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Newburyport, Massachusetts

Newburyport, Massachusetts
City
State Street
State Street
Official seal of Newburyport, Massachusetts
Seal
Location in Essex County in Massachusetts
Location in Essex County in Massachusetts
Newburyport, Massachusetts is located in the US
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 42°48′45″N 70°52′40″W / 42.81250°N 70.87778°W / 42.81250; -70.87778Coordinates: 42°48′45″N 70°52′40″W / 42.81250°N 70.87778°W / 42.81250; -70.87778
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Essex
Settled 1635
Incorporated as a town 1764
Incorporated as a city 1851
Government
 • Type Mayor-council city
 • Mayor Donna D. Holaday (D)
Area
 • Total 10.6 sq mi (27.4 km2)
 • Land 8.4 sq mi (21.7 km2)
 • Water 2.2 sq mi (5.7 km2)
Elevation 37 ft (11 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 17,416
 • Density 1,600/sq mi (640/km2)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 01950
Area code(s) 351 / 978
FIPS code 25-45245
GNIS feature ID 0614293
Website www.cityofnewburyport.com

Newburyport is a small coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Boston. The population was 17,416 at the 2010 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mooring, winter storage and maintenance of recreational boats, motor and sail, still contribute a large part of the city's income. A Coast Guard station oversees boating activity, especially in the swift tidal currents of the Merrimack River.

At the edge of the Newbury Marshes, delineating Newburyport to the south, an industrial park provides a wide range of jobs. Newburyport is on a major north-south highway, Interstate 95. The outer circumferential highway of Boston, Interstate 495, passes nearby in Amesbury. The Newburyport Turnpike (U.S. Route 1) still traverses Newburyport on its way north. The commuter rail line to Boston ends in a new station at Newburyport. The earlier Boston and Maine Railroad leading further north was discontinued, but a portion of it has been converted into a recreation trail.

Newburyport was settled in 1635 as part of Newberry Plantation, now Newbury. On January 28, 1764, the General Court of Massachusetts passed "An act for erecting part of the town of Newbury into a new town by the name of Newburyport." The act begins:

Whereas the town of Newbury is very large, and the inhabitants of that part of it who dwell by the water-side there, as it is commonly called, are mostly merchants, traders and artificers, and the inhabitants of the other parts of the town are chiefly husbandmen; by means whereof many difficulties and disputes have arisen in managing their public affairs – Be it enacted ... That that part of the said town of Newbury ... be and hereby are constituted and made a separate and distinct town ....


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