photograph from ap images; illustration by lucy naland/globe Staff
With Summer here, we look at the Bay State’s many, many beaches.
60 — Massachusetts towns and cities with saltwater beaches
5 of the state’s most popular saltwater beaches:
> Revere Beach (Revere)
> Nahant Beach (Nahant)
> Nantasket Beach (Hull)
> Salisbury Beach (Salisbury)
> Horseneck Beach (Westport)
1895 — Year Revere Beach became America’s first public beach
26 — Number of saltwater beaches run by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, free to visitors (some charge for parking)
730 — Approximate miles of beaches in Massachusetts
1,519 — Miles of tidal shoreline in Massachusetts
3.8 million — Approximate number of travelers to Massachusetts In 2015 who went to the beach
15 — Approximate percentage of Massachusetts tourists those beachgoers represent
451 — Number of uniquely named beaches that allow public access
18 — Number of lighthouses on Massachusetts public beaches
QUOTABLE MOMENT:
“I wasn’t serious, it was just a little joke. I know you can’t fry clams like chips!” — “Tarr,” a fisherman whose first name is lost to history, after others jeered him for suggesting Lawrence “Chubby” Woodman fry some clams on July 3, 1916; Woodman’s of Essex still sells the fried clams woodman is credited with inventing
Sources: Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism; New England Historical Society; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Send comments to magazine@globe.com.