Nahant, MA

The Town of Nahant is a peninsula jutting south of Lynn and surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean.

Used in early colonial days as a grazing areas for cattle, sheep and goat flocks, Nahant very soon became a maritime community with a small population devoted to fishing. The town became a resort mecca very early on and in the 1840’s the town was already celebrated as the summer resort of Boston’s elite.  By the end of the 19th century, there was a visible shift away from hotels and toward residences. Today, Nahant is mostly residential and is also smallest municipality by area in the state. Numerous beaches line the shores, with the most popular being the so-called “Long Beach” and “Short Beach” along the eastern side of the causeway.