View source for South Shore (Massachusetts)

{{Distinguish|South Coast (Massachusetts)}}
{{Other uses|South Shore (disambiguation){{!}}South Shore}}

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{{Infobox settlement
| name                            = South Shore
| official_name                   = 
| native_name                     = <!-- if different from the English name -->
| native_name_lang                = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| other_name                      = Irish Riviera
| settlement_type                 = [[List of regions of the United States#Massachusetts|Region]] of [[Massachusetts]]
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| image_map                       = South_Shore_MA.png
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| map_alt                         = Map of the South Shore region of Massachusetts highlighted in yellow based on the region defined by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, with areas sometimes included in the region on other lists highlighted in light brown.
| map_caption                     = The South Shore region of Massachusetts
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| subdivision_name2               = [[Braintree, Massachusetts|Braintree]], [[Cohasset, Massachusetts|Cohasset]], [[Duxbury, Massachusetts|Duxbury]], [[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]], [[Hull, Massachusetts|Hull]], [[Kingston, Massachusetts|Kingston]], [[Marshfield, Massachusetts|Marshfield]], [[Plymouth, Massachusetts|Plymouth]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], [[Rockland, Massachusetts|Rockland]], [[Scituate, Massachusetts|Scituate]] and [[Weymouth, Massachusetts|Weymouth]], sometimes adding inland towns
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| blank_name_sec1                 = Largest city (population)
| blank_info_sec1                 = [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]] (101,636)
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}}

The '''South Shore''' of [[Massachusetts]] is a geographic region stretching south and east from [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] toward [[Cape Cod]] along the [[shore]]s of [[Massachusetts Bay]] and [[Cape Cod Bay]]. It is subject to varying descriptions including [[List of municipalities in Massachusetts|municipalities]] in eastern [[Norfolk County, Massachusetts|Norfolk]] and [[Plymouth County, Massachusetts|Plymouth]] counties. The South Shore is an affluent area. The median income of the region as of 2020 is $104,691. The median home value of the region as of 2020 is $574,831.

Depending on its geographical definition, the South Shore is composed of a mix of suburban towns, mid-sized industrial cities and rural towns. Massachusetts' heaviest concentration of [[Irish-American]] residents and descendants from [[Irish people|ancestors from Ireland]] is on the South Shore,<ref>Schworm, Peter. "Digging Their Celtic Roots." ''The Boston Globe'', June 19, 2005</ref> and 6 of the United States' 10 most Irish towns are located on the South Shore, which is sometimes referred to locally as the '''[[Irish Riviera]]'''.<ref name="ePodunk">{{cite web|title=Massachusetts rules list of Irish towns|url=http://www.epodunk.com/top10/irish/index.html|publisher=ePodunk|access-date=12 January 2011}}</ref><ref name="sweeney_20110109">{{cite web|last=Sweeney|first=Emily|title=How the South Shore became the Irish Riviera|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/01/09/how_the_south_shore_became_the_irish_riviera/|publisher=The Boston Globe|access-date=12 January 2011}}</ref>

==Geography==
By its most literal definition, the South Shore includes only cities and towns between Boston and Cape Cod that physically border the [[Atlantic Ocean]], thereby limiting the South Shore to the following:

{|
|valign="top"|
*[[Braintree, Massachusetts|Braintree]]
*[[Cohasset, Massachusetts|Cohasset]]
*[[Duxbury, Massachusetts|Duxbury]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]]
*[[Hull, Massachusetts|Hull]]
*[[Kingston, Massachusetts|Kingston]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Marshfield, Massachusetts|Marshfield]]
*[[Plymouth, Massachusetts|Plymouth]]
*[[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Scituate, Massachusetts|Scituate]]
*[[Weymouth, Massachusetts|Weymouth]]
|}

The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management limits its definition of the South Shore to the municipalities between [[Boston Harbor]] and Cape Cod, which includes Atlantic coastal and coastal watershed areas "from the three-mile (5 km) limit of the state territorial sea to {{convert|100|ft|m}} beyond the first major land transportation route encountered (a road, highway, rail line, etc.)".<ref name="czm-coastalzone">{{cite web|url=http://www.mass.gov/czm/zone.htm|title=The Coastal Zone|publisher=Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management|access-date=2009-09-05}}</ref> This definition eliminates Braintree, Quincy and Weymouth, which border Boston Harbor, but adds the towns of Hanover, Norwell and Pembroke.<ref name="czm-regions">{{cite web|url=http://www.mass.gov/czm/regions.htm|title=CZM's Regional Offices|publisher=Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management|access-date=2009-09-05}}</ref>

{|
|valign="top"|
*[[Cohasset, Massachusetts|Cohasset]]
*[[Duxbury, Massachusetts|Duxbury]]
*[[Hanover, Massachusetts|Hanover]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]]
*[[Hull, Massachusetts|Hull]]
*[[Kingston, Massachusetts|Kingston]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Marshfield, Massachusetts|Marshfield]]
*[[Norwell, Massachusetts|Norwell]]
*[[Pembroke, Massachusetts|Pembroke]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Plymouth, Massachusetts|Plymouth]]
*[[Scituate, Massachusetts|Scituate]]
|}

With respect to regional planning and cooperation among municipal governments, some of these coastal communities are either members of the [[Boston]]-centered Inner Core Committee of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mapc.org/metro_area/innercore.html |title=MAPC - Inner Core Committee |publisher=Metropolitan Area Planning Council |access-date=2009-05-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509061940/http://www.mapc.org/metro_area/innercore.html |archive-date=May 9, 2009 }}</ref> or not part of the metropolitan area at all, while the South Shore Coalition of the MAPC comprises representatives from 13 coastal and inland communities<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mapc.org/metro_area/ssc.html |title=MAPC - South Shore Coalition |publisher=Metropolitan Area Planning Council |access-date=2009-05-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927190440/http://www.mapc.org/metro_area/ssc.html |archive-date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref> and includes the following cities and towns:

{|
|valign="top"|
*[[Braintree, Massachusetts|Braintree]]
*[[Cohasset, Massachusetts|Cohasset]]
*[[Duxbury, Massachusetts|Duxbury]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Hanover, Massachusetts|Hanover]]
*[[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]]
*[[Holbrook, Massachusetts|Holbrook]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Hull, Massachusetts|Hull]]
*[[Marshfield, Massachusetts|Marshfield]]
*[[Norwell, Massachusetts|Norwell]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Pembroke, Massachusetts|Pembroke]]
*[[Rockland, Massachusetts|Rockland]]
*[[Scituate, Massachusetts|Scituate]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Weymouth, Massachusetts|Weymouth]]
|}

The South Shore [[Chamber of Commerce]] includes all of the above towns, as well as several more farther inland in Norfolk and Plymouth counties, in its definition of the region:<ref>"[https://www.southshorechamber.org/our-region.html Our Region]", South Shore Chamber of Commerce. Accessed May 30, 2020.</ref>

{|
|valign="top"|
*[[Abington, Massachusetts|Abington]]
*[[Braintree, Massachusetts|Braintree]]
*[[Canton, Massachusetts|Canton]]
*[[Carver, Massachusetts|Carver]]
*[[Cohasset, Massachusetts|Cohasset]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Duxbury, Massachusetts|Duxbury]]
*[[Halifax, Massachusetts|Halifax]]
*[[Hanson, Massachusetts|Hanson]]
*[[Hanover, Massachusetts|Hanover]]
*[[Hingham, Massachusetts|Hingham]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Holbrook, Massachusetts|Holbrook]]
*[[Hull, Massachusetts|Hull]]
*[[Marshfield, Massachusetts|Marshfield]]
*[[Milton, Massachusetts|Milton]]
*[[Norwell, Massachusetts|Norwell]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Pembroke, Massachusetts|Pembroke]]
*[[Plympton, Massachusetts|Plympton]]
*[[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]]
*[[Randolph, Massachusetts|Randolph]]
|width="40"|
|valign="top"|
*[[Rockland, Massachusetts|Rockland]]
*[[Scituate, Massachusetts|Scituate]]
*[[Weymouth, Massachusetts|Weymouth]]
*[[Whitman, Massachusetts|Whitman]]
|}

Informal definitions of South Shore—defined by the service areas of other nonprofits or businesses with "South Shore" in their names, by real estate agents, or by individuals, for example—always include at least some of the shoreline communities but can stretch considerably to the west. Readers of ''[[Boston (magazine)|Boston]]'' magazine, in 2016, identified "Anything below the city, Cape included" as one potential definition of "South Shore". Suggested western boundaries included the [[Rhode Island]] state line, or [[Massachusetts Route 24]]. Some individuals placed [[Foxborough, Massachusetts|Foxborough]] and [[Stoughton, Massachusetts|Stoughton]] in the region. One definition included all of Cape Cod, as far as [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]]; others said the South Shore ends at the [[Sagamore Bridge]], which would place part of [[Bourne, Massachusetts|Bourne]] in the region.<ref>"[https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2016/03/27/north-shore-south-shore-map/ Interactive Map: North Shore vs. South Shore]", ''Boston'', March 27, 2016. Accessed May 30, 2020.</ref>

==Education==
Institutions of higher learning located in South Shore communities include:

*[[Curry College]], a private four-year [[Liberal arts colleges in the United States|liberal arts college]] with the main campus located in [[Milton, Massachusetts|Milton]], and a satellite campus located in [[Plymouth, Massachusetts|Plymouth]]
*[[Bridgewater State University]], a public four-year [[Liberal arts colleges in the United States|liberal arts college]] in [[Bridgewater, Massachusetts|Bridgewater]], and the largest public university in the Massachusetts State University system outside of the [[University of Massachusetts]] system
*[[Eastern Nazarene College]], a private [[Liberal arts colleges in the United States|college of the liberal arts and sciences]] in Quincy
*[[Massasoit Community College]], a public two-year [[Community colleges in the United States|community college]] with campuses in Brockton and Canton
*[[Quincy College]], a two-year city-operated [[Community colleges in the United States|community college]] in Quincy

{{Massachusetts Public High Schools}}

==Sites of interest==
*[[Capt. Benjamin James House|Captain Benjamin James House and Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum]], a historic First Period house and museum in Scituate, Massachusetts.
*[[Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary]], a sanctuary owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society and located in the town of Marshfield, Massachusetts.
*[[Fort Revere Park]], an {{convert|8|acre|ha|abbr=off|adj=on}} historic site situated on a small peninsula located in Hull, Massachusetts.
*[[Lawson Tower]], a historic tower built in the style of a European castle turret in Scituate Center, Massachusetts.
*[[North River Wildlife Sanctuary]], a wildlife sanctuary owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society and located in the town of Marshfield, Massachusetts. 
* [[Old Scituate Light]], a historic lighthouse located on Cedar Point in Scituate, Massachusetts. 
*[[World's End (Hingham)|Worlds End]], a park and conservation area in Hingham, Massachusetts.

==See also==
*[[Flim Fest]], an annual independent music, film, and arts festival
*[[North Shore (Massachusetts)|North Shore]]
*[[South Shore League]], a high school athletic conference in Massachusetts

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Massachusetts|expanded}}
{{Greater Boston}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Regions of Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Irish-American culture in Massachusetts]]