Essex National Heritage Area

For nearly 10 years we resided in a small city located within the Essex National Heritage Area. This area includes 34 cities and towns within 500 square miles of northeastern Massachusetts. There are thousands of historic sites (9,968 sites, to be exact) to visit in this heritage area as this was a booming industrial center back in its heyday. 

Without even knowing it,  I am sure we visited or at least drove by a good chunk of these locations during our daily lives, but for conversation sake here on the blog, we will just talk about the 9 State Parks and the 2 National Park Service units that fall within the Essex National Heritage Area.

National Parks: 

We have visited both parks and written about them so check out those posts for more details.

  1. Salem Maritime National Historic Site

  2. Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

STATE PARKS:

Most of these parks below we will have to be added to our "Must-See" list and we will update with links when we have them.

  1. Lawrence Heritage State Park

  2. Bradley Palmer State Park

  3. Harold Parker State Forest

  4. Maudslay State Park

  5. Willowdale State Forest

  6. Halibut Point State Park 

  7. Lynn Heritage State Park

  8. Salisbury Beach State Reservation

  9. Breakheart State Reservation

Overall, this is a beautiful area of the country, with beautiful seacoast towns, industrial cities with fascinating history, and small monuments and memorials on every corner. If you live in Massachusetts, I am sure you have visited many of these sites without knowing it was part of the Essex National Heritage Area, and if you aren't from here, come and visit to get a taste of the rich history we have to offer!!

National Parks, HeritageAmy Allen