Maine
Located at the northeastern extreme of the New England, the Northeast, and the contiguous United States (CONUS) as a whole, the State of Maine is the most sparsely populated state of the New England region. Particularly along the border with Québec, Canada, the State is renowned for logging, timber, and related industries that may unfortunately trigger increasing environmental concerns. Along the border with New Brunswick, Canada, cultural traits associated with Acadia from New France are largely honored with historical societies throughout the region and with agricultural regions in the surrounding areas. More centrally located within Maine is the Millinocket area, in which Baxter State Park, including the highest peak at Mount Katahdin, is located nearby. Even further to the south is the Atlantic coastline within the State, north beyond the northern terminus of the coastal plain and, as such, the sole East Coast state where mountains continue into the ocean. With the hostile terrain of the mountains up to the coastline, the vast majority of the state population must live within the extreme southern portion of the State. For some individuals, the Portland area is the northern end of the Northeast Megalopolis; Augusta and Bangor are significantly smaller cities located further inland.
New Hampshire
To the west and southwest of the State of Maine is the State of New Hampshire, largely renowned for natural beauty but also notable for the state motto, “Live Free or Die,” with a centuries-old historical context. While the northern part of New Hampshire is nearly as sparsely populated as portions of west-central Maine (i.e. Oxford County, ME), the central and southern parts of New Hampshire exist within a clearly distinct cultural context, unlikely to be associated with any other New England state. Central New Hampshire is home to Lake Winnipesaukee and numerous smaller lakes within the Lakes Region of Belknap and surrounding counties at the foothills of the White Mountains. Laconia, the county seat of Belknap County, is located on or near Lake Winnipesaukee. Even further south is Concord, the capital city of the State of New Hampshire, with a carriage-making history and a relatively small population relative to other state capital cities. Beyond Concord is Manchester, the largest city within the State, with around triple to quadruple the population size of Concord; Nashua, along the Massachusetts state line; Portsmouth, the coastal center of the State; Keene, the population center around Mount Monadnock, and numerous smaller cities, towns, and villages.
Vermont
While New Hampshire can boast about the White Mountains, Vermont can boast about the Green Mountains. Unlike New Hampshire, however, the State of Vermont actually is named for the French name for the principal mountain range of the State. The State of Vermont overall is also renowned for progressive policies, renewable energy (particularly on or around certain corridors), and producing nearly half of the national supply of maple syrup. Although the City of Burlington is the largest city in the State with under fifty thousand people, making it the smallest largest city of any state in the nation, the City of Montpelier, the capital city of the State of Vermont, holds a population of merely around eight thousand people, making it the smallest capital city of any state in the nation. Apart from the minor urban centers (since Vermont is a very, very, very rural state), the State of Vermont is renowned for a consistent flow of scenic rural beauty and natural surroundings. Even under the modern-day constraints of capitalism, the State of Vermont also offers a glimpse into what a post-capitalist, post-Marxist, degrowth society could resemble in the future. Sprawl is heavily regulated within the State, as per Act 250, to ensure that outward sprawl is minimized and to make sure that the urban footprint is contained within reason.
The State of Vermont is also notable for having a fairly low population density, with the State ranking 31st out of the 50 states in the United States of America. In comparison, Maine is ranked 38th, and New Hampshire is ranked 21st (which is fairly close to the global average). In terms of the overall state population, however, only Wyoming is smaller than Vermont, although the latter is significantly smaller, larger than only five other states: New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island. Because of the low-profile nature of the State of Vermont, individuals should expect lower traffic volumes and possibly fewer traffic backups as well. Even in spite of the inevitable nature of modern-day car dependency in the more modern developments that may exist within the State, particularly within the outer edges of the contained Burlington area, drivers throughout the State are often more courteous than drivers from outside the State (and especially from outside New England).
Massachusetts
If Northern New England is connected to rustic life and natural scenery, then Southern New England is connected to cosmopolitan life and futuristic thought. The contrast between the northern and southern parts of New England is just as obvious when individuals travel south from Pownal as when individuals travel south from Seabrook–or from any other Vermont or New Hampshire town in between. Even internally within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a cross-section of what to expect within New England as a region: Mountains to the west, the seacoast to the east, and islands at the edge of the Commonwealth, as well as rolling hills in between. Of the fourteen counties in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Berkshire County stands out for the Taconic and Berkshire Mountains, while Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden share cultural traits as part of the Pioneer Valley region. Franklin County is located within approximately the northern third of Pioneer Valley along the Vermont line and the Connecticut River, containing such locales as Greenfield and Deerfield. Hampshire County is located within approximately the central third of Pioneer Valley, containing Northampton, Amherst, Hadley, and numerous related communities, as well as the Five Colleges (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and UMass Amherst). Hampden County, in the southern third of the Pioneer Valley along the Connecticut line, is home to historical exhibits associated chiefly with volleyball, basketball, and Dr. Seuss within Holyoke and Springfield. Numerous smaller communities also exist within Hampden County, including Longmeadow (home to Bay Path University), Westfield (home to Westfield State University), Chicopee (home to Elms University), Agawam, and more. Today, the Quabbin Reservoir is the primary source of the water supply for the City of Boston as well as for numerous cities, towns, and villages further west, largely to the east of the reservoir, potentially including Worcester, Leominster, and Fitchburg. Worcester, Leominster, and Fitchburg are each interconnected municipalities, with Worcester and Fitchburg in particular having distinct universities and art museums. Apart from the aforementioned three communities, Worcester County is also home to Oxford, the birthplace of Clara Barton of the American Red Cross, as well as such communities as Athol, Winchendon, and locales otherwise positioned between New Hampshire to the north and Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south (Berkshire County also borders three other states: Vermont, New York, and Connecticut). East of Worcester County is where the vast majority of the action associated with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts occurs, including juxtapositions of numerous historical and modern sites to create a clearly distinct yet authentically New England environment.
