Geography
The eastern part of the commonwealth (its official designation),
including the Cape Cod peninsula
and the islands lying off it to the south—the Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard,
and Nantucket—is
a low coastal plain. In this area short, swift rivers such as the
Merrimack have long supplied industry with power, and an indented coastline
provides many good natural harbors, with Boston a major U.S. port. In the
interior rise uplands separated by the rich Connecticut River valley, and
farther west lies the Berkshire valley, surrounded by the Berkshire Hills, part
of the Taconic Mts. The western streams feed both the Hudson and the Housatonic
rivers. The state has a mean altitude of c.500 ft (150 m), and Mt. Greylock in
the Berkshires is the highest point (3,491 ft/1,064 m). The climate is
variable. Boston is
the capital and largest city. Other important cities include Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, New Bedford, Cambridge, Brockton, Fall River, and Quincy. The state is famed
for its historic points of interest, among them being those
at
Sturbridge, Concord, and Lexington; at three national historical parks—Boston,
Lowell, and Minute Man; and at eight national historic sites—Adams, Boston
African American, Frederick Law Olmsted, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Longfellow, Salem
Maritime, Saugus Iron Works, and Springfield Armory (see National Parks and Monuments,
table). Cultural attractions include the noted Tanglewood music festival
(see Berkshire
Festival) and the many educational facilities of the state As a
recreation and vacation land, Massachusetts has great stretches of seashore in
the east and many lakes and streams in the wooded Berkshire Hills in the
west. There are numerous state parks, forests, and beaches, and Cape Cod is the
site of a national seashore. Provincetown, on Cape Cod, and Rockport, on
Cape Ann, are artist colonies; Marblehead is a noted yachting center.
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