History of Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Journey back in time to Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

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• 1673 - Worcester is settled
  
  Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
  
  
• 1684 - Worcester is incorporated
  
  Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
  
  
• General Henry Knox and his troops passed through here in the winter of 1775-76 with a load of 59 cannons pulled by teams of oxen.
  The cannons were captured from the British at Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point. They were transported from Lake Champlain to Dorchester Heights, Mass...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1789 - First American Novel
  The first American novel, William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy,
  published in Worcester.
  
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•  1838 - Fire at Worcester.
  A fire broke out in the vicinity of School street, in Worcester, about 1 o'clock on Wednesday morning, which destroyed a large block of dwellings, bri...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1839 - December 28 - The third storm in two weeks hit the northeastern U.S. It brought two more feet of snow to Hartford, CT, and Worcester, MA. Whole gales swept the coast causing many wrecks.
  
  WeatherForYou.com
  
  
• 1840 - Typewriter Invented
  The typewriter was invented by Charles Thurber in Worcester.
  
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  resources/ state-history-timeline/
  massachusetts.html
  
  In ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1845 - A Horrible Death
  We learn from the Worcester (Mass.) Transcript, that Mr. ASA MASON, manufacturer of tacks and brads, while adjusting his machinery, was caught by the ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1845 - WORCESTER. [Pop. 7,497. Inc. 1684.]
  Worcester was called Quinsigamond by the Indians, who joined with Philip against the colonists in the bloody war of 1675.
  
  In 1701, Worceste...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1848 - Worcester is incorporated as a city
  
  Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
  
  
• 1848 - Worcester
  WORCESTER was incorporated in 1684, but in consequence of Indian hostilities the first town meeting was not held till 1722. This part of the country w...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1850 - Women's Rights Convention
  First National Women's Rights Convention held in Worcester
  
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  countrys/ namerica/ usstates/ matimeln.htm
  
  The woman's rig...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1853 - January 21 - Envelope-folding machine patented by Russell Hawes, Worcester, Mass
  
  historyorb.com
  
  
• 1854 - March 17 - 1st park land purchased by a US city, Worcester, Mass
  
  historyorb.com
  
  
• 1854 - Worcester
  Worcester, a city and seat of justice of Worcester county, Massachusetts, is delightfully situated in the centre of one of the richest and most produc...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1855 - CATASTROPHE BY FIRE.
  The Cordasville Manufactory, near Worcester, Massachusetts, was burned on the 1st inst. There were between eighty and one hundred operatives in the Fa...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1855 - October 9 - Joshua Stoddard of Worcester, Mass patents 1st calliope
  
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  James Green & Co., dealers in Drugs, Medicines, Chemicals, Paints, Oils Dye-Stuffs, Perfumery, Spices, Sporting and Blasting Powder, Fishing and Hunting Apparatus, &c.
  
  At the Old Stand opposite Centre School House, Main-st.
  WORCESTER, MASS.
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•  1871 - Mary's Little Lamb
  The Worcester Gazette has become nauseated by the many recent effusions concerning "Mary's Little Lamb," and disposes of the animal in this way:
  
  "M...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1871 - Revolver Maker Leaves Large Fortune
  Ethan Allen, who recently died in Worcester, Mass., at the age of sixty-four, preceded Colt in the manufacture of revolvers. One of his earliest inven...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1872 - A Singular Law Suit.
  The proprietors of the Rural Cemetery at Worcester, Massachusetts, have brought suit against a company engaged in the manufacture of chemicals, about ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1876 - THE MAD WATERS. Giving Way of the Dam at Worcester, Mass. A GRAPHIC SKETCH OF THE SCENE.
  WORCESTER, March 30. - Later advices from the broken dam are of a more assuring character. Large tree trunks, bales of hay and loads of dirt are being...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1884 - Horse Led to Chapel
  Some students in the Industrial institute at Worcester, Massachusetts, recently led a horse up two flights of stairs to the chapel. Twenty-eight membe...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1889 - A NARROW ESCAPE.
  Fred Shaw, the swan boat man, had a narrow escape from drowning at the lake yesterday. He went out after lilies, and, while busily engaged in his work...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• Worcester Massachusetts, 1890
  WORCESTER, the capital of Worcester County, is an enterprising mercantile and manufacturing city 44 miles west-by-southwest of Boston, 43 miles northw...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  1890s C. G. Conn
  Wonder Band Instruments
  Worcester, Mass.
  Elkhart, Ind.
  Advertisement
  
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  Lincoln Square and Court House
  Postcard
  
•  1892 - It is stated that the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company, of Worcester, Massachusetts, is making absolutely perfect diamond dies producing copper wire as fine as two one-thousandths of an inch, by a special process.
  
