New England

Start dates at schools across American range from mid-July to early September.

When Do Kids Go Back to School? It Depends on Where They Live

In some districts, students returned to their classrooms weeks before Labor Day

The out-of-place anhinga, spotted in Maine

Out-of-Place 'Devil Bird' Wows Spectators in Maine, the First Anhinga Ever Seen in the State

Anhingas normally live in South America and along the Gulf of Mexico—but one of these long-necked creatures flew farther north than Portland

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Keeping the Spirit of Maine’s Wild Blueberry Harvest Alive

In the far reaches of New England, an unusual convergence of farmworkers renews an ancient and increasingly threatened agricultural practice

False mermaid-weed is small and only emerges for a short window every spring.

Rare 'Absolutely Tiny' Plant, Not Seen for More Than a Century, Found in Vermont

The last time a botanist recorded a sighting of false mermaid-weed in the state was in 1916

Dividing the estimated length of 240,000 miles of stone wall by the geographic area of the New England heartland yields about six linear miles of stone per square mile of land.

How Stone Walls Became a Signature Landform of New England

Originally built as barriers between fields and farms, the region’s abandoned farmstead walls have since become the binding threads of its cultural fabric

Historian Peter Mancall says New English Canaan is “not very long” and “not very well written,” but holds immense value in what it says about the nation’s founding.

How America's First Banned Book Survived and Became an Anti-Authoritarian Icon

The Puritans outlawed Thomas Morton's "New English Canaan" because it was critical of the society they were building in colonial New England

The dogs receive training that helps enhance their natural swimming abilities and rescue instincts.

Meet the Lifeguard Dogs Watching Over Beachgoers in Maine

Buoy and Beacon are trained to help human lifeguards rescue swimmers at Scarborough Beach State Park

The Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Light is one of ten lighthouses the U.S. government is giving away this year.

The U.S. Is Giving Away Lighthouses for Free

While they are no longer a navigational necessity, the guiding lights have histories worth preserving

Dairy farms like this one run by the Barstow family in Hadley, Massachusetts, make smart use of a substance cows produce in abundance.

How Dairy Farmers Are Turning Manure Into Money

These New Englanders have found a way to help the planet and convert more than 9,000 tons of cow waste annually into electricity

Leola One Feather, of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, observes as Native American artifacts are photographed in Barre, Massachusetts. 

Massachusetts Museum Returns Wounded Knee Artifacts to Sioux Tribes

A ceremony on Saturday marked the conclusion of a long repatriation process

The final facial reconstruction depicting John Barber, 55

Scientists Reconstruct Face of 19th-Century Man Accused of Being a Vampire

He was a victim of tuberculosis—and a target of the vampire panic that swept through New England

T.H. Matteson, Examination of a Witch, 1853

A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials

One town's strange journey from paranoia to pardon

A green crab, Carcinus maenas

New Hampshire Distillery Makes Whiskey Out of Invasive Crabs

Each bottle uses about one pound of green crabs

An 1865 stereograph image of the so-called Sparrow-Hawk, taken just two years after the shipwreck was discovered on a Cape Cod beach

Is This New England's Oldest Known English Shipwreck?

New research suggests the vessel is the mysterious "Sparrow-Hawk"

The anchor of Industry, a whaling ship that sank in 1836 in the Gulf of Mexico 

A Shipwreck, a Robot and an Archival Treasure Hunt Reveal the Diverse History of the Whaling Industry

Free Black Americans and Native Americans once worked on the "Industry," a whaling ship whose wreck was recently identified in the Gulf of Mexico

The simple coin design was quickly replaced, leaving only 40 or so surviving specimens today.

Found in a Candy Tin: One of the First Coins Struck in Colonial North America

Illegally minted in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the 1652 silver shilling recently sold at auction for $351,912

Samples gathered at Wells Beach, shown here, revealed that the mysterious brown substance was made up of millions of bug carcasses.

Millions of Microscopic Fly Carcasses Left Dark Stains on People's Feet at New England Beaches

The unusual event affected a 70-mile stretch of beaches from Massachusetts to Maine

A portrayal of Henry Every, a pirate who may have possessed the newly discovered coin.

17th-Century Coins Found in a Fruit Grove May Solve a 300-Year-Old Pirate Mystery

Amateur historian Jim Bailey was mystified by the Arabic writing on the discovered loot

Borden was acquitted of her father and stepmother's murders, but she remained under suspicion for the rest of her life.

The House Where Lizzie Borden's Family Was Murdered Is Up for Sale

You can now take a virtual tour of the Massachusetts property, which most recently served as a bed and breakfast

The basking shark's scientific name, Cetorhinus maximus, approximately translates to "big-nosed marine monster."

Twenty-Six-Foot-Long Basking Shark Washes Up on Maine Beach

Though often mistaken for great whites, these sea creatures are filter feeders and gentle giants of the sea

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