M is for Mayflower: A Massachusetts Alphabet

M is for Mayflower: A Massachusetts Alphabet — page 3
The Algonquian language spoken by the Massachuset tribe of Native Americans gave our state its name which means large hill place The name refers to Great Blue Hill the tallest rising 635 feet of the 22 hill Blue Hills chain found near Boston Residents of Massachusetts were also officially designated Bay Staters on December 18 1990 This name comes from the Pilgrims first settlement on Cape Cod Bay Massachusetts is a small state the 45th largest in the United States but it has a widely varied topography Its land ranges from rocky beaches along its coast to fertile valleys and rivers in its central sections to the Berkshire Hills mountain range in the western half of the state Mt Greylock in the Berkshires rises 3 491 feet making it the state's highest spot