Massachusetts is one of the smallest states in America, but because of its rich history and large capital, it has many important things to see. Its capital of Boston is one of America's largest and oldest cities and is one of the most important places in American history. The flat and densely populated east coast slowly turns into mountainous country as you go west, providing beautiful scenery and places for hiking and camping in the summer and skiing in the winter. I have visited both the east and western parts of the state, but one major area I missed out on is Massachusetts' famous Martha's vineyard island which I'll have to visit one day in the spring or summer.
Mass. Links
	On the left you can see an old historic building in downtown Boston that is now surrounded by skyscrapers. On theright is the Massachusetts state capital building located on Bunker Hill in Boston. It was built in the late 1700s.
	In the early 1800s, Boston quickly became one of the largest trading ports because it was North America's closest seaport to Europe. Today, Boston still is a very important city for trading. On the upper left is a dry dock that is used to repair ships. Above is a ship located in a small Navy base in Charlestown, a district of Boston. On the left is the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship in the world. The USS Constitution was commissioned in 1797, one of the country's first ships. It was used in the war of 1812 and is America's most famous naval ship. This ship hasn't set sail since 1997 when it was celebrating its 200th year in service.
Above are the largest buildings in downtown Boston. Boston was built on the eastern shore of Massachusetts, so there are many small bays and channels that run through the city. Boston can get extremely cold in the winter time, which was when I visited. On the upper right you can see ice forming in the area around the bridge.
Boston actually started out as a religious city created by the Puritans from England. The Puritans wanted to create a country based on Christianity and founded Boston in 1630. The Puritans created the first public school in Boston and the first college of America. Above you can see an old church on the left, in the middle is the Custom House Tower completed in 1849. On the right is a photo of Harvard University, founded by the Puritans..
While the Puritans wanted to create a country based strongly on religion, just south of Boston a group known as the Pilgrims had traveled to America to seek religious freedom. The pilgrims landed in southern Massachusetts in 1620 and first stepped foot on Plymouth Rock as they disembarked their ship the Mayflower. Plymouth Rock can still be seen today, but many are disappointed by its small size. The rock itself is not beautiful or amazing, just very important to American history. On the top left you can see the building that houses Plymouth Rock today. On the right is the rock itself, marked with the date of the Pilgrims arrival in 1620. Below on the left is a replica of the Mayflower that was built in the mid 1950s. The tower is a memorial built to honor the Pilgrims and is located in Provincetown at the very end of Cape Cod.
After the middle of the 18th century, relations between the 13 colonies and the British began to get sour as an attempt to control the colonies was done through taxes that the colonists considered illegal. These tensions created the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party and others events that led to the American Revolution. In 1776 the United States declared independence and entered the Revolutionary War. Much of this history in Boston can be seen via the Freedom Trail, which is a path that goes through Boston and stops at the most famous landmarks. The top left landmark is called Bunker Hill Monument. It is the starting point of Freedom Trail and was erected to serve as a memorial for the first major battle in the Revolutionary war. On the right is the second landmark on the Freedom Trail, called Copp's Hill which is Boston's second oldest graveyard.
Above is a statue of Samuel Adams standing in front of Faneuil Hall. Faneuil Hall was often used by Samuel Adams to rally support for the declaration of Independence. On the right is a memorial for the Boston Massacre. It is located on a small median between major intersections in downtown Boston, so it can be difficult to find. The Boston Massacre occured in 1770 when British troops fired into an angry crowd killing 7 people and injuring six civilians.
	Another famous American was Paul Revere, who became recognized after his midnight ride to warn Lexington about the march of the British army. On April 18th 1775, the British army began to move to Lexington to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Paul Revere had another American place lanterns in the Old North Church to warn others of the marching British. Paul was with a party of 3 people, and on the way to Lexington they were detained by the British. Two escaped carrying the message to Lexington while Paul Revere was held but released after gunshots began to go off. Paul Revere made it to Lexington on his own just in time to see the battle of Lexington Green. On the top left is the church were signal laterns had been placed, on the upper right is Paul Revere's house.
After the American Revolution took place in 1776, the war began and ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. Many of the Americans I mentioned above are considered the founding fathers, or sons of liberty. The third oldest graveyard in Boston is called the Granary Burying Ground, and many of these patriots are buried there. The top photo is the graveyard itself surrounded by large buildings. On the left is Paul Revere's grave, the center is Samuel Adams, and to the right is John Hancock's grave, the first to sign the Declaration of Independence.
Outside of the heavily developed coast, one of Massachusetts' best places to visit are the Berkshires out west. This region is mostly rural and covered in mountains and small towns, but does have some smaller cities as well. Above are two photos of some country areas, with a small road on the upper left and a ranch on the upper right. The black dots at the bottom of the page are actually cattle. The two photos below are from a large lake out in the Berkshires as well. This area has a lot of scenic small towns and lakes.
Hiking out in the berkshires is also a great place to see some natural beauty and even spot wildlife. I did a short hike on one of the trails, but didn't come across any wildlife. An excellent hike is supposed to be Mt Greylock, the state's highest peak at 3,491 feet.
I took a photo of the sign on the left because I've never heard any American use the word 'rubbish' before, only in the United Kingdom. Since the sign is an official state sign I'm guessing that people in this area of Massachusetts still use some British vocabulary. Something else I came along that was obviously European like is the giant castle below. There was a sign out front saying it was built in the 1800s but as I tried to enter it I came across the sign above making clear that it was private property and they didn't want anyone to trespass. I can't imagine what something like that might cost to own. The wall on the lower right actually went around the entire property along the main street that the castle was located on.
I expected western Massachusetts to be completely rural and not to have much history, but surprisingly there were many cemeteries from hundreds of years ago and historic towns. The cemetery from the left was in a remote part of western Massachusetts but had graves from as early as the early 1800s. In the small town of Barrington, there was a marker explaining that this was actually the location of the first public opposition to British ruling in America on August 16th 1774.
Above are two more photos I took of Barrington, pretty much a small town in the Berkshires with a little downtown area and the location of the castle I wrote about earlier. Despite being in the middle of no where, Barrington was pretty lively and had a lot of people out and about.
	These last surrounding photos are of Cape Cod where the Pilgrims landed in the southeastern part of the state. The two photos above are towards the end of the cape, the terrain there looked more like Texas than to what I had expected. Along the roads in Cape Cod are signs warning about high winds and blowing sand. On the left is a photo of the sunset in one of Cape Cod's beaches. Because Cape Cod is a Peninsula, you can enjoy both sunrises and sunsets there. The bottom left is the moon rising above the trees in front of an American flag. The final picture to the bottom right is a lighthouse at night.

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Massachusetts Travel

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