2014 Scenic Byway Racks Available

Hot off the press. The colorful rack cards are a great way to promote the North Shore's "Main Street." Contact Essex Heritage to get a stack!

Scenic Byway Video

Get your motor running by checking out this video featuring images of the byway experience.

Danger in the Reeds

Please help spread the word about Danger in the Reeds, a video series about a major threat to the region's ecological dynamo - The Great Marsh.

Planning is underway for the 13th annual Trails & Sails taking place September 19-21 & 26-28, and now is the time to get involved as an event host! 

Site host outreach for Trails & Sails events has begun -- and the website to submit events will officially open for business later this April. Essex Heritage seeks all kinds of experiences and invites any heritage organization or business to consider offering a unique, free event that provides residents and visitors a chance to experience your special place. Hosting a Trails & Sails event is a great way to build public awareness for your site, cause, mission and organization, and further enhance your visibility on the North Shore! Email Emily to get involved or for more information. All prior-year hosts will be emailed soon.

Trails & Sails 2014 is generously sponsored by:

August 4 - 8, 2014  

Calling all teachers! This summer, our Park for Every Classroom (PEC) workshop comes to Saugus Iron Works! PEC, a collaborative project with the National Park Service at Salem Maritime and Saugus Iron Works National Historic Sites, is a free professional development program for K-12 educators of all disciplines based on the educational approach of Place-Based Service Learning.

Working with experts from the National Park Service, Essex Heritage, Salem State University, Massachusetts Archeology Education Consortium, Groundwork Lawrence, Saugus River Watershed Council and other exemplary teachers from the field, teachers will learn how to use schoolyards, communities, public lands and other special places as resources to engage students in place-based, service-learning projects that promote stewardship. Learn more and register.

On April 5, Essex Heritage participated in the Lawrence History Center's well attended symposium on "new immigration."  Presentations helped participants to make connections between the complex history of immigration in the region and contemporary realities in Lawrence and other cities in the area, while scholars gave research-based insight into these issues and panelists highlighted the voices of Lawrence's immigrants themselves. Essex Heritage Education Coordinator Beth Beringer and NPS Education Specialist Maryann Zujewski, shared lessons learned from the Caribbean Connections program, a project that involved English Language Learning Middle Schoolers discovering ties between Salem and the Caribbean.

Calling All Artists! Do you want to spread the word about the beauty of Essex County? How about a national outlet to sell your artwork? A new creative endeavor modeled after the New Deal arts program, See America, provides an opportunity for artists to create works of art inspired by America's National Parks. As an important part of the National Park Service family, this includes National Heritage Areas like us! Spread the word to artists throughout the region or create your own poster to help represent the Essex National Heritage Area in a See America poster. Be sure to let us know if you submit a poster! Visit seeamericaproject.com to learn more.

Andover