Region of southeastern Massachusetts
Region of Massachusetts in the United States
South Coast
|
---|
|
The South Coast Region of Massachusetts
|
Country
| United States
|
---|
State
| Massachusetts
|
---|
Cities and towns
| Acushnet
,
Berkley
,
Dartmouth
,
Fairhaven
,
Fall River
,
Freetown
,
Little Compton
,
Marion
,
Mattapoisett
,
New Bedford
,
Rochester
,
Somerset
,
Swansea
,
Tiverton
,
Wareham
and
Westport
|
---|
|
? Total
| 306,588
|
---|
Largest city (population)
| New Bedford
, (100,941)
|
---|
Largest city (land area)
| Dartmouth
, 97.5 sq mi (252.6 km2)
|
---|
The
South Coast
of
Massachusetts
(sometimes stylized
SouthCoast
) is the region of
southeastern Massachusetts
consisting of the southern
Bristol
and
Plymouth
counties, bordering
Buzzards Bay
, and includes the cities of
Fall River
,
New Bedford
, the southeastern tip of
East Taunton
and nearby towns. The
Rhode Island
towns of
Tiverton
and
Little Compton
, located in
Newport County
, are often included within the South Coast designation due to regional similarities with adjacent communities.
The term is recent, dating to the 1990s, and sometimes confused with the
South Shore
(a region southeast of
Boston
that includes eastern
Norfolk
and Plymouth counties, and does not overlap with the South Coast).
Terminology
[
edit
]
The "South Coast" label was born as a
public relations
effort to counteract the perceived stigma of former terms like "Greater Fall River," "Greater New Bedford," or "New Bedford-Fall River," which conjured images, in many
Massachusetts
residents' minds, of depressed mill towns with run-down buildings and high unemployment. Local boosters, including
The Standard-Times
newspaper, began using the term in the mid-1990s in an effort to attract business to an area with "the
Cape's
climate," "better infrastructure" and "relatively low land prices," according to
Standard-Times
publisher William Kennedy.
[1]
Communities
[
edit
]
There are 14 Massachusetts municipalities that are almost always included in the South Coast (total population: 306,588). Two Rhode Island towns may also be included.
[2]
The
Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management
also includes the towns of
Dighton
,
Seekonk
and
Rehoboth
within its South Coast regional service area; however, these communities are more often associated with the
Providence Metro Area
or
Greater Taunton Area
than the South Coast.
[3]
The entirety of the South Coast resides within the
Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District
.
Geography
[
edit
]
By its most literal definition, the South Coast only includes cities and towns in southern Massachusetts that may not be considered parts of the
Providence Metropolitan Area
, the
South Shore
or
Cape Cod
; it encompasses the geographic area of Massachusetts that borders
Buzzards Bay
(excluding the
Elizabeth Islands
,
Bourne
and
Falmouth
),
Mount Hope Bay
and the
Sakonnet River
.
Little Compton
and
Tiverton
Rhode Island
are often considered parts of the South Coast due to proximity and shared regional heritage; it has been argued that Little Compton and Tiverton share more in common with the regional identities of
Westport
and
Dartmouth
(and to an extent
Fall River
) than the rest of
Newport County
.
[4]
[5]
East Taunton
is sometimes considered the northernmost extent of the South Coast region; however, it does not include the entire city of
Taunton
.
The South Coast region is typically associated with its distinct industrial heritage pertaining to textile, whaling, and fishing industries; the South Coast also has the largest
Portuguese American
population in the United States.
[6]
[7]
Farm Coast
[
edit
]
In recent years, an unofficial sub-region of the South Coast known as the
Farm Coast
has been used to describe the cluster of rural towns that are situated on the northern coast of Buzzards Bay; these towns are considered to be the last coastal farming communities left in
Southern New England
and share a common regional identity and aesthetic. The Farm Coast consists of the towns of
Tiverton
,
Little Compton
,
Westport
and
Dartmouth
.
[8]
[9]
[10]
Education
[
edit
]
Institutions of higher learning located in South Coast communities include:
Transportation
[
edit
]
The major highways through the area are
Interstate 195
(from Providence to
Wareham, Massachusetts
) and
U.S. Route 6
, which is the older route connecting Providence to
Cape Cod
. Highway access to Boston is provided by
Route 24
and
Route 79
, both of which end in Fall River, and
Route 140
which connects New Bedford to Route 24 in
Taunton
. On February 27, 2023,
MassDOT
initiated a project to demolish the southern end of Route 79 in order to facilitate the restoration of Fall River's waterfront.
[11]
Public bus service is provided by the
Southeastern Regional Transit Authority
, the
Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority
and the
Rhode Island Public Transit Authority
.
South Coast Rail
is an ongoing project to build a new southern line of the
MBTA Commuter Rail
system along several abandoned and freight-only rail lines.