Middlesex County, the largest county in Massachusetts and New England as a whole, is renowned as home to Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Tufts University, just to name a few. Even outside such towns as Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford, the County of Middlesex continues to charm with numerous historical sites and a plethora of modern cities and towns originally founded within the Puritan context of the seventeenth (17th) century. While such towns certainly include Chelmsford and Billerica, historical sites also exist in such communities as Lexington, Concord, and Lowell–all within Middlesex County. Minute Man historical sites exist in the area to honor the Battles of Lexington and Concord from the American Revolutionary War. On the northern edge of Middlesex is Lowell, renowned in history for its textile mills in the nineteenth (19th) century.
Essex County is very similar in nature to Middlesex County, traditionally also with a dual county seat arrangement. While Lowell and Cambridge each serve Middlesex County, Lawrence and Salem each serve Essex County, with the Salem area honoring the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 throughout city limits. Gloucester is located further north, along Cape Ann, featuring locales of coastal interest such as lighthouses, as well as castles and historical architecture in the nearby area.
While Middlesex is renowned for prestigious institutions and textile mills and Essex is renowned for the history of witchcraft and the seacoast, Suffolk is actually a clearly distinct county within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, wherein Fenway Park serves the Boston Red Sox, Faneuil Hall serves history, the Old South Meeting House celebrates the Boston Tea Party (on December 16 to remember 1773), the Boston Common provides an urban park setting, and numerous city amenities provide extended cultural vibrancy regardless of the specific location within the city. Apart from Boston, Suffolk is also home to Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop nearby.
Within the remaining six counties of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, all located within the southeastern portion of the Commonwealth where county governments have not been abolished in any way, are such historical interests as Maria Mitchell in Nantucket, the whaling community in New Bedford (including the Portuguese-American heritage of Bristol County, Massachusetts and Bristol County, Rhode Island), the jewelry heritage of Attleboro, the Pilgrim heritage of Plymouth (including Plymouth Rock), and yes, even the numerous localities of interest along Cape Cod, such as Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown (all Barnstable County).
Rhode Island
While Rhode Island is not technically an island, the name “Rhode Island” officially also refers specifically to Aquidneck Island, home to Newport, Portsmouth, and numerous smaller communities associated with Newport County. The mainland area, formerly known as Providence Plantations, is home to locales including Providence, Westerly, and Warwick, while to the south of Westerly is an island off the Long Island coast known as Block Island (home of New Shoreham). Only five counties have traditionally existed within the State: Providence, Kent, Washington, Newport, and Bristol. Within Bristol County, there are only three towns: Barrington, Warren, and Bristol. Although Massachusetts maintains a small coastline along the Narragansett Bay, the vast majority of the bay is associated with Rhode Island for historical reasons. Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, two notable historical figures for the region, were each associated with settling the Providence area more specifically. In modern-day Rhode Island, however, the religious purpose of the State is no longer nearly as relevant as even Massachusetts maintains more similar freedoms today.
Connecticut
Located at the southwestern corner of New England and midway through the Northeastern United States as a whole is the State of Connecticut, highly renowned for extreme wealth in the Gold Coast of the southwestern corner of the State while also being renowned for prestige with Yale in New Haven, the Mystic Seaport in Mystic, UConn in Storrs, the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, and numerous other elements of cultural vibrancy within the State. To the south lies the Long Island Sound, with New York to the west, Rhode Island to the east, and Massachusetts to the north. The Hartford area is highly connected to the Springfield area of Massachusetts, particularly since the Big E of 2000, under the nickname “Knowledge Corridor,” referring largely to the Five Colleges on the Massachusetts side as well as to institutions within New Britain and surrounding communities on the Connecticut side. Meriden is another notable community within the State, located in New Haven County about halfway between Hartford and New Haven, thus resulting in a fairly central location within the State.
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