Nahant Beach — Attraction in Nahant

Let me take you through the brief history of Nahant Beach and Town!

The Town of Nahant is a resort town of rocky coasts in the southernmost part of Essex County. Used in early colonial days as a grazing area for cattle, sheep, and goat flocks owned by Lynn residents, Nahant very soon became a maritime community with a small population devoted to fishing. Settlers were granted land for homesites, but only if they also spent time fishing and small boat fishing developed before 1640. Disputed land claims were the hallmark of the town’s early years since the Sachem of Nahant, Poquanum (also called Duke William, Black Will or Dark-skin) apparently sold the same town site to three different sets of people.

By 1657, Nahant was laid out in planting lots of equal shares for all residents of Lynn with the requirement that all lots were to be cleared of wood in 6 years. This mandate effectively stripped Nahant of all its first growth woodlands.

The town became a resort mecca very early on with chaises coming from Lynn. Visitors stayed in boarding houses or private homes, and the first hotel was built by 1803. In 1817, a steamboat sailed from Boston to Nahant daily, and by 1826, a stage from the Nahant Hotel connected twice a day with coaches running between Boston and Salem. Fishing and several shoe shops were the major businesses aside from agriculture and tourism, and even up to 1830 year-round residents were very few. Thomas Handyside Perkins, a prominent Boston businessman, built a hotel in Nahant in 1823, which featured a bowling alley, and by the 1840’s the town was already celebrated as the summer resort of Boston’s elite.

Incorporated in 1853, the town was the site of the most massive hotel complex on the Atlantic Coast and the location of an annual regatta. By the end of the 19th century, there was a visible shift away from hotels and toward residences. An era of skyrocketing growth began about 1870 and continued unabated for the next four decades, with construction firms putting up hundreds of summer homes for visitors to the town. In the modern era, Nahant has protected its residential status, and farming and industrial activity have disappeared.

Nahant is located in Eastern Massachusetts. It is a peninsula jutting south of Lynn and surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean.

Nahant is 14 miles north of Boston; 98 miles south of Portland, Maine; and 232 miles from New York City. Nahant has a land area of 1.24 square miles and a total area of 15.48 square miles.

Let me share some pictures with you as well.

For your update, do not attempt to swim in the beach, as life guards are not available, no alcohol is allowed on the beach. The beach has lots of parking spaces for over 2,000 vehicles, and that's super amazing. There are two standard public rest rooms, including a changing room for babies.

Enjoy the pictures I...

A nice beach by Massachusetts standards. I visited Nahant Beach on Sunday, June 26, 2022. I arrived around 8:00 AM and the parking lot was filling up fast. I paid $10 to park through an app. I grew up on the Jersey Shore and never realized how spoiled I was by the beaches there. The sand at Nahant Beach was much more dirt-like in comparison and also had larger rocks. On the northern part of the beach, there was a lot of red seaweed in the surf, which gave the waves an unsettling red appearance. Because the beach strip was so thin, people set up pretty close to one another. A lot of parties near me were playing loud music with portable speakers which detracted from the experience. It looked like there was a lifeguard house, but I'm not sure where they set up to guard the beach, as I didn't come across any stands or anything while walking on the shore. No showers or permanent bathrooms, just Porta Potties. I'm not...

Great natural beach, though sometimes plagued by algae in parts, detracting from its otherwise clear and sandy appeal. Parking is ample given the narrow causeway on which the whole area rests. Be prepared to pay if you arrive by car between Memorial Day and Labor Day ($10 for MA plates; $40 otherwise. MA residents can buy an annual parking pass in advance for $60. The area is popular with people of all ages, as well as surfers and kiteboarders when conditions and crowds allow. Peak season is July and August. Restrooms and outdoor showers are available. Lifeguards seem to be on duty starting at 10am in the summer. Lion's Mane and perhaps other jellyfish species show up from time to time. I'm not aware of any shark or seal sightings here, which is something I consider during my...