Market Square - Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA

Santa doesn’t come to Newburyport by sleigh. For more than 30 years, he and Mrs. Claus have arrived by U.S. Coast Guard boat, then paraded through downtown to Market Square to light a giant Christmas tree right here. It happens every year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is November 29 this year.

Arriving by Coast Guard boat makes sense here. In 1791, the revenue cutter Massachusetts was built and launched in Newburyport, and the Coast Guard counts it as the first ship it ever put into service. The city has called itself the birthplace of the Coast Guard ever since.

All that red brick is the result of a disaster. On a windy May night in 1811, the Great Fire flattened downtown. The state then ordered the area rebuilt in brick, which is why the square is lined with matching Federal-style blocks today. The building with the tower started out in 1823 as the town’s market house and later became the fire station. Today it’s an arts center.

Did You Know? Newburyport built so many ships that it picked up the nickname “Clipper City.”

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