Editing Essex County, Massachusetts (section)

==History==
[[File:The Gerry-Mander Edit.png|thumb|left|246px|Printed in 1812, this political cartoon illustrates the electoral districts drawn by the [[Massachusetts]] legislature to favor the incumbent [[Democratic-Republican]] party candidates of Governor [[Elbridge Gerry]] over the [[Federalists]], from which the term ''[[gerrymandering|gerrymander]]'' is derived. The cartoon depicts the bizarre shape of a district in Essex County as a "Gerry-Mander, A new species of ''Monster'', (...) that (...) belongs to the ''[[Salamander]]'' tribe (...)".]]

The county was created by the General Court of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole [[Massachusetts Bay Colony|plantation]] within this jurisdiction be divided into four [[Shire|sheires]]". Named after the [[Essex|county in England]], Essex then comprised the towns of [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]], [[Lynn, Massachusetts|Lynn]], [[Wenham, Massachusetts|Wenham]], [[Ipswich, Massachusetts|Ipswich]], [[Rowley, Massachusetts|Rowley]], [[Newbury, Massachusetts|Newbury]], [[Gloucester, Massachusetts|Gloucester]] and [[Andover, Massachusetts|Andover]].<ref>Davis, William T. ''Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts'', p. 44. The Boston History Company, 1895.</ref> In 1680, [[Haverhill, Massachusetts|Haverhill]], [[Amesbury, Massachusetts|Amesbury]] and [[Salisbury, Massachusetts|Salisbury]], located north of the [[Merrimack River]], were annexed to Essex County. These communities had been part of Massachusetts' [[Norfolk County, Massachusetts Colony|colonial-era Norfolk County]] (1643–1680). The remaining four towns within "Old" Norfolk County, which included [[Exeter, New Hampshire|Exeter]] and what is now [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire|Portsmouth]], were transferred to the [[Province of New Hampshire]]. The Massachusetts-based settlements were then subdivided over the centuries to produce Essex County's modern composition of cities and towns.

Essex County is where [[Elbridge Gerry]] (who was born and raised in [[Marblehead, Massachusetts|Marblehead]]) created a legislative district in 1812 that gave rise to the word ''[[gerrymandering]]''.

Due to a confluence of floods, hurricanes, and severe winter storms, Essex County has had more disaster declarations than most other U.S. counties, from 1964 to 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/weather-eye/frequency-disaster-declarations/|title=Frequency of Disaster Declarations|website=New America}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/weather-eye-stories-front/essex-county-massachusetts/|title=Essex County, Massachusetts|website=New America}}</ref>