The North Shore is a region north of Boston, consisting chiefly of urban suburban communities of Essex County along Massachusetts Bay. It is usually considered a wealthier region, and much more prominent than the South Shore.

Geography

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In its most restrictive sense, the North Shore only includes the coastal cities and towns below Cape Ann: Beverly, Danvers, Peabody, Salem, Marblehead, Swampscott, Nahant, and Lynn, with Saugus and Lynnfield perhaps included as well. In some cases, "North Shore" can include the Cape Ann towns or even towns further up the coast such as Newburyport, or more sparsely-populated inland towns such as Topsfield. Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop, between Lynn and Boston, are sometimes included as well.

History

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The North Shore communities have varied and rich histories: Gloucester was America's first fishing community; Salem was the location of the infamous Witch Trials as well as one of the largest centers of shipping and sixth largest city in early America; Lynn was once the center of the American shoe industry; Peabody had the largest concentration of leather tanneries in the world; and Beverly and Marblehead often dispute over which town was the birthplace of the American Navy.

Sites of interest

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• The Peabody Essex Museum- a museum with large collections of maritime artifacts and Asian art.
• The Salem Witch Museum
• The Salem Seaport
• The Gloucester Seaport
• Historic Downtown Salem
• North Shore Spirit minor-league baseball team

Geography of Massachusetts