Worcester : Home

• The first European settlement in the area was named Quinsigamond. This community was destroyed in 1675 during a conflict between European settlers and Native Americans known as King Philip's War.

• Settlers returned in 1684 and named the community "Worcester" after the county town, Worcester, in the West Midlands of England. This settlement was also abandoned in 1702.

• The third and permanent settlement dates from 1713.  Worcester was incorporated a town in 1722 and as a city 1848. 

Worcester, Massachusetts

Link to the Worcester, MA Welcome Page for all the facts and figures on Worcester including :E-Services, City Government, Living and Working, Doing Business, Meetings and events, Health and Safety, seasonal information and much more.

Abby Kelley Foster

• American abolitionist, radical social reformer Foster was an active fundraiser for social justice causes, lecturer and committee organizer for the American Anti-Slavery Society
• She and her husband, Stephen Symonds Foster, used their former home "Liberty Farm" as a shelter on the Underground Railroad, and famously refused to pay taxes on the property because Abby was unable to vote. Today, it's a designated a National Historic Landmark. 

• Isaiah Thomas delivered the first public reading in Massachusetts of the Declaration of Independence in Worcester July, 1776. 
• The Coes Knife Company of Worcester developed and marketed the first monkey wrench in 1840.
• Worcester resident Charles Thurber patented the first modern-day typewriter in 1843.
• The first national convention of women advocating women's suffrage was held in Worcester on October 23 and 24, 1850.
• Elm Park became one of the first public parks in the country in 1854.
• Abolitionist and women’s rights activist Abby Kelley Foster lived in the city's Tatnuck neighborhood. 
•  Resident Joshua Stoddard invented the steam calliope in 1855.
• J. Lee Richmond of the Worcester pitched the first perfect game in major league baseball history on June 12, 1880.
• Worcester resident Henry Perky became the first to mass produce shredded wheat in 1895.
• African American champion bicyclist and "Worcester Whirlwind" Major Taylor lived here for much of his career. 
• Albert A. Michelson, chairman of Clark Univeristy Phiysics Department, named America's first Nobel Prize Winner in 1902.
• Dr. Rober H. Goddard of Clark University patented the first liquid fuel rocket in 1914.
• Worcester resident Harvey Ball designed the world-famous Smiley face in 1963.