Massachusetts websites about places to go, things to do, vacation information, sports links, facts about the state, destinations, golf, business, and more. The eastern half of the state is made up of urban, suburban, and rural areas, while Western Massachusetts is mostly rural.

One of the six New England states, and one of the first 13 states in the Union (it entered in 1788), Massachusetts is known as the "Old Colony State." The Pilgrims established their settlement at Plymouth in 1620, arriving on the Mayflower. They were followed shortly by the Puritans, who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans named their colony after a local Indian tribe whose name means "a large hill place."

Massachusetts has been significant throughout American history. The first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Plymouth in 1621. Plymouth was the second permanent English settlement in North America. Many of Massachusetts' towns were founded by colonists from England in the 1620s and 1630s.

During the eighteenth century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the agitation there which led to the American Revolution and the independence of the United States from Great Britain. The first American lighthouse was built in the Boston Harbor in 1716. The Boston Tea Party reenactment takes place in Boston Harbor every December 16th.

The visible portion of Plymouth Rock is a lumpy fragment of glacial moraine about the size of a coffee table, with the date 1620 cut into its surface. After being broken, dragged about the town of Plymouth by ox teams used to inspire Revolution-aries, and reverently gouged and scraped by 19th-century souvenir hunters, it is now at rest near the head of Plymouth Harbor. Boston Common became the first public park in America in 1634.

Although the Library of Congress contains the most volumes in the country at more than 29,550,000, Harvard University's Library is second with more than 15,000,000 and the Boston Public Library is third with more than 14,000,000.

The Boston Cream Pie was invented at the Omni Parker House in Boston. It is the state's official dessert. The Fig Newton was named after Newton, Massachusetts. Clarence Birdseye revolutionized American mealtime when he invented frozen foods in Gloucester in 1925. Quincy boasts the first Dunkin Donuts on Hancock Street and the first Howard Johnson's on Newport Ave.

Basketball was invented in 1891 by James Naismith in Springfield. Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William Morgan in Holyoke. The Basketball Hall Of Fame is located in Springfield. Elias Howe of Boston invented the first sewing machine in 1845.

Charles Goodyear in Woburn first vulcanized rubber in 1839.Boston built the first subway system in the United States in 1897. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) invented the first computer in Cambridge in 1928. Robert Goddard, inventor of the first liquid fueled rocket, was born and lived much of his life in Worcester and launched the first rocket fueled with liquid fuel from the neighboring town of Auburn. The first nuclear-powered surface vessel, USS Long Beach CG (N) 9, was launched at Quincy in 1961.

The creation of the Cape Cod National Seashore, which was formerly private town and state owned land, marked the first time the federal government purchased land for a park. The Cape Cod National Seashore was created after the federal government purchased portions of privately and state owned land. This represents the first time that the federal government purchased land specifically for the purposes of establishing a park.

The USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides", is the US Navy's oldest commissioned warship and it is berthed in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Since 1897 the ship has been overhauled several times in Dry Dock 1.

Princeton was named after the Reverend Thomas Prince, Pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, and one of the first proprietors of the town. Princeton was incorporated in 1759.Harvard was the first college established in North America. Harvard was founded in 1636. Because of Harvard's size there is no universal mailing address that will work for every office at the University. The first U.S.Postal zip code in Massachusetts is 01001 at Agawam.

John Adams and John Quincy Adams are buried in the crypt at the United First Parish Church in Quincy. Norfolk County is the birthplace of four United States presidents: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George Herbert Walker Bush.