Essex County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the total population was 809,829, making it the third-most populous county in the state, and the seventy-eighth-most populous in the country. It is part of the Greater Boston area. The largest city in Essex County is Lynn. The county was named after the English county of Essex. It has two traditional county seats: Salem and Lawrence. Prior to the dissolution of the county government in 1999, Salem had jurisdiction over the Southern Essex District, and Lawrence had jurisdiction over the Northern Essex District, but currently these cities do not function as seats of government. However, the county and the districts remain as administrative regions recognized by various governmental agencies, which gathered vital statistics or disposed of judicial case loads under these geographic subdivisions, and are required to keep the records based on them. The county has been designated the Essex National Heritage Area by the National Park Service.
Haverhill is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles (56 km) north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles (27 km) from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States census.
Merrimac is a small town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the southeastern border of New Hampshire, approximately 34 miles (55 km) northeast of Boston and 10 miles (16 km) west of the Atlantic Ocean. It was incorporated on April 11, 1876. It is situated along the north bank of the Merrimack River in the Merrimack Valley. The population was 6,723 at the 2020 census. Historically a mill town, it has long since become a largely residential community. It is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area.
Atkinson is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,087 at the 2020 census.
Plaistow is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,830 at the 2020 census.
Salem is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 30,089 at the 2020 census and an estimated 30,647 in 2022. Salem is a northern suburb of Boston located on Interstate 93. As the first town along I-93 northbound in New Hampshire, which lacks any state sales tax, Salem has grown into a regional commercial hub for the northern section of Greater Boston, anchored by the Mall at Rockingham Park and Tuscan Village. Other major sites include Canobie Lake Park, a large amusement park; and America's Stonehenge, a stone structure of disputed origins. It is the former home of Rockingham Park, a horse racetrack. The Sununu political family hails from Salem, including former New Hampshire governor and White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, and his sons John E. Sununu, a former U.S. senator, and Chris Sununu, current New Hampshire governor.
Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the 2020 United States Census. A former farming and mill town, Amesbury is today largely residential. It is one of the two northernmost towns in Massachusetts.
Salisbury is a small coastal beach town and summer tourist destination in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The community is a popular summer resort beach town situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of Boston on the New Hampshire border. It is home to the new Salisbury Beach Boardwalk, full of souvenir shops, restaurants, cafes, arcades and panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 9,236 at the 2020 census. Parts of town comprise the census-designated place of Salisbury.
Gerald Howard "Gerry" Ashworth was an American former track athlete and a gold medalist in the 4 x 100 meter relay in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He won two gold medals sprinting in the 1964 Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, Israel. Recognized internationally, in 1963 Ashworth was rated seventh in the World in indoor competition and in 1964 had an eighth world rating in the outdoor 100 Yards and 100 Meters distances.
Northern Essex Community College (NECC) is a public community college in Essex County, Massachusetts. The college serves residents of the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire. It has campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence. The college is part of the Massachusetts Higher Education system. More than 6,600 students are enrolled in 70 credit associate degree and certificate programs and another 3,400 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley. The school's athletic teams are known as the Knights. Northern Essex Community College is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
Timberlane Regional High School is located in Plaistow, New Hampshire, and serves as a regional high school for the towns of Atkinson, Danville, Plaistow, and Sandown, New Hampshire. The school was built in 1966 and is a part of the Timberlane Regional School District. Timberlane Regional High School is a co-educational school for grades 9-12. The school has won the 1996, 1997 and 2014 Excellence In Education Award. As of 2005, the school has approximately 1,400 students on roll. The school mascot is the owl. The school is regionally accredited for its award-winning wrestling team, which holds 28 NH State Wrestling Champions titles, as of 2020.
Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, also known as “Whittier Tech” and/or “Big Whittier,” was founded in 1972. Located in the city of Haverhill, MA, United States, the school currently serves about 1400 students, with a 12:1 student-teacher ratio. It serves many surrounding cities and towns primarily in the northern section of Essex County, accepting students from Haverhill, Newburyport, Newbury, West Newbury, Rowley, Amesbury, Merrimac, Georgetown, Groveland, Ipswich and Salisbury. The school was named in honor of local resident, Quaker poet, and slavery abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier. Alongside this school, there is also a middle school called “J. G. Whittier Middle School” located in Haverhill also named after the poet.
Jeffrey Donovan is an American actor. He played Michael Westen in the television series Burn Notice, and appeared in films such as Hitch, Believe in Me, Changeling, and Come Early Morning. He played Robert F. Kennedy in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar (2011) and his brother John F. Kennedy in Rob Reiner's LBJ (2016). He had a recurring role in the second season of the TV series Fargo (2015). From 2022 to 2023, he starred as NYPD Detective Frank Cosgrove on the revival of the NBC crime drama Law & Order. He left the show before the 23rd season due to creative differences.
Haverhill High School (HHS) is a public high school in Haverhill, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Haverhill Public Schools district and is open enrollment.
The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in New England and has helped to define the livelihood and culture of those living along it for millennia.
Jacob Abbot Cummings (1773–1820) was a bookseller, publisher, schoolteacher and author in Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 19th-century.
Kilham & Hopkins was an architectural firm in Boston, Massachusetts formed in 1899 or 1900 by its founding members, Walter Harrington Kilham and James Cleveland Hopkins. The firm later became Kilham, Hopkins & Greeley after William Roger Greeley joined the firm in 1916, and Kilham Hopkins Greeley and Brodie after Walter S. (Steve) Brodie joined the firm in 1945.
The Plaistow Carhouse was a historic streetcar carhouse at 27 Elm Street in Plaistow, New Hampshire. Built in 1901, it was a surviving reminder of a short-lived trolley service that served the town until 1930. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and was demolished around 1985.
George G. Adams was an American architect from Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Osmond Richard Cummings was an American author and historian. He published several histories of railroad systems in New England.
