On a craggy peninsula strewn with granite outcrops, the seafaring town of Marblehead is a slice of historic New England. To put the town’s history into perspective, two hundred of Marblehead’s residences were built before the American Revolution. These are in an historic district with some 900 contributing buildings, along twisting, rollercoaster streets. So one …
On the South Shore, Scituate is a coastal town with an adorable village center next to a natural harbor. Much of Scituate’s best dining and shopping can be done around the harbor, which is also the base for fishing charters, and a backdrop for all kinds of community events in the warmer months. The Scituate …
This oceanside suburb of Boston is squeezed onto a narrow, crooked peninsula, zigzagging out into Boston Harbor. A recurring theme for visitors to Winthrop is the waterfront scenery, with astonishing panoramas of the Boston Harbor Islands, Boston skyline and Logan Airport to be had from any number of spots along the peninsula. The strangest but …
Often spelled as “Foxboro”, this town in Norfolk County is perhaps best known as the home of the New England Patriots. The NFL team, which enjoyed a period of amazing success in the 2000s and 2010s, first moved to Foxborough in 1971. Their current home, the Gillette Stadium was completed in 2002, and is part …
On the MBTA’s Providence/Stoughton Line, Sharon is a commuter town with all the hallmarks of a rural New England community. For one thing, there’s a surfeit of public outdoor space, with a state park, conservation lands, an historic Mass Audubon sanctuary, and the spring-fed Lake Massapoag, which sets the scene for many community events. In …
In the MetroWest region, Hopkinton is a town that will be familiar to many as the starting line of the Boston Marathon on Patriots’ Day in April. Hopkinton was bestowed with this honor in 1924 after the course was lengthened, removing the start from the neighboring town of Ashland. This is one chapter in an …
First developed on the Boston & Worcester Railroad, Ashland is a rapidly growing town that has more than doubled in population since the 1980s. There are two large bodies of water in town, built as reservoirs for Boston’s water supply in the 19th century, but repurposed as state parks in 1947. Ashland State Park and …
Sparsely populated and with a rich colonial history, Sudbury is an affluent town in Greater Boston’s MetroWest region. The United States’ oldest continuously operating inn awaits you in Sudbury, and starting in the 1920s this was the centerpiece for a proposed living history museum by car manufacturer Henry Ford (1863-1947). His plans never came to …
An archetypal hardscrabble town, Rockland on the South Shore was never ideal for farming because of its rocky terrain. Instead, industry boomed here in the 19th century with trades like shoemaking and lumber. A few of the factories from those times have since been turned into residential developments and artists’ lofts. Since the end of …
In the northern Pioneer Valley, Greenfield is a scenic old mill town, historically known for toolmaking and cutlery manufacturing. There are museums here and in nearby Turners Falls, going into detail about industry in Franklin County, and the defining role of the Connecticut River. Greenfield’s townscape is framed by an abrupt mountain ridge between the …