MASSACHUSETTS. 



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to the place. Salem contains an Athenaeum of 10,000 volumes, a very valuable Museum, be- 

 longing to the East India Marine Society, nine banks, and 18 churches. The commerce of 

 the town is extensive, nearly one half of it being with the East Indies. The India trade has 

 long been prosecuted by the Salem merchants, and great fortunes have been the result of 

 their enterprise. Shipoing belonging to the city, 35,000 tons. The manufactures are also 

 extensive. A bridge, 1,500 feet in length, connects this town with Beverly. Population 

 15,000. Beverly is a s iburb of Salem, and lies on the north side of an inlet communicating 

 with Salem harbor. The town is pleasantly situated on a slope inclining to the south, and con- 

 sists principally of one long street, which passes through the great post-road from Boston to the 

 east. Beverly is a place of considerable wealth, and is largely concerned in the fisheries. Pop- 

 ulation 4,600. Danvers is chiefly engaged in mechanical and manufacturing industry. Population 

 4,800. Boots and shoes, bricks, pottery, leather, nails, &c. are among the products of its 

 industry. 



Lynn., on the coast between Boston and Salem, is a pleasant and flourishing town, supported 

 almost solely by the manufacture of shoes, of which about two and a half million pairs are made 

 annually. The peninsula of Nahant is here joined to the continent by a beach of sand a mile 

 and half in length. Iron works were established in Lynn as early as 1645 ; and in this town 

 there is a chocolate manufactory. Population 9,300. 



J^eivburyport^ at the mouth of the Merrimack, is remarkable for the beauty of its situation, 

 and the regularity of its streets. It stands upon a gentle declivity, sloping down to the river ; 

 the streets are generally straight, and at right angles, and the town lies along the bank of the 

 river, for about a mile. The principal streets pass through the whole width of the town, from 

 the summit of the declivity to the river. The buildings are generally handsome, and the 

 streets clean. Few towns in the United States surpass Newburyport in beauty. It was deso- 

 Jated by a fire, in 1811, which destroyed nearly 300 buildings. The place has never recovered 

 from the effects of this calamity ; at the present day, the traveler is struck with the view of a 

 wide heap of grass-grown ruins in the heart of a populous town. The harbor of this place is 

 good, but obstructed at the entrance by a dangerous bar ; to obviate the effects of which, a 

 break-water has been constructed on the south side of the channel. The mercantile enterprise 

 of the town has latterly been diverted from commerce to the fisheries. Ship-building is carried 

 on to a considerable extent, and several manufactories have been established. A handsome 

 chain bridge crosses the river from the centre of the town. The celebrated preacher, George 

 Whitefield, died in this town, in 1760, and is entombed in the Presbyterian church in Federal 

 Street, where a monument has been erected to his memory. Population, 6,800. Marblehead^ 

 four miles southeast of Salem, with a small, but open harbor close to the sea, is a considerable 

 town, supported almost entirely by fishing, chiefly on the Newfoundland banks. Population, 

 5,600. Gloucester., on the south side of Cape Ann, carries on extensive fisheries, and has a 

 commodious harbor. Population, 8,850. Ipswich, at the foot of the Cape on the north side, 

 has several manufactories. Population, 2,860. 



Plymouth, in Massachusetts Bay, 36 miles southeast from Boston, is memorable for the land- 

 ing of the first settlers of New England, on the 22d of December, 1620. The rock on which 

 they landed, is pointed out to the traveler ; a portion of it has been detached from the shore, 

 and placed in the centre of the town. The remains of the fortifications erected to defend the 

 settlers from the Indians are still discernible. The first well dug in New England may also be 

 seen here. Plymouth is a flourishing town, and has some commerce, and manufactures of cordage, 

 cotton, and iron. The harbor is spacious, but shallow, and exposed to easterly storms. A 

 large stone building, called Pilgrim Hall, was erected here by the New England Society, in 

 1820. The landing of the forefathers is celebrated in Plymouth by annual solemnities. Pop- 

 ulation, 5,000. Provincetown, on Cape Cod, is deserving of notice for its situation at the ex- 

 tremity of the peninsula. It consists of small one-story houses, built upon stakes driven into 

 the sand. The harbor is easy of access, capacious, sheltered, has depth of water suflicient 

 for the largest vessels, but there are no wharves. The position of Cape Cod harbor, as it 

 is commonly called, giving it the command of Massachusetts Bay, renders it of the high 

 est importance in a military, as well as a commercial view, and the government has under- 

 taken the erection of some works here. The inhabitants live chiefly by fishing, and the 

 manufacture of salt. Population, 2,000. J^antucket, in the northwest part of the island of 

 that name, is a considerable town, supported almost wholly by the whale-fishery. It has a 

 good, but shallow harbor, and a larse number of spermaceti works. The town is built of wood, 



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