All United States Massachusetts

The Atlas Obscura Guide To Massachusetts

472 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Massachusetts

Updated May 29, 2023

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Cities

Top Cities
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  1. Adams
  2. Amherst
  3. Ashland
  4. Beverly
  5. Boston
  6. Brookline
  7. Cambridge
  8. Clinton
  9. Concord
  10. Danvers
  11. Dedham
  12. Deerfield
  13. Dennis
  14. Eastham
  15. Edgartown
  16. Fairhaven
  17. Falmouth
  18. Fitchburg
  19. Framingham
  20. Gardner
  21. Gloucester
  22. Greenfield
  23. Harvard
  24. Haverhill
  25. Hingham
  26. Holyoke
  27. Hull
  28. Lee
  29. Leominster
  30. Lincoln
  31. Lowell
  32. Lynn
  33. Marblehead
  34. Medford
  35. Milton
  36. Montague
  37. Nantucket
  38. New Bedford
  39. Newton
  40. North Adams
  41. Oak Bluffs
  42. Orange
  43. Petersham
  44. Plymouth
  45. Princeton
  46. Provincetown
  47. Quincy
  48. Salem
  49. Sandwich
  50. Scituate
  51. Sheffield
  52. Shelburne Falls
  53. Shrewsbury
  54. Somerville
  55. Springfield
  56. Stockbridge
  57. Sudbury
  58. Waltham
  59. Wareham
  60. Watertown
  61. Wellesley
  62. Westford
  63. Weston
  64. Winthrop
  65. Worcester
  66. Yarmouth

Unusual Attractions in Massachusetts

See All 472 Things To Do in Massachusetts

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Massachusetts

See all 10 Places to Eat in Massachusetts
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Atlas Obscura Itineraries

12 Places in Massachusetts Where Literature Comes to Life

Massachusetts is a lit-lover's paradise. From landscapes that have moved writers to wax poetic about beans to story-inspired sculpture parks and shops stacked with volumes new and old, the Bay State would also be aptly named the Book State. Here are 12 places to celebrate writers or the places that inspired them. As the pandemic continues, we hope this virtual trip helps you explore America’s wonders. If you do choose to venture out, please follow all guidelines, maintain social distance, and wear a mask.

View Itinerary

Explore Massachusetts

History 48
History & Culture 37
Homes 34
Architectural Oddities 33
Monuments 30
Museums And Collections 30
Statues 27
Literature 25

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Recent Massachusetts Activity

Stories About Massachusetts

On Tuckernuck Island, the American giant millipede is in danger of losing its head. Scientists don't know what is responsible for the unprecedented number of decapitations.

The Mystery of the Headless Millipedes

Every summer, hundreds of millipedes are murdered on one small Massachusetts island.
by William von Herff
A Close Combat Assault Ration, which provides calorie-dense nutrition and is shelf stable for years.

Feeding Armies Throughout History

From Sparta to the Mongol Empire, soldiers needed fuel for the fight.
by Diana Hubbell
At the high-tech military food center colloquially known as Natick Lab, R&D achievements include a vacuum microwave-dried cheeseburger (center top) and other shelf-stable meals.

How to Feed an Army

Go behind the scenes at the Massachusetts military lab engineering the fuel of the future.
by Diana Hubbell
Trays at the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine’s Metabolic Kitchen are prepared for an employee taste-testing panel.

Food Innovations That Came from War

Thank Uncle Sam for Cheetos, air fryers, and other modern mainstays.
by Diana Hubbell
The packaging laboratory where researchers design and test ways to transport and store rations in a wide variety of environments.

The Evolution of American Military Food

What would George Washington's spruce beer-chugging troops have thought about today's cheesecake rations?
by Diana Hubbell
Digitizing gravestones from the colonial era preserves them for future study and makes them more accessible, but it also raises questions about how to study this period of American history.

Burial Hill's Historic Gravestones Are Coming to Your Screen

Digitizing markers at the Massachusetts cemetery makes them more accessible.
by Anya Gruber
Children dance around a modern maypole in Boston; a few centuries earlier, a similar celebration was cut short by Puritan axes. Was it part of a practice run for a far more violent and bloody campaign?

Was a May Day Attack by Pilgrims a Practice Run for a Massacre?

One historian of early New England sees the event as a harbinger of deadly violence.
by Peter C. Mancall

Podcast: Ashley House

A history that intertwines the American Revolution with the seeds of abolition in the North.
by The Podcast Team

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