Five Things Homebuyers Should Know About Boston’s North Shore

The North Shore of Boston is filled with unique cities and towns, each with its own personality, as well as some of the top community amenities in the Boston area.

If you’re looking for homes for sale on the North Shore, we invite you to contact our Swampscott office. You can also use our search feature to look for homes in specific North Shore communities or zip codes.

In this post, we’re looking at five things homebuyers should know about the North Shore.  

1. North Shore communities extend north of Boston to the New Hampshire state line.

Although there is no official definition of the North Shore, this Massachusetts region covers the area north of Boston to the New Hampshire state line.

There are several ways to describe the North Shore. In strictly geographic terms, the North Shore can mean the communities between Boston and New Hampshire that line the coast. The North Shore includes Cape Ann, the northern counterpart to Cape Cod.

However, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council has a North Shore Task Force that includes 16 communities north of Boston. There’s also a North Shore Chamber of Commerce. Putting those two organizations together, the North Shore includes the following coastal and inland communities.

North Shore Communities

2. The North Shore is a historic region.

Many North Shore communities have long and rich histories. The Salem witch trials in 1692 took place in Salem and involved people in Salem and Danvers. Gloucester grew into a major fishing port in the 18th century. Gloucester’s fishing industry is an important part of the region’s economy to this day. Another historic seaport, Newburyport, is known as the birthplace of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Residents of the North Shore live near a wealth of historic homes. One of the best known is the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 novel of the same name.

3. The North Shore is home to magnificent outdoor areas.

Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuaries on the North Shore include Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield, Joppa Flats Education Center in Newburyport, and Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Marblehead.

Crane Beach on the Crane Estate in Ipswich is one of the North Shore’s natural gems. This Trustees of Reservations property covers more than 1,200 acres of dunes, maritime forest, and a spectacular beach.

State parks on the North Shore include Halibut Point State Park, where visitors can hike around a old quarry filled by an underground spring and explore tidal pools along a rocky shore.

4. The North Shore offers acclaimed art and culture.

         Photo courtesy of the Greater Boston Stage Company