Massachusetts Bay
| Massachusetts Bay | |
|---|---|
 Bays of Massachusetts | |
| Location | Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 42°22′30″N 70°44′58″W / 42.37500°N 70.74944°W |
| Ocean/sea sources | Atlantic Ocean |
| Basin countries |  United States |
Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Atlantic Ocean that forms part of the coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about 42 miles (68 km). The bay is roughly triangular in shape, with its the northern and southern shores inclining toward each other through the entrance to Boston Harbor, where they are about five miles apart. The depth from the base of the triangle to Boston Harbor is about 21 miles (34 km). The westmost point of the bay is at the city of Boston.
The northern shore of Massachusetts Bay is rocky and irregular, but the southern shore low, marshy, and sandy. Along the shores are a number of capes and headlands, and off the coast a number of small islands, especially in the entrance to Boston Harbor. The principal inlets are: on the north coast, Gloucester Harbor, Nahant Bay, Salem Harbor, Marblehead Harbor, and Lynn Harbor, and on the west, Boston Harbor, Dorchester Bay, and Quincy Bay (the two latter being part of the Outer Boston Harbor), and on the south coast, Hingham Bay. Massachusetts Bay is itself part of the Gulf of Maine, which extends from Nova Scotia south to Cape Cod Bay. Cape Cod Bay is sometimes considered to be part of Massachusetts Bay. Under this interpretation, the name "Massachusetts Bay" denotes the entire rectangular area of ocean between Cape Ann and Cape Cod.
Massachusetts Bay gave its name to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, one of the two predecessor colonies of the current state of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Bay, Quincy Bay, Narragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Cape Cod Bay are the bays of Massachusetts that give the state the nickname "the Bay State".[citation needed]
Another possible "Bay State" is Maryland, which encloses most of the much-larger Chesapeake Bay, several hundred miles south of Massachusetts.
Notes
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (June 2013) |
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). . Encyclopedia Americana.
- Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
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External links
Reynolds, Francis J., ed. (1921). . Collier's New Encyclopedia. New York: P. F. Collier & Son Company.
