Manchester-by-the-Sea (also known simply as Manchester, its name prior to 1990) is a coastal town on Cape Ann, in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States.

Fishing was the major industry in the town almost from its incorporation in 1645, but in the mid-19th century it began to grow as a popular seaside resort community.

Native Americans inhabited what would become northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas.

In 1700, Manchester selectmen paid three grandchildren of Agawam sachem Masconomet three pounds and nineteen shillings for the rights to the land.

Beginning in 1845, it started to attract summer residents from the Boston area after poet Richard Dana built a house in the town.

Manchester-by-the-Sea is bordered by Beverly and Wenham to the west, Hamilton to the northwest, Essex to the north, and Gloucester to the east.

Route 128 has two exits within town as it passes from Beverly to Gloucester, with a small portion crossing through the corner of Essex.

[26] The Manchester-by-the-Sea Police Department have been subject to controversy, including sexual harassment by sworn officers, with allegations "that officials had permitted a sexually hostile environment, and that Christopher Locke, an officer in the police department, made a secret recording of [a young woman], violating the state's wiretap law.

An internal affairs investigation determined he stole a firearm from the police station and sold it to a pawn shop for $650.

[28] Manchester-by-the-Sea Police Department Sergeant John "Jay" Swallow was sentenced to jail for the vicious beating of his wife and weapons charges.

[30] This beach is quite popular during summer months in particular, because it is easily accessible from Boston by a one-half-mile (800 m) walk from the MBTA train station.