ZIP Code 01908

Nahant is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is situated on a peninsula consisting of two near-islands connected to the mainland by a narrow sandy isthmus traversed by a single causeway. The word Nahant may mean "at the point," or "twin islands," or it may refer to an important local person Nahantum. In the late 19th century, it was home to some of the country's first amusement parks, as well as a popular summer retreat for the wealthy, including the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The town was originally part of Lynn; when the temperance movement threatened the summer resort trade in 1853, Nahant incorporated as a separate town. In 2003, the dilapidated Valley Road School was refurbished and re-commissioned as the Nahant Community Center, which is now home to many local activities and banquets. 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. During World War II, East Point was the site of a coastal artillery battery, and now a town park, and location of the Marine Science Center for Northeastern University. In 2005, the Town of Nahant officially commemorated the completely rebuilt Bailey's Hill Gazebo as the Calantha Sears Gazeba. The original was built for the bicentennial in 1976, and over the years had fallen into disrepair.

History

Nahant may mean "at the point," or "twin islands," or it may refer to an important local person Nahantum. The peninsula was first settled by English colonists in 1630, in the second year of the Puritan coming. The town was originally part of Lynn; when the temperance movement threatened the summer resort trade in 1853, Nahant incorporated as a separate town. In the late 19th century, it was home to some of the country's first amusement parks, as well as a popular summer retreat for the wealthy, including the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 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 re-commissioned as the Nahant Community Center, which is now home to many local activities and banquets. The original Bailey's Hill Gazebo was built for the bicentennial in 1976, and over the years had fallen into disrepair. With funding from the Woman's Club of Nahant, local residents contributed to its reconstruction. Besides the cement base, the only remaining piece of the original is the wooden cylinder in the center of the roof, which still bears the "1976" emblemrepainted by Nahant local Octavia Randolph.

Geography and transportation

Nahant is a tied island connected to the mainland by a natural tombolo, effectively a peninsula though often referred to as an "island" The town is centered 14 miles (23 km) by land northeast of Boston, 9 miles (14 km) south of Salem, and 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Cape Ann. There are ten beaches along the coastline, the largest being Nahant Beach and Long Beach, both of which line the eastern side of the causeway road north of Little Nahant. The town has no state routes of any kind within town, one of fifteen in Massachusetts that share that distinction. The nearest highways are a highway portion of U.S. Route 1 in Saugus and Interstate 95 and Route 128 in Peabody. The only mass transit within town is route 439 of the MBTA bus system, which loops within town before passing back into Lynn, providing access to Central Square, home to a stop along the Newburyport/Rockport Line of theMBTA Commuter Rail. Some 439 buses extend their service to Wonderland, providing a connection to Boston's North Station. The closest airport to town is Boston's Logan International Airport. It is one of only four towns in Massachusetts (along with Rockport, Provincetown and Aquinnah) that only touches one other town by land (Gosnold and Nantucket do not touch any). Only touching a 400-yard portion of Lynn by land, the water rights of the town also touch those of Revere, Winthrop and Boston, in Suffolk County.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,632 people, 1,629 households, and 970 families residing in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 97.11% White, 0.39% Black or African American, 1.08% Native American, and 1.07% Asian. The town's population was spread out, with 18.6% under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 28.0 percent from 25 to 44, 29.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there are 91.2 males. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was2.85. The per capita income for the town is $41,807. About 2.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 2.0 per cent of those age 65 or over. The median income for a household in the city was $64,052, and the median income. for a family was $76,926. In the state, the average household income is $62,816. For every100 females age 18 or over, there is 86.7 males. There are 1,704 housing units at an average density of 1,369.3 per square mile (530.6/km²).

Education

Nahant does not have a middle or high school. Students attend grades preschool through sixth at Johnson Elementary School in Nahant. For grades seven through twelve, students attend schools in nearby Swampscott.

Points of interest

The site of the country's first lawn tennis game is at East Point. The World War II Bunkers were designed to defend Boston Harbor and the surrounding waters from a possible attack. Martin Scorsese filmed the lighthouse scenes for the movie Shutter Island here in the summer of 2008. A previously wooden staircase, originally consisting of forty steps, leading down to a pocket beach found heading towards East Point is now constructed of iron and has more than forty steps due to beach erosion. The Nahant Historical Society Museum is located in the Nahant Community Center, also home to the Northeastern University Marine Science Center. The National Historic Landmark is located at 5 Cliff Street in Nahant. The Henry Cabot Lodge House is a National historic landmark. It is home to Nahant's observatory, which was built in the early 20th century to protect the harbor from attack by the U.S. Navy. The Nahant Maritime Museum is also located at the end of Cliff Street, in a building that dates back to the early 19th century. It was built to protect Boston Harbor from attacks by the Navy during the Second World War. The museum is also the home of the National Museum of American History, a National Historic Site of the United States, and the Boston Museum of Nature and Science, which is located on the edge of the harbor. The Massachusetts Maritime Museum, also at the coast, is a national historic site, and was built during the First World War to protect against a possible nuclear attack on Boston.

Annual events

The Memorial Day Parade is a day of homecoming for former Nahant residents who gather each year to watch the festivities. The annual Christmas Parade is one of the biggest celebrations the town of Nahant puts on. The Fourth of July fireworks are the town's biggest annual event. The town also holds a New Year's Eve fireworks show, which is held every year on the first day of the new year. It is also the first time the town has held a New Years Eve fireworks display since it was first held in 1978. The city also holds an annual Fourth of June fireworks show. The mayor of Nahants is a former mayor of the town, who served from 1987 to 1993. He was elected in 1994 and was re-elected in 1998. The current mayor is the son of former mayor, who died in a car crash in 1998, and the grandson of a former city mayor who was killed in a plane crash in 1986. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Second World War, and was a member of the Continental Army during the Korean War. He also served as mayor from 1991 to 1998. He is now the mayor of Nahant, where he was elected to a second term in 2000, and a third time in 2010. He has served as president of the city since 2008. He was re- elected in 2010, and is currently serving a fourth term in office, which he has served since 2010. The  mayor of Nahant is also the father of two children, both of whom were born in Nahant.

In popular culture

Nahant was the basis for the fictional town of Lovecraft, Massachusetts, featured in the Eisner Award-winning comic series Locke & Key. Some fictional locations in the book were based on real life landmarks in Nahant. The narrator of Sarah's Key, a novel by Tatiana de Rosnay, was Miss Nahant in her youth. Nahant is the main setting in the novel An Ocean Full of Angels: The Autobiography of 'Isa Ben Adam by Peter Kreeft. Nahant, and Nahant Beach, are mentioned several times in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "The Village Uncle." Nahant appears in the 2015 post-apocalyptic RPG Fallout 4. It is also the inspiration for the film "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" series of the same name, as well as "The Godfather" films and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II" The town of Nahant was also used as the setting for the TV series "The Wizard of Oz" and the movie "The Dark Knight Rises" The city is featured in a number of films and TV shows, including "The Hunger Games" series and "Star Trek" series. The town is also featured in "The Lego Movie" series, and in the film The Lego Movie, which was based on a real-life town in the U.S. called Nahant, New Hampshire. It was also the setting of "The Incredibles" film series, starring Tom Hanks.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Nahant, Essex County, Massachusetts = 36.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 13. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Nahant = 3.2 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 16,168 individuals with a median age of 48.3 age the population dropped by -3.96% in Nahant, Essex County, Massachusetts population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 3,198.2 residents per square mile of area (1,234.8/km²). There are average 2.17 people per household in the 1,580 households with an average household income of $77,129 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 5.90% of the available work force and has dropped -4.17% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 25.76%. The number of physicians in Nahant per 100,000 population = 202.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Nahant = 45.8 inches and the annual snowfall = 40.8 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 117. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 205. 81 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 21.1 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 50, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Nahant, Essex County, Massachusetts which are owned by the occupant = 64.04%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 67 years with median home cost = $326,800 and home appreciation of -8.09%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $11.64 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $8,174 per student. There are 14.3 students for each teacher in the school. 6.14% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 25.33% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 21.96% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).