Cities and Towns
The towns and cities of Essex County are listed below. They are incorporated under the current laws of the State of Massachusetts, even though in a number of cases the incorporation was accepted as a legacy from Massachusetts Bay Colony. A large number of traditionally recognized places are not. They are not listed here but may be in the articles for the incorporated places. All the territory of the state is under the jurisdiction of a city or town.
The list does not utilize the terminology of the U. S. Census Bureau, which is defined decannually. For example, the Census Designated Place (CDP) may or may not be comparable to any single municipality on the list. CDP's change frequently. The Bureau collects data on discrete populations defined to be appropriate to its mission at the time of the census. There is not necessarily a regard for political or traditional subdivisions, although those subdivisions typically play a major role.
The cities and towns on this list officially consider themselves to be so and are defined to be so by the laws of the State of Massachusetts. As government at the county level was dissolved in Essex County in 1999, the cities and towns are directly subordinate to the state. The county still plays a role in administrative districting by various governmental agencies in Massachusetts. Subordinate places may be defined by them on any basis, except that they have no separate corporate existence under those names.
- City of Amesbury, incorporated 1666 from Salisbury.
- Town of Andover, incorporated in 1646.
- City of Beverly, incorporated 1668 from Salem.
- Town of Boxford, incorporated 1685 from Rowley.
- Town of Danvers, incorporated 1757 from Salem.
- Town of Essex, incorporated 1819 from Ipswich.
- Town of Georgetown, incorporated 1838 from Rowley.
- City of Gloucester, settled 1623.
- Town of Groveland, incorporated 1850 from Bradford.
- Town of Hamilton, incorporated 1793 from Ipswich.
- City of Haverhill, founded 1640.
- Town of Ipswich, established 1634.
- City of Lawrence incorporated 1847 from Methuen and Andover.
- City of Lynn, established 1629, named Lynn 1637.
- Town of Lynnfield, incorporated 1814 from Lynn.
- Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, incorporated 1645.
- Town of Marblehead, incorporated 1635.
- Merrimac incorporated 1876 from Amesbury.
- Methuen incorporated 1725 from Haverhill.
- Middleton incorporated 1728 from surrounding towns—Salem, Topsfield, Andover, etc.
- Nahant incorporated 1853 from Lynn.
- Newbury founded 1635.
- Newburyport incorporated 1764 from Newbury.
- Town of North Andover (original North Andover Parish), incorporated April 7, 1855.
- City of Peabody, incorporated 1855 from Danvers.
- Town of Rockport, incorporated 1840 from Gloucester.
- Town of Rowley, founded 1639.
- City of Salem, founded 1626.
- Town of Salisbury, established 1640.
- Town of Saugus, incorporated 1815 from Lynn.
- Town of Swampscott, incorporated 1852 from Lynn.
- Town of Topsfield, established 1650.
- Town of Wenham, settled 1638.
- Town of West Newbury, incorporated 1819 from Newbury.
Read more about this topic: Essex County, Massachusetts
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