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Learn About Massachusetts
First Inhabitants	Early History	Geography & Landforms	Economy
Capital: Boston	Entered the Union: 2/6/1788	Population: 6,349,097	Area (square miles) 10,555
State Bird: Chickadee	State Flower: Mayflower	Nickname: Bay State, Old Colony State	Governor: Deval Patrick
Web Links: State Home Page	Home Page for Students	Members of Congress

Places to Visit in Massachusetts: (Click the links to learn more.)

The House of Seven Gables - Salem
Explore the oldest mansion in New England and learn about the house that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write his novel of the same name. Built in 1668, the house is located along the Salem Harbor. A secret stairway, an 18th century sea wall, and colonial gardens can all be explored. The home in which Hawthorne was born in 1804 is located just a few feet away from this mysterious mansion.

Plimoth Plantation - Plymouth
This living museum takes you back to the 17th century Plymouth settlement. Tour the Mayflower II, learn about the Wampanoag Indians, and discover what every-day life was like for the Pilgrims in 1627.

Walden Pond - Concord
Writer Henry David Thoreau lived at Walden Pond from July 1845 to September 1847. His experiences there provided the material for his book Walden, a work that is credited with inspiring awareness and respect for nature. Walden Pond is a National Historic Landmark and is considered the birthplace of the conservation movement.

Salem Wax Museum - Salem
Life-like wax figures depict the history of Salem from its founding in 1626 to the hysteria of its witch trials in 1692. Old Burial Point, the nation’s second oldest burial ground is located behind the museum, along with the Witch Trials Memorial - erected in memory of the victims.

Museum of Fine Arts - Boston
Boston's finest and most comprehensive art museum features art from all periods and cultures. The museum offers lectures and film series; gallery talks; concerts; and many special exhibits. It is well known for its collections of European paintings, European and American decorative arts and furnishings, Egyptian sculpture, and Asian fine and decorative arts.

Famous Citizens:

Florence Bascom
Born in Williamstown, MA, Florence was the youngest of six children of a schoolteacher/women’s suffragist and a professor at Williams College. She is best known as one of the first woman geologists in the US. She was the second woman to receive a Ph.D. in geology in the US, and the first woman hired by the US Geological Survey. In 1889, while studying for the Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University, she was required to sit behind a screen in classrooms so she would not “disrupt” the attention of the male students. She was also the first woman to present a paper before the Geological Society of Washington. After the joined the faculty at Bryn Mawr College, she founded the college’s geology department and went on to train many of the most accomplished woman geologists of the 20th century.

Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1847. He also invented the process by which sound is transmitted on a beam of light - a forerunner to fiber optics.

Theodore Geisel
Theodore Geisel was born in Springfield, MA in 1904. He was an author and illustrator of children’s books that are known for their zany humor and verse, catchy phrases, and whimsical illustrations. His books include The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and Oh, the Places You’ll Go. His pen name was Dr. Seuss.

Winslow Homer
Winslow Homer was born in Boston in 1836. He was one of the greatest American painters of the 19th century. Homer was a self-taught artist who became famous for his portraits of the American landscape and his seascapes along the coast of Maine.

John Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1917, was the 35th president of the United States. He was the youngest man ever to be elected to that office. His presidency was cut short in 1963 when he was killed by an assassin’s bullet in Dallas, Texas.

Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809. Best known for his poetry and short stories, Poe is considered to be the father of the modern detective story. Some of his most famous works include The Raven, and The Telltale Heart.