Nahant, Massachusetts

Nahant, MA

The Beautiful Small Town of Nahant, Massachusetts

Nahant is a small town and by small we mean just 1.0 square miles of land area. It is the smallest municipality by area in Massachusetts. It gets its name from Native Americans meaning “the point”. First settled in 1630 and was used by people of Lynn for grazing as it was part of Lynn. A hotel was built in 1802 and a steamboat ran from Nahant to Boston in 1817. It incorporated as a separate town in 1853.

The History of Nahant, MA

The expression “Follow-the-Money” even includes the development of this little community. In the 1870s the wealthy Bostonians in order to evade the general personal property tax took up their legal residence in Nahant, where the tax rates were much lower. Even though this was perfectly legal because valuations were based on demonstrable holdings. The city assessors were far more sophisticated than the small suburbs. In other words, the wealthy were only taxed on their real estate holdings in Nahant and not on their stock certificates, which represented their true wealth.

Nahant more than welcomed these tax-dodgers and provide them with tax havens. Even though this was perfectly legal at the time, it clearly shows these wealthy owners had no moral compass or conscience. Even in today’s world, it continues to be about the “rules”. Corporations and individuals continue to look for ways to reduce their taxes. The sad story is the rich and powerful that determine the “rules”.

One of the key factors with real estate transactions is the tax rate for properties.

View from Nahant towards Lynn & Swampscott