Leicester, Massachusetts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Settled: 1713 – Incorporated: 1714 | |
| Zip Code(s): 01524, 01542, 01611 – Area Code(s): 508 / 774 | |
| Official website: http://www.ci.leicester.ma.us/ | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
 Location in Massachusetts |
|
| Government | |
| County | Worcester County |
| Form of Government | Open town meeting |
| Town Administrator | Robert Reed |
| Board of Selectmen | Richard Antanavica Douglas A. Belanger Thomas V. Brennan Dianna Provencher Stanley A. Zagorski |
| Geography | |
| Area | |
| Total | 24.7 mi² / 63.9 km² |
| Land | 23.4 mi² / 60.5 km² |
| Water | 1.3 mi² / 3.4 km² |
| Coordinates | |
| Elevation | 1009 ft / 308 m |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| Population | |
| Total (2000) | 10471 |
| Density | 448.3/mi² / 173.1/km² |
Leicester (pronounced [ˈlɛstɚ]) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,471 at the 2000 census.
Contents |
[edit] History
Leicester was first settled in 1713 and was officially incorporated in 1714.
[edit] Interesting facts
- The term "minuteman" has its origins in Leicester. At a Committee on Safety meeting in 1774, Leicester's Colonel William Henