In the 19th century this city in North Central Massachusetts was an industrial center, mass-producing paper, tools, firearms and clothing. The prosperity generated by those mills is apparent in Firchburg’s ornate Victorian residential architecture, its romantic public parks and institutions like the first-rate Fitchburg Art Museum. (FAM). The FAM has thousands of years of art …
In the rolling hills of western Massachusetts, the city of Westfield is where the Berkshires meet the Connecticut River Valley In recent times Westfield has emerged as a craft beverage hotspot, with a whole roster of breweries for beer connoisseurs to hit up. A long-standing tradition of philanthropy has left the city with some top-notch …
The cultural powerhouse for the North Shore was a thriving international port up to the late 19th century. Salem was the place where merchants and shipowners made their fortunes in the Old China Trade. Some 200 years later, the wealth from that time is plain to see, in the mansions along Chestnut Street and the …
Once known as South Danvers, this North Shore city changed its name in 1868 as a tribute to the banker and philanthropist George Peabody, who was born here in 1795. George Peabody’s birthplace and childhood home has been preserved as a museum, with intriguing details about his early years and artifacts including personal letters. The …
In the picturesque mid-Cape, this set of seven villages makes up the largest community on Cape Cod. In the north is the charming Village of Barnstable, looking across the harbor to the dunes of the barrier beach, Sandy Neck. Facing Nantucket Sound in the south is Hyannis, which is essentially Cape Cod’s downtown, with some …
Within 15 minutes of downtown Boston, Everett is a diverse community on the Mystic River, with a hardscrabble background. Prominent on the skyline here are the chimneys of the Mystic Generating Station, expected to fully retire in the mid-2020s. Other former industrial areas along the riverfront have been replaced by a shopping center, a waterfront …
In the Providence metropolitan area, Attleboro is a growing city, home to 50,000 people on the MA-RI state line. For decades Attleboro was known as the Jewelry Capital of the World, thanks to a metalwork industry led by the L.G. Balfour Company, which was founded here in 1913. Throughout that time this city was the …
First settled in 1635, the city of Arlington later witnessed some of the most intense fighting in the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the dawn of the American Revolutionary War. The Jason Russell House, now a museum, was caught up in one of these skirmishes, resulting in the deaths of ten people, and the …
The commercial and cultural nucleus for the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, Pittsfield is an upland city with vistas framed by the Taconic Range to the west and the Berkshire Hills in the east. Pittsfield had a booming economy at the turn of the 20th century, driven by a forerunner to General Electric. Along the stately …
In hilly North Central Massachusetts, Leominster emerged in the early 19th century as an important manufacturing center. Much of this industry was along the Monoosnoc Brook, which wriggles through downtown Leominster and will soon become part of a growing trail network linking this city with Fitchburg to the north. Leominster is the birthplace of the …