Massachusetts State...
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Massachusetts Counties
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Worcester County, Massachusetts
Worcester County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat:
Year Organized: 1731
Square Miles: 1,513 |
Court House: , MA
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
For its county seat of Worcester, which is named in honor of the English town of Worcester and the
English Civil War Battle of Worcester in 1651, a Parliamentarian victory
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick
Facts
History
Worcester County was established on April 2, 1731, Worcester was chosen as its shire town (later known as a
county seat). From that date until the dissolution of the county government, it was the only county seat. Because of
the size of the county, there were fifteen attempts over 140 years to split the county into two counties, but
without success. Initially, Lancaster was proposed as the seat of the northern county; later, Petersham was proposed
once and Fitchburg was proposed repeatedly, most recently in 1903. Perhaps as a concession, in August 1884, the
Worcester County Registry of Deeds was split into two, with the Worcester Northern registry placed in Fitchburg.
Worcester County exists today only as a historical geographic region. It has had no county government since July 1,
1998, when all former county functions were assumed by other governmental agencies
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,579 square miles (4,090 kmē), of which,
1,513 square miles (3,919 kmē) of it is land and 66 square miles (171 kmē) of it (4.18%) is water. The county
constitutes Central Massachusetts, separating Western Massachusetts on one side from Eastern Massachusetts and the
Greater Boston area on the other side. It stretches from the northern to the southern border of the state. The
geographic center of Massachusetts is in Rutland.
Neighboring Counties:
- Northeast: Hillsborough County, N.H.; Middlesex County
- Southeast: Norfolk County; Providence County, R.I.
- South: Windham County, Conn.
- Southwest: Tolland County, Conn.; Hampden County
- West: Hampshire County
- Northwest: Franklin County; Cheshire County, N.H.
Cities and Towns:
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- Ashburnham |
town |
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- Athol |
town |
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- Auburn |
town |
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- Barre |
town |
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- Berlin |
town |
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- Blackstone |
town |
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- Bolton |
town |
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- Boylston |
town |
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- Brookfield |
town |
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- Charlton |
town |
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- Clinton |
town |
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- Douglas |
town |
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- Dudley |
town |
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- East Brookfield |
town |
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- Fitchburg |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Gardner |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Grafton |
town |
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- Hardwick |
town |
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- Harvard |
town |
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- Holden |
town |
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- Hopedale |
town |
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- Hubbardston |
town |
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- Lancaster |
town |
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- Leicester |
town |
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- Leominster |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Lunenburg |
town |
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- Mendon |
town |
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- Milford |
town |
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- Millbury |
town |
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- Millville |
town |
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- New Braintree |
town |
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- New Salem |
town |
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- North Brookfield |
town |
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- Northborough |
town |
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- Northbridge |
town |
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- Oakham |
town |
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- Oxford |
town |
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- Paxton |
town |
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- Petersham |
town |
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- Phillipston |
town |
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- Princeton |
town |
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- Royalston |
town |
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- Rutland |
town |
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- Shrewsbury |
town |
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- Southborough |
town |
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- Southbridge |
town |
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- Spencer |
town |
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- Sterling |
town |
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- Sturbridge |
town |
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- Sutton |
town |
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- Templeton |
town |
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- Upton |
town |
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- Uxbridge |
town |
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- Warren |
town |
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- Webster |
town |
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- West Boylston |
town |
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- West Brookfield |
town |
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- Westborough |
town |
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- Westminster |
town |
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- Winchendon |
town |
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- Worcester |
city |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally,
act locally." |
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Penn Foster High School
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