Mattapan, Massachusetts, was a Native American community in the 1600s known as the Mattahunt Tribe. Irish, Jewish, and Haitian immigrants traveling in New England designated Mattapan as a "good place to sit." Many eventually made their homes here. Today, Mattapan boasts a prominent African American and Caribbean community as well.
Massachusetts is in the New England region of the U.S. It shares borders with the Atlantic Ocean, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. Boston is the capital and the most populous city, with about 7,033,469 residents. It is the seventh-smallest state spanning only 10,555 square miles, 25.7% of which is water.