Rockport

Town in Essex County, northeast Massachusetts, 48 km/30 mi northeast of Boston; population (2000 est) 5,600. As a popular summer resort, its population can rise to 20,000 in the tourist season. Rockport is located at the tip of Cape Ann on the North Shore, and has a fishing village, artists' colony, and various tourist attractions. It was incorporated in 1840.

Bearskin Neck contains a number of restored fishermen's cottages; at its end is ‘Motif No 1’, a fishing shanty that, with its backdrop, has attracted countless painters and photographers. There are nine entries on the national register of historic places, and the Sandy Bay Historical Society and Museum includes the ‘Old Castle’, a house dating from 1715. The Thatcher Island National Wildlife Refuge is nearby.