Middleborough is a 70-square mile historic industrial
town on the Nemasket River and was a major native settlement area used
for seasonal fishing, hunting, and berry gathering. The town is one of
only a handful of southeastern Massachusetts communities that retained a
sizeable Indian population throughout the Colonial period. The first
European settler was Sir Christopher Gardner, a fugitive from English
justice who settled among the Nemasket Indians in 1633. When he was
captured and returned to England, it was several years before a small
group of white settlers led by Elizabeth Poole established themselves
within the town.
Agriculture, fishing, hunting and some lumbering were the main
occupations of early settlers and as Indian settlements dwindled, the
town's industries grew. There was a good deal of bog iron found in
Middleborough which stimulated the iron and mill industries. A large
self-contained industrial complex was developed by Judge Peter Oliver,
including a blast furnace, forge, slitting mill, blacksmith, finishing
and hammer shops, grist mill and fuel storage, all of which, along with
a country estate, was confiscated when Oliver fled the Revolution as a
loyalist.
Although the iron industry dominated the Federal period, Middleborough
also made shovels, textiles, straw bonnets and woolens. Immigrant
populations of Swedes, Italians, Canadians and Armenians followed the
industrial jobs available. After the Civil War, the town became a rail
center, attracting industrial development, lumbering, box mills, brick
making and the well-known Maxim Motor Company which has been producing
fire trucks since 1914. Town officials have recently approved six
parcels as sites for industrial parks and the town plans to embark on an
aggressive campaign to bring businesses in to offset the major suburban
residential development the town has experienced in recent years.
Visitors to Middleborough now can enjoy the partially restored Oliver
Mills Park on the site of Judge Oliver's industrial complex and follow
the spring herring run which brings thousands of alewives upstream to
spawn. Residents are particularly proud of the historic museums in town
which feature recreations of 19th century homes, historic fire engines,
Nemasket Indian artifacts, toy trains and memorabilia of the famous
midgets General Tom Thumb and his wife, a native of the town.
It is located in southeastern Massachusetts, bordered by Bridgewater and
Halifax on the north; Plympton and Carver on the east; Wareham on the
southeast; Rochester on the south; and Lakeville, Taunton, and Raynham
on the west. Middleborough is 35 miles south of Boston; 22 miles north
of New Bedford; 30 miles east of Providence, Rhode Island; and 205 miles
from New York City.
The above information has been provided by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and
Community Development (DHCD).
Visit
Middleborough's town web site (The town is also referred to as
Middleboro)
