Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 90,329 at the 2010 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown Boston. It is the largest city in Essex County.
History
17th century
The area known as Lynn was first settled in 1629 by Edmund Ingalls (d. 1648), followed by John Tarbox of Lancashire in 1631, whose descendants still reside in New England. The city was incorporated in 1631 as Saugus, the Nipmuck name for the area. The name Lynn was given to the area after King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, in honor of Samuel Whiting. A noteworthy colonist, Thomas Halsey left Lynn to settle the eastern end of Long Island and founded the town of Southampton New York. The Halsey House is the oldest frame house in the state of New York (1648), and along with the homestead it is open to the public and managed by the Southampton Colonial Society.
After Lynn's resettlement, many of its areas gradually separated into independent towns. Reading was created in 1644, Lynnfield in 1782, Saugus in 1815, Swampscott in 1852, and Nahant in 1853. Lynn was incorporated as a city in 1850.