[12]
The project will restore passenger rail service between
Boston
and the cities of
Taunton
,
Fall River
, and
New Bedford
, via the towns of
Berkley
and
Freetown
. Passenger service to the South Coast was originally discontinued in 1958; efforts to restore passenger rail service began in the 1980s.
[13]
After decades of false starts, construction began on July 2, 2019, with a projected cost of $1.047 billion.
[14]
Service is expected to begin in mid-2024.
[15]
The city of New Bedford offers passenger ferry services to
Martha's Vineyard
and
Cuttyhunk Island
.
[16]
Sites of interest
[
edit
]
Media
[
edit
]
The term "South Coast" reportedly began with weather forecasts by Todd Gross on
WHDH-TV
in Boston. New Bedford's local
daily newspaper
,
The Standard-Times
, picked it up in the late 1990s, and other media have followed suit, albeit not without some protest by longtime area residents who protested the manufactured name.
[1]
Other newspapers serving the area include
The Herald News
of Fall River; "
The Standard Times
" with an online entertainment subsidiary "southcoasttoday.com" of New Bedford; the
Taunton Daily Gazette
;
The Providence Journal
; and, for regional coverage,
The Boston Globe
and
Boston Herald
. Much of the broadcast media in the area is local to metropolitan
Providence
and
Boston
.
Radio stations include ethnic
WHTB
/1400-Fall River, news/talk/sports
WBSM
/1420-New Bedford, news/talk/sports
WSAR
/1480-Fall River, religious ethnic
WFHL
/88.1-New Bedford,
K-Love
WTKL
/91.1-North Dartmouth, Portuguese-language
WJFD-FM
/97.3-New Bedford, country
WCTK
/98.1-New Bedford, top 40/dance
WFHN
/107.1-Fairhaven, and public radio news
WNPN
/89.3-Newport, RI.
Television stations include ABC affiliate
WLNE-TV
/49 (PSIP 6)-New Bedford and CW affiliate
WLWC
/22 (PSIP 28)-New Bedford.
See also
[
edit
]
- MetroWest
, another region with a recent name
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Jurkowitz, Mark. "Renaming the 'Armpit'".
The Boston Globe
, June 5, 1997.
- ^
"Massachusetts South Coast"
. Southeastern MA Guide
. Retrieved
12 January
2015
.
- ^
"CZM South Coastal Region | Mass.gov"
.
www.mass.gov
. Retrieved
2023-08-13
.
- ^
"Ambrose F. Keeley Library the Information Center of B.M.C. Durfee High School: History of Fall River, Massachusetts and Rhode Island Boundary question" (PDF).
www.sailsinc.org
.
- ^
Graves, Annie (2018-06-18).
"A Hidden Beauty | Exploring the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Farm Coast"
.
New England
. Retrieved
2023-08-09
.
- ^
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth p. 8 Archived April 10, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Ancestry Search ? Genealogy by City".
epodunk.com
. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- ^
"Farmcoast New England"
.
Farmcoast New England
. Retrieved
2023-08-09
.
- ^
"KEEP THE FARM IN FARM COAST"
.
KEEP THE FARM IN FARM COAST
. Retrieved
2023-08-09
.
- ^
"Carter Wilkie on "Keeping the Farm in 'Farm Coast'""
.
Little Compton Historical Society
. 2021-08-14
. Retrieved
2023-08-09
.
- ^
"MassDOT Is Demolishing a Highway to Give Fall River Its Waterfront Back - Streetsblog Massachusetts"
.
mass.streetsblog.org
. 2022-12-21
. Retrieved
2023-06-14
.
- ^
"South Coast Rail | Mass.gov"
.
www.mass.gov
. Retrieved
2023-06-14
.
- ^
Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. p. 330, 333, 334
- ^
Laidler, John (June 16, 2017). "Sharp differences over latest plan for South Coast Rail".
Boston Globe
. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
- ^
Medeiros, Dan (September 29, 2023).
"South Coast Rail passenger service is being delayed. Here's why, explained in 60 seconds"
.
The Herald News
. Archived from
the original
on September 30, 2023.
- ^
"Massachusetts Ferries, Ferry Lines, Ferry Travel, Schedules"
.
www.visit-massachusetts.com
. Retrieved
2023-08-13
.
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Counties
|
- Belknap, NH
- Bristol, MA
- Bristol, RI
- Essex, MA
- Hillsborough, NH
- Kent, RI
- Merrimack, NH
- Middlesex, MA
- Newport, RI
- Norfolk, MA
- Plymouth, MA
- Providence, RI
- Rockingham, NH
- Strafford, NH
- Suffolk, MA
- Washington, RI
- Worcester, MA
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Major cities
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Cities and towns
100k-250k
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Cities and towns
25k-100k
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Cities and towns
10k-25k
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Sub-regions
| |
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See also
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41°38′N
70°55′W
/
41.63°N 70.92°W
/
41.63; -70.92