STS085-752-027 Boston Area, Massachusetts August 1997 The Metropolitan Boston area can be seen in this west-looking low-oblique view. The largest city in New England and the state capitol of Massachusetts, Boston is a major financial, medical, commercial, industrial, and cultural center in the northeastern United States. Tourism is also a major industry in the region. Boston has one of the leading ports on the United States east coast and is an important fish and wool market. The city is situated on Massachusetts Bay at the mouths of the Charles and Mystic Rivers.