  Iron
  London, Greater London, England
  February 12, 1892
  
  
• 1895 - Worcester
  Worcester, a city and one of the capitals of Worcester co., Mass., on Blackstone River, in lat. 42° 16' 17" N., lon. 71° 48' 13" W., and on several ra...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1896 - Train Accident
  BODY IDENTIFIED.
  Remains of Man Killed at Southgate Crossing Friday Those of H. Lyons.
  The body of the man who was killed at the Southgate crossing ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Globe Corset Company, Worcester, Mass.
  
  The Ladies' Home Journal
  July 1898
  Advertisement
  
•  1900 - A Millionaire of Worchester, Massachusetts Is Missing.
  New York, May 16. - Chas. A Richardson, a millionaire manufacturer of Worcester, Massachusetts has been missing for five weeks. The police have search...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  The Common
  Postcard
  
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  Lincoln Park at Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester, Mass.
  Postcard
  
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  Central Fire Station
  Postcard
  
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  Front Street, Harrington Corner
  Postcard
  
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  Worcester Old Mill Institute Park
  Postcard
  
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  Free Public Library
  Postcard
  
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  Notre Dame des Canadiens
  Park Street
  Postcard
  
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  Old South Church
  Postcard
  
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  "The Warren"
  Postcard
  
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  Street Scene
  Postcard
  
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  Worcester County Institution For Savings
  Postcard
  
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  J. J. Newberry Co. newly enlarged super store. 10-20 Front Street Worcester, Mass.
  Postcard
  
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  The Sheraton Hotel. Worcester, Mass.
  Postcard
  
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  White City from Bridge. Worcester, Mass.
  Postcard
  
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  Lake Quinsigamond
  Postcard
  
•  1901 - TROLLEY DEAL IN CONNECTICUT: New Haven Road Purchases the Webster and Worcester System.
  NEW HAVEN, Jan. 12 - The New Haven Road has just purchased through the People's Tramway Company of Danielson, Conn., the Webster and Worcester Street...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1902 - A Massachusetts Man's Big Luck - Gate Tender on a Railroad to Get a Large Slice.
  The Times Special Service.
  WORCESTER, Mass., Saturday, June 7. - Family records expected daily from the parish priest at Lanoraie in Quebec are expec...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1904 - Fireworks Explode in Store - Panic-Stricken Women and Children Rescued from Cellar of Burning Building
  Special to The New York Times.
  
  WORCESTER, Mass., July 2. — Accidentally stepping on a bomb-jack, a large torpedo, Albert Childs, a clerk of the Nel...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Elm Park
  Postcard
  
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  Holy Cross College
  Postcard
  
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  Park Theatre, 1905
  Postcard
  
•  1906 - Origin of the U.S. Valentine
  Miss Esther A. Howland of Worcester, Mass., was the first person in this country to manufacture valentines. Before she began in 1840, all these missiv...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1906
  Worcester, a city and one of the capitals of Worcester co., Mass., near the Blackstone River, 44 miles W. by S. of Boston, on the Boston and Albany, t...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  J. W. Bishop Company General Contractors
  Offices
  345 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y.
  683 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Mass.
  417 Butler Exchange, Providence, R. I.
  107-109 Foster Street, Worcester, Mass.
  
  MILLS AT WORCESTER, MASS.
  
  New Bedford ... ... Read MORE...
  
  advertisement
  
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  Howard Bros. Mfg. Co.
  Manufacturers of Card Clothing
  Nos. 44 and 46 Vine Street, Worcester, Mass.
  
  New Bedford ... directory : of the inhabitants, business firms, institutions, streets, societies (1908) Author: W.A. Greenough & Co Volume: 1908... Read MORE...
  
  advertisement
  
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  Aerial Navigation is Thrilling and Interesting
  N. E. Fair, September 5 to 8, 1910
  Four Days - Two Nights
  Captain Baldwin just starting out on one of his daily flights in Worcester, Mass.
  Postcard
  
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  American Antiquarian Society Library
  Highland Street
  Postcard
  
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  City Hall, 1910
  Postcard
  
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  Worcester City Hospital, 1910
  Postcard
  
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  Court Hill and Main Street, 1910
  Postcard
  
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  High School, 1910
  Postcard
  
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  Hospital for the Insane, 1910
  Postcard
  
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  Park Congregational Church
  (First Children's Church Organized in America)
  Postcard
  
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  Pleasant Street from Main Street
  Postcard
  
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  Rostrevor Club, Lake Quinsigamond
  Postcard
  
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  Union Station
  Postcard
  
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  Main Street, looking North, 1912
  Postcard
  
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  Worcester Mass. Main St. North about 1914
  Postcard
  
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  Y.W.C.A., 1914
  Postcard
  
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  Franklin Square Theatre, Worchester, Mass., 1914
  Postcard
  
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  Bancroft Tower
  Postcard
  
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  New Baptist Church
  Postcard
  
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  Bird's-Eye View, 1915
  Postcard
  
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  Old Salisbury Mansion
  Highland Street
  Postcard
  
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  State Mutual Building and Main Street
  Postcard
  
•  GIANT ROCKET SOON READY FOR TEST
  Professor Robert Goddard's Rocket, Which is Expected to Travel 70 Miles in Air, is Ready
  
  WORCHESTER, Mass., - An actual test of Professor Robert Go...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Art Museum
  Postcard
  
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  Court House and Society of Antiquity
  Postcard
  
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  Main Street, South of Post Office
  Postcard
  
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  Crompton & Knowles Loom Works
  Postcard
  
•  1923 - "Wooster Ain't Manchester"
  Diners in a Harrisburg restaurant last evening were treated to a real comedy. A gentleman, presumably from out-of-town, went to the telephone to put i...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Post Office
  Postcard
  
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  Salisbury Laboratory Polytechnic Institute
  Postcard
  
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  Bancroft Hotel
  Postcard
  
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  Worcester Memorial Auditorium and Central Congregational Church
  Postcard
  
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  Soldiers' Monument, City Hall and Common
  Postcard
  
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  Chestnut Street Congregational Church
  Postcard
  
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  Clark University
  Postcard
  
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  Green Hill Park
  Postcard
  
•  1944 - HURRICANE HITS NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND COASTS. HIGH WINDS LASH JERSEY, LONG ISLAND.
  ...Worcester In Center.
  The following advisory was issued by the Boston weather bureau at 10 p.m.:
  
  "Latest reports from the vicinity of the hurric...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Main Street, 1950s
  Postcard
  
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  Hills Balcony Dryer
  The Safe and Easy Way to hang out clothes in flats and apartments. Holds 110 feet of line. Fastens to side of block and swings into fire escape. Reel folds up quickly, and can be taken in to keep line clean. Ask the landlord to... Read MORE...
  
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•  1953 - 80 DEAD AND 700 INJURED IN WORCESTER TORNADO.
  THOUSANDS OF HOMES WRECKED; PROPERTY LOSS IN MILLIONS.
  
  "MINOR" TWISTER HITS FRANKLIN AND WRENTHAM SECTOR; EXETER, N. H. SLAMMED.
  
  Worcester, June...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1954 - Hurricane Carol - HURRICANE ROARS ACROSS LONG ISLAND. FIVE KILLED BY STORM IN NEW ENGLAND.
  ...A businessman was blown to his death by a 70-mile-an-hour gust in Worcester, Mass., from a 10-story downtown building...
  
  The Times Record Troy N...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1954 - The birth control pill was invented in Worcester in 1954
  Researchers at Clark University were influenced by the work of Margaret Sanger, who campaigned for the development of a contraceptive for poor women w...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1962 - October 27 - Worcester MA received a record 4.7 inches of snow.
  
  The Weather Channel
  
  
• 2001 - ACT, based in Worcester, created human embryo clone
  
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