This Southcoast town is on a long and narrow plot by the Taunton River, at the head of Mount Hope Bay. In 2022 Joe Biden visited Somerset to deliver a speech about climate change. The location was no coincidence, as until recently Somerset’s southern tip was commanded by the immense coal-fired Brayton Point Power Station, …
Southeast of Worcester, Grafton is a town in the Blackstone Valley, made up of a loose assortment of historic mill villages. During the Industrial Revolution from the late 18th century onwards, Grafton was known for a number of trades like shoemaking and furniture, and was a cradle for clockmaking in America. Grafton Common, the historic …
On the east bank of the Connecticut River, this wealthy suburb of Springfield was first settled in the mid-17th century. Until 1894 Longmeadow was one with East Longmeadow, and the town was famous for its sandstone quarries, producing the material for major projects like the Smithsonian Institution Building (1855). The Town Green, preserved as a …
A former manufacturing town with Irish and Portuguese roots, Hudson is a resilient place that has bounced back from a few knocks down the years. One was a fire that took out 40 buildings in the town center in 1894. Later, the shoe industry, which had been the town’s lifeblood, dwindled after WWII, and then …
With the Ten Mile River as its western boundary, Seekonk is a town on the Massachusetts/Rhode Island border, and part of the Providence metropolitan area. Seekonk has an unusual footprint, on a long and pretty narrow strip of land. This varies from the busy, attraction-laden retail corridor between Route 6 and I-195 in the south, …
Where the Taunton River flows into Mount Hope Bay, Swansea is a coastal town on the MA/RI border, with abundant agriculture inland. The town beach is one of the best in the area, open to the public during the school summer break, and sloping gently into Mount Hope Bay, allowing you to walk out for …
This compelling town is in the Blackstone Valley, which is where the American Industrial Revolution gathered pace in the early 19th century. Northbridge is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, and the perfect place to dive into the region’s industrial history. You can visit mill communities like Whitinsville and Linwood, which were …
A southeastern suburb of Springfield, East Longmeadow is on the Massachusetts/Connecticut line and a matter of minutes from Springfield’s dynamic Metro Center district. Historically this area was renowned for its sandstone quarries, providing the material for grand projects like Washington’s Smithsonian Institution Building (1855). An interesting quirk of East Longmeadow is the way seven thoroughfares …
Bordering Connecticut and also close to the Rhode Island state line, Webster is a town in Central Massachusetts famed for its magnificent lake. Long before European colonization, Lake Chaubunagungamaug was part of the ancestral home of the Nipmuc people for millennia. The town’s modern era began in the early 19th century when the important industrialist …
An atmospheric old mill town on the Quinebaug River, Southbridge has an industrial history going back to the 18th century. Early sawmills and grist mills eventually gave way to large-scale textile and spectacle-making industries The largest of these manufacturers was the American Optical Company, which set the tone in Southbridge for more than 100 years, …