farmers mount an insurrection against their creditors in what becomes known as Shays' Rebellion.

1788 Massachusetts ratifies the US Constitution and becomes the sixth state to enter the Union, on February 6.

1797 Quincy native John Adams becomes the second president of the United States on March 4. The USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides," is launched in Boston.

1807 Thomas Jefferson introduces the Embargo Act, which halts trade with England and damages the Massachusetts shipping industry until the end of the War of 1812.

1820 The territory of Maine is separated from Massachusetts and becomes a state.

1825 John Quincy Adams is inaugurated as the sixth president of the United States.

1831 The abolition movement is born in Boston when William Lloyd Garrison begins publication of the antislavery newspaper The Liberator.

1833 Massachusetts amends its constitution in order to separate the Congregational Church from the state government. It is the last state in the Union to formally separate church and state.

1835 The first railroads between Boston and Lowell, Worcester, and Providence open.

1837 Mount Holyoke College, America's first women's college, is founded by Mary Lyon in South Hadley.

1850 The first National Women's Rights Convention is held in Worcester.

1876 Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the first telephone in Boston, and the first telephone communication between Boston and Salem occurs the following year.

1897 The first US subway opens in Boston, and the first Boston Marathon is held.

1912 Twenty-two thousand textile workers in Lawrence strike in opposition to shortened working hours and reduced wages, attracting nationwide attention to working conditions in the textile industry.

1919Boston police strike in protest of poor working conditions and low wages.

1920 Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge is elected vice president and goes on to become the thirtieth US president three years later.

1927 Italian American anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed on August 23 in Massachusetts, after being convicted of murder in one of the most controversial and politically charged trials in US history.

1938 The Great New England Hurricane, the first hurricane to strike the state in more than one hundred years, causes millions of dollars in damage.

1941–45 During World War II, battleships and cargo vessels are constructed in Boston shipyards.

1942 The General Electric Company in Lynn begins production of the first jet engine.

1957 The Massachusetts Turnpike opens.

1959 The US Navy's first nuclear surface ship, the Long Beach is launched at Quincy.

1960 Brookline native John F. Kennedy is elected as the thirty-fifth president of the United States on November 8.

1962 Edward M. Kennedy is elected to his first term as US senator from Massachusetts, a position he would hold until his death in 2009.

1966 Edward W. Brooke, the state attorney general, becomes the first African American since the Civil War to be elected to the US Senate.

1971 State government is reorganized, and more than 150 smaller agencies are consolidated into new departments.

1973 A fire rages through an eighteen-block section of Chelsea on October 14, in one of the worst urban fires in US history.

1988 Milton native George H. W. Bush becomes the forty-first president of the United States.

1990 In the largest art robbery in history, thirteen paintings worth $500 million are stolen from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

1991 The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority embarks upon the Central Artery/Tunnel project, known as the Big Dig. The largest public works project in US history, the endeavor is intended to relieve Boston traffic by creating an underground expressway and is plagued with delays, controversy, and cost overruns. It was completed in 2007.

1997 The USS Constitution sails from Boston to Charlestown, its first voyage since 1881.

1999 The Boston School Committee votes to end busing as a means of racial desegregation in city schools.

2004 The Democratic National Convention is held at the Fleet Center. The same year, Senator John Kerry runs for US president with senator John Edwards of North Carolina as his running mate, but loses to incumbent president George Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts rules that it is against the state constitution to allow only heterosexual couples the right to marry. The state becomes the first in the US to legalize same-sex marriage.

The Boston Red Sox win baseball's World Series, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals. It is the team's first world championship since 1918, the year the legendary Babe Ruth left the team.

2006 On April 12, Governor Mitt Romney signs the Massachusetts health care reform bill into law, requiring residents to purchase health care or suffer tax implications. The law, later dubbed "Romneycare," became the basis for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, after President Barack Obama.

2012 Romney is the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States, but he loses the election to incumbent president Barack Obama.

2013 On April 15, a terrorist attack occurs at the finish line of the annual Boston Marathon. Two explosive devices are detonated, killing three people and injuring more than 260.

2015 Multiple snowstorms in January, February, and March drop more than 110 inches of snow in Boston, breaking all-time records for snowfall. Governor Charlie Baker declares a state of emergency and the MBTA suspends subway and commuter rail operations.

2016 Massachusetts votes to legalize the possession, use, and home-growing of marijuana for adults aged twenty-one and older.

Massachusetts also becomes the first state to pass a law barring employers from asking applicants how much money they make before giving a job offer.

Massachusetts passes a law to protect transgender people from discrimination.

2019 US senator Elizabeth Warren and US representative Seth Moulton, both of Massachusetts, seek the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential race.

2020 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had spread to the state by early February, Massachusetts enacts a number of public health measures to try and contain the disease, including mask mandates, business and travel restrictions, and temporary school closures.

2021 Kim Janey becomes the first woman and first person of color to serve as acting mayor of Boston during a vacancy left by mayor Marty Walsh when he was appointed US secretary of labor. Later that year, Michelle Wu won the mayoral election, becoming the first woman, first person of color, and first Asian American to be elected as mayor of Boston.

2022 Maura Healey, a Democrat, is elected as Massachusetts governor, becoming the first woman elected to this position. She also becomes one of the first two openly lesbian mayors in US history (alongside Tina Kotek, elected governor of Oregon the same year).

FAMOUS PEOPLE

John Adams, 1735–1826 (Braintree): Second president of the United States.

John Quincy Adams, 1767–1848 (Braintree): Sixth president of the United States.

Samuel Adams, 1722–1803 (Boston): Patriot.

Susan B. Anthony, 1820–1906 (Adams): Suffragist.

Clara Barton, 1821–1912 (North Oxford): Founder of the American Red Cross.

Leonard Bernstein, 1918–90 (Lawrence): Conductor.

Bobby Brown, 1969– (Boston): Singer, songwriter.

George H. W. Bush, 1924–2018 (Milton): Forty-first president of the United States.

Chick Corea, 1941–2021 (Chelsea): Jazz musician.

E. E. Cummings, 1894–1962 (Cambridge): Poet.

Matt Damon, 1970– (Cambridge): Actor.

Bette Davis, 1908–89 (Lowell): Actress.

Cecil B. DeMille, 1881–1959 (Ashfield): Film director.

Emily Dickinson, 1830–86 (Amherst): Poet.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803–82 (Boston): Poet, philosopher.

Benjamin Franklin, 1706–90 (Boston): Scientist, statesman.

Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, 1904–91 (Springfield): Children's book author, illustrator.

Jasmine Guy, 1964– (Boston): Actor; singer.

John Hancock, 1737–93 (Braintree): Patriot; governor.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804–64 (Salem): Author, The Scarlet Letter .

Winslow Homer, 1836–1910 (Boston): Painter.

Mindy Kaling, 1979– (Cambridge): Actor, comedian.

John F. Kennedy, 1917–63 (Brookline): Thirty-fifth president of the United States.

Jack Kerouac, 1922–69 (Lowell): Author, On the Road (1957).

Rocky Marciano, 1923–69 (Brockton): Boxer.

Samuel Morse, 1791–1872 (Charlestown): Painter, inventor of the telegraph.

Leonard Nimoy, 1931–2015 (Boston): Actor, film director.

Sylvia Plath, 1932–63 (Winthrop): Poet, author, The Bell Jar .

Edgar Allan Poe, 1809–49 (Boston): Author.

Paul Revere, 1735–1818 (Boston): Patriot.

James Taylor, 1948– (Boston): Popular musician.

Henry David Thoreau, 1817–62 (Concord): Author, Walden.

James Van Der Zee, 1886–1983 (Lenox): Photographer.

Mike Wallace, 1918–2012 (Brookline): Broadcast journalist.

Barbara Walters, 1931– (Boston): Broadcast journalist, talk show host.

Dorothy West, 1907–1998 (Boston): Author, The Living Is Easy.

Eli Whitney, 1765–1825 (Westboro): Inventor of the cotton gin.

INTERESTING FACTS

• Boston Common, opened in 1634, was the United States' first public park.
• Basketball was invented in 1891 by Springfield physical education teacher James A. Naismith, in response to the lack of team sports that are played indoors during the winter months.
• The first non-electronic computer was developed by Dr. Vannevar Bush at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge in 1928. Howard Aiken developed the first automatic digital computer at Harvard in 1944.
• Volleyball, originally called "Mintonette," was developed in 1895 by Holyoke YMCA director William Morgan.
• Baseball's first World Series was played in Boston in October 1903, between the Boston Pilgrims and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• The once-ubiquitous "pink flamingo" lawn ornament was invented by Don Featherstone in Leominster in 1957.
• Somerville is home to the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA), founded in 1993.
• Agawam boasts the first zip code, 01001, ever issued by the United States Postal Service.
• A 2021 survey ranked Massachusetts as one of the least-friendly states in the country. Only Oregon, Florida, Arizona, Kansas, and Maryland residents were considered less friendly toward visitors and newcomers.

Bibliography

"Economic Profile for Massachusetts." Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce, 31 Mar. 2023, apps.bea.gov/regional/bearfacts/action.cfm#tabs-2. Accessed 14 Sep. 2023.

Gildrie, Richard P. "Building the Bay Colony: Local Economy and Culture in Early Massachusetts." Journal of American History, vol. 95, no. 2, 2008, pp. 502–3. Academic Search Premier, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34517114&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 2 Apr. 2013.

"Indian Affairs." Mass.gov, www.mass.gov/service-details/indian-affairs. Accessed 14 Sep. 2023.

"Massachusetts." QuickFacts, US Census Bureau, 1 July 2022, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MA/PST045222. Accessed 14 Sep. 2023.

"Massachusetts: 2020 Census." US Census Bureau, 25 Aug. 2021, www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/massachusetts-population-change-between-census-decade.html. Accessed 14 Sep. 2023.

"Massachusetts: Almanac 2012." Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 59, no. 1, 2012, p. 58. Academic Search Premier, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=79702026&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 2 Apr. 2013.

"Massachusetts State Energy Profile." U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2022, www.eia.gov/state/print.php?sid=MA. Accessed 14 Sep. 2023.

“Massachusetts Statistics and Reports.” VisitMA, Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, 2021, www.massvacation.com/travel-trade/getting-around/stats-reports/#overview. Accessed 14 Sep. 2023.

"2022 State Agriculture Overview: Massachusetts." National Agricultural Statistics Service, US Department of Agriculture, 2022, www.nass.usda.gov/Quick‗Stats/Ag‗Overview/stateOverview.php?state=Massachusetts. Accessed 14 Sep. 2023.

James Ryan