33 Facts About Massachusetts

1. The capital of Massachusetts is Boston, which is the most populous city in New England.

2. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution.

3. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first US state to legally recognize same-sex marriage as a result of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Goodridge v Department of Public Health.

4. Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family, including: Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett.

5. Massachusetts was a center of the movement for independence from Great Britain; colonists in Massachusetts had long uneasy relations with the British monarchy, including open rebellion under the Dominion of New England in the 1680s.

6. Massachusetts was the first state to recruit, train, and arm a Black regiment with White officers, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.

7. In 1852, Massachusetts became the first state to pass compulsory education laws.

8. In 1966, Massachusetts became the first state to directly elect an African American to the US senate with Edward Brooke.

9. On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the US to legalize same-sex marriage after a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in November 2003 determined that the exclusion of same-sex couples from the right to a civil marriage was unconstitutional.

10. On November 8, 2016, Massachusetts voted in favor of the Massachusetts Marijuana Legalization Initiative, known as Question 4.

11. Massachusetts is located along the Atlantic Flyway, a major route for migratory waterfowl along the eastern coast.

12. Lakes in central Massachusetts provide habitat for many species of fish and waterfowl, but some species such as the common loon are becoming rare.

13. Demographically, the center of population of Massachusetts is located in the town of Natick.

14. Massachusetts is the fastest-growing state in New England and the 25th fastest-growing state in the United States.

15. Many areas of Massachusetts showed relatively stable population trends between 2000 and 2010.

16. One major reason for this is that non-Hispanic whites in Massachusetts recorded a total fertility rate of 1.36 in 2017, the second-lowest in the country after neighboring Rhode Island.

17. Massachusetts is home to a small community of Greek Americans as well, which according to the American Community Survey there are 83,701 of them scattered along the state.

18. In 2013, Massachusetts scored highest of all the states in math and third-highest in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

19. In 2018, Massachusetts consumed 1,459trillion BTU, making it the seventh-lowest state in terms of consumption of energy per capita, and 31 percent of that energy came from natural gas.

20. In 2014 and 2015, Massachusetts was ranked as the most energy efficient state the United States while Boston is the most efficient city, but it had the fourth-highest average residential retail electricity prices of any state.

21. Several stations in western Massachusetts are served by the Vermonter, which connects St Albans, Vermont to Washington DC.

22. Major non-interstate highways in Massachusetts include US Routes 1, 3, 6, and 20, and state routes 2, 3, 9, 24, and 128.

23. The state's 12th congressional district elected the first openly gay member of the United States House of Representatives, Gerry Studds, in 1972 and in 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriage.

24. In 2006, Massachusetts became the first state to approve a law that provided for nearly universal healthcare.

25. Massachusetts is one of the most Democratic states in the country.

26. Additionally, Massachusetts provided Reagan with his smallest margins of victory in both the 1980 and 1984 elections.

27. Voters in Massachusetts approved a ballot measure in 2012 that legalized the medical use of marijuana.

28. Massachusetts was an early center of the Transcendentalist movement, which emphasized intuition, emotion, human individuality and a deeper connection with nature.

29. Famous painters from Massachusetts include Winslow Homer and Norman Rockwell; many of the latter's works are on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge.

30. Tanglewood, in western Massachusetts, is a music venue that is home to both the Tanglewood Music Festival and Tanglewood Jazz Festival, as well as the summer host for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

31. Long-distance hiking trails in Massachusetts include the Appalachian Trail, the New England National Scenic Trail, the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, the Midstate Trail, and the Bay Circuit Trail.

32. State of Massachusetts is a center for medical education and research including Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as well as the New England Baptist Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, and Boston Medical Center which is the primary teaching hospital for Boston University.

33. Several universities in Massachusetts are notable for their collegiate athletics.