Original photo by Sean Pavone/ Shutterstock
Seven million people call the state of Massachusetts home, and almost 30 million visit the Bay State each year. (The nickname is a reference to the original settlements along Cape Cod Bay.) Tourists and residents alike love the spectacular fall foliage, the wildly scenic coastal shoreline, and the abundance of picturesque villages. Boston, the capital, boasts world-class cultural and sporting institutions and — before the Big Dig, the nation’s largest highway project — some truly legendary traffic jams. Here are six “wicked smaht” facts about the nation’s sixth state.
Massachusetts Is a State of Firsts
Although not the first European settlement in North America (that honor goes to the Spaniards) nor even the first British settlement (Jamestown beat them by 13 years), the state of Massachusetts is nonetheless home to an astounding number of “firsts,” both in the nation and the world. Puritans aboard the Mayflower arrived in Provincetown in 1620, and promptly began making milestones. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, and the development of the country’s first public park (Boston Common) and first public school (Boston Latin) followed shortly afterward. Later developments in Massachusetts include the invention of the typewriter, and (by some accounts) the computer.
The Name of One Massachusetts Lake Is a Mouthful
The name “Massachusetts,” meaning “at or about the great hill,” comes from the Massachusett tribe of Native Americans. (The Great Blue Hill region is just south of what is now Boston.) Naturally, many of the state’s places bear names from the languages of the first peoples to inhabit the area. No name is more tongue-twisting than that of Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, but according to the Curator of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution, the origin of that impossible-to-pronounce name is the result of a newspaperman’s joke. Today, the lake is formally known as Chaubunagungamaug, and usually referred to as “Webster Lake,” from the city in which it’s located.
There’s a Rocking Horse Retirement Home
Every state has its own odd roadside attractions, and Massachusetts is no exception. Pull off the highway near the town of Lincoln to experience “Ponyhenge,” an eerie assortment of dilapidated rocking horses. In Rockport, don’t miss the Paper House, which is exactly what you think it might be. There’s also Sunderland’s historic Buttonball Tree: An exceptionally large sycamore standing more than 100 feet tall, it has a girth of 24 feet, 7 inches, said to make it the “widest tree east of the Mississippi River.”
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Massachusetts Has Been Home to Plenty of Famous Folks
From colonial times to the modern day, Massachusetts has plenty of household names. Four U.S. Presidents hail from the Bay State, along with a ton of Revolutionary War-era heroes, including Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock. And while everyone recognizes actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as proud Bostonians, Bette Davis, Geena Davis, Steve Carell, Leonard Nimoy, and Jack Lemmon are also native sons and daughters. Some staples of literature class originated here as well, including Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, Beat legend Jack Kerouac, and Theodor Geisel — better known as “Dr. Seuss.”
Massachusetts Is a Health and Education Hot Spot
There’s no shortage of medical and educational institutions in the brainy Bay State. The first American university, Harvard, was founded in Newtowne (now Cambridge) in 1636. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been at the forefront of scientific innovation for more than 150 years, and many of the country’s other oldest and most prestigious educational institutions are located here as well. Massachusetts is also one of the world’s top medical centers, especially for specialty research. In 1947, Dr. Sidney Farber pioneered chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer, and today the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute remains a leader in cancer research and treatment.
Massachusetts Is Home to Sports and Snacks
Dunkin’ Donuts, anyone? Founded in 1950 in Quincy, Massachusetts, the chain now has more than 10,000 locations around the world. Meanwhile, Fig Newtons were created in Cambridge in 1891, and the official state dessert, Boston cream pie, debuted at the Boston hotel Parker House in 1856. There are also plenty of activities in Massachusetts to counteract those sweet treats: Basketball was invented in Springfield in 1891, volleyball in Holyoke in 1895, and the nation’s first marathon was run in Boston in 1897.
Cynthia Barnes has written for the Boston Globe, National Geographic, the Toronto Star and the Discoverer. After loving life in Bangkok, she happily calls Colorado home.
