Massachusetts

Top 10 Places

Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park and Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor are listed under Rhode Island.

10. Berkshires and the Appalachian Trail through Massachusetts

      • Mount Everett State Reservation
      • East Mountain State Forest
      • Beartown State Forest
      • Norman Rockwell Museum
      • October Mountain State Forest
      • Mount Graylock State Reservation
      • Clarksburg State Forest

9. Adams National Historical Park

      • John Adams Birthplace
      • John Quincy Adams Birthplace
      • The Quincy Homestead (Dorthy Quincy Hancock House)
      • Old House at Peace Field
      • Thomas Crane Public Library
      • Hancock Cemetery
      • Hancock Adams Common

8. Lowell National Historical Park

      • Market Mills Visitor Center
      • Boott Cotton Mills Museum
      • Boarding House Park
      • Canalway Walking Path
      • New England Quilt Museum
      • American Textile History Museum
      • Lower Locks & Industrial Canyon

7. New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

      • New Bedford Whaling Museum
      • New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center
      • Port of New Bedford – Fisherman’s Wharf
      • Custom House Square
      • Seamen’s Bethel
      • Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum
      • New Bedford Visitor Center

6. Walden Pond State Reservation

      • Walden Pond
      • Walden Pond Woods
      • Thoreau Cabin Site
      • Walden Pond Visitors Center
      • Pond Path
      • Walden Pond Access
      • Adams Woods Trail

5. Salem – Essex National Heritage Area

      • Salem Maritime National Historic Site
      • House of the Seven Gables
      • Salem Witch Trials Memorial
      • Peabody Essex Museum
      • The Witch House
      • Salem Witch Museum
      • Nathaniel Hawthorne Birthplace

4. Minute Man National Historical Park

      • Lexington Green
      • Paul Revere Capture Site
      • Hartwell Tavern
      • Meriam’s Corner – Historic Farming Fields
      • The Wayside – Orchard House
      • Concord Old North Bridge Walk (2.2 miles)
      • Battle Road Trail to William Smith House (2.9 miles)

3. Plymouth

      • Pilgrim Memorial State Park – Plymouth Rock
      • National Monument to the Forefathers
      • Mayflower II
      • Historic Patuxet
      • Historic Plimoth
      • Plimoth Grist Mill
      • The Jenney Grist Mill

2.5 Cape Cod – Inner Cape Cod & Islands

      • Sandwich – The Bulb River & Sandwich Glass Museum
      • Barnstable – Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises & John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum
      • Yarmouth – Whydah Pirate Museum & Great Marsh Kayak Tours
      • Dennis – Mayflower Beach & Cape Cinema
      • Brewster – Nickerson State Park & Stony Brook Grist Mill
      • Martha’s Vineyard – “Jaws” Bridge & Gingerbread Houses of Oak Bluffs
      • Nantucket – Nantucket Whaling Museum & Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum

2.0 Cape Cod – Cape Cod National Seashore

      • Harwich – Cranberry Bog Tours & Cape Cod Lavender Farm
      • Chatham – Shark Center Chatham & Chatham Pier Fish Market
      • Orleans – Cape Kayaking & Jonathan Young Windmill
      • Eastham – First Encounter Beach Plaque & Captain Penniman House
      • Wellfleet – Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail (1.1 miles) & Marconi Wireless Station
      • Truro – Pamet Cranberry Bog Trail (1.9 miles) & Bearberry Hill Trail (0.7 miles)
      • Provincetown – Pilgrim Monument (Town) & Sand Dune Trail (2.4 miles)

1. Boston

      • Freedom Trail – Boston National Historical Park
      • HarborWalk – Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
      • Boston African American National Historic Site
      • Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site
      • John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site
      • Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
      • Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

State Info

A) State Nicknames

      • The Bay State
      • The Old Bay State
      • The Old Colony State
      • The Pilgrim State
      • The Puritan State

B) State Symbols

      • Flower: Mayflower (Epigaea repens)
      • Bird: Chickadee (Penthestes atricapillus)
      • Tree: American Elm (Ulmus americana)
      • Horse: Morgan Horse (Equus cabullus morganensis)
      • Insect: Lady Bug
      • Dog: Boston Terrier (Canis familiaris bostenensis)
      • Fossil: Dinosaur Tracks
      • Marine Mammal: Right Whale (Eubabalena glacialis)
      • Building & Monument Stone: Granite
      • Heroine: Deborah Sampson
      • Historical Rock: Plymouth Rock
      • Shell: New England Neptune (Neptuna lyrata decemcostata)
      • Cat: Tabby Cat (Felis familiaris)
      • Folk Dance: Square Dance
      • Folk Hero: Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman)
      • Children’s Author and Illustrator: Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)
      • Sport: Basketball
      • Reptile: Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
      • Artist: Norman Rockwell

C) Major Metros

      1. Boston (state capital; an older capitol building, the Old State House, is also located here)
      2. Springfield

D) Honorable mentions:

      • Springfield Armory National Historic Site
      • Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (FWS-NOAA)

E) Iconic Foods

      • State Beverage: Cranberry Juice
      • State Fish: Cod (Gadus morrhua) (Fish n’ Chips)
      • State Muffin: Corn Muffin
      • State Game Bird: Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
      • State Bean: Baked Navy Bean (Boston Baked Beans)
      • State Berry: Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon)
      • State Dessert: Boston Cream Pie
      • State Cookie: Chocolate Chip Cookie
      • State Donut: Boston Cream Donut
      • New England Clam Chowder
      • Scallops
      • Fried Clam
      • Corned Beef
      • Irish Soda Bread
      • Pasteis de Nata

F) Famous People

      • Cotton Mather (1663-1728) Puritan clergyman and participant in Salem witchcraft trials in 1692
      • Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Founding Father, writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, political philosopher, and first United States postmaster general
      • Samuel Adams (1722-1803) statesman, political philosopher, and maltster
      • John Adams (1735-1826) Founding Father, second president of the United States, statesman, attorney, diplomat, and writer
      • Paul Revere (1735-1818) patriot, silversmith, engraver, and early industrialist
      • John Hancock (1737-1793) Founding Father, merchant, and statesman
      • Eli Whitney Jr. (1765-1825) inventor of the cotton gin
      • John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) 6th president of the United States, statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist
      • John Chapman “Johnny Appleseed” (1774-1845) pioneer and nurseryman in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois
      • Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872) painter and co-inventor of telegraph and Morse code
      • Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) poet, essayist, lecturer, philosopher (transcendentalist), and abolitionist
      • Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) novelist (The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables)
      • Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) writer, poet, and editor
      • Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) naturalist, essayist (“Civil Disobedience”), poet (Walden), philosopher (transcendentalist), and abolitionist
      • Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) social reformer, women’s rights activist, suffragist, and abolitionist
      • Clara Barton (1821-1912) nurse who founded the American Red Cross
      • Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) poet
      • Louis Henry Sullivan (1856-1924) architect (“father of skyscrapers”)
      • Theodor Seuss Geisel “Dr. Seuss” (1904-1991) children’s author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, and filmmaker
      • John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) 35th president of the United States