Nahant

History

The area around Nahant was inhabited for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas, but little is known of this period until European records began to document the area in the early 1600s. In 1605, Samuel de Champlain interacted briefly with native people in Nahant and remarked that "all along this coast there is much cleared land sewn with Indian corn." By the 1630s at the time of English colonization, the seat of "Sagamore James" of the Naumkeag, known in his own tongue as Montowampate, was at the outlet of the Saugus River overlooking Nahant, though the island itself may have been controlled by a sachem Poquanum, known to English settlers as Blacke William or Duke William, who around 1632 gave permission to Thomas Dexter to use the island in exchange for an English suit. The word Nahant may mean "at the point," or "twin islands," or it may refer to an important local person named Nahantum. The peninsula was first settled by English colonists in 1630, in the second year of the Puritan coming: the servants of Isaac Johnson grazed his cattle on the land, and it was also often used by citizens of Lynn for grazing cattle, sheep and goats. Although not a separate town until 1853, Nahant was listed as one of thirty "noted Habitations" in New England by William Wood in 1633, and Nahant Poynt appears labeled on a map of the Massachusetts coastline from 1639. During World War II, East Point was the site of a coastal artillery battery. It is now a town park, and location of the Marine Science Center for Northeastern University. The old Nahant Life-Saving Station (NLSS) on Nahant Road and the new War Memorial erected across the street from the NLSS were renovated in 2004. In 2003, the dilapidated Valley Road School was refurbished and…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  121,183
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  104,708
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  101,150
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  98,271
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  92,391
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  85,961
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  84,965
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  82,652

Largest nearby schools

• Lynn English High
  High · Lynn · 2,176 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• Classical High
  High · Lynn · 1,818 students · 15.4:1 ratio
• KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School
  Other · Lynn · 1,612 students · 13.9:1 ratio
• Lynn Vocational Technical Institute
  Other · Lynn · 1,523 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• Peabody Veterans Memorial High
  High · Peabody · 1,476 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• J Henry Higgins Middle
  Middle · Peabody · 1,346 students · 13.2:1 ratio
• Breed Middle School
  Middle · Lynn · 1,221 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Thurgood Marshall Mid
  Middle · Lynn · 1,215 students · 12.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
  9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2023-12-23
  5 km SW of Chichester, New Hampshire
• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
• M 2.9 — 2010-06-07
  29 km SE of York Beach, Maine
• M 2.8 — 2008-03-09
  25 km SE of York Beach, Maine