It begins just south of the Kansas River at Sixth Street and continues south until reaching Haskell Indian Nations University.

The street was given its name by members of the New England Emigrant Aid Company, most of whom were from the state of Massachusetts.

[2] In 2014, Mass Street was named the most popular tourist attraction in Kansas by TripAdvisor.

Listed separately under the National Register are the Eldridge Hotel, the Douglas County Courthouse and Watkins National Bank (now Watkins Community Museum).

Other historic businesses and sites of interest along Massachusetts Street are Liberty Hall, the Free State Brewing Company (Kansas' first legal brewery in over 100 years),[4] the Round Corner Pharmacy (which was the longest-running pharmacy in the state until closing in 2009),[5] the House Building (the only downtown building to survive Quantrill's Raid), the Replay Lounge, the Granada (a former theater and popular music venue), South Park (a city park established when Lawrence was founded in 1854), and Liberty Memorial Central Middle School (located in a former high school built in 1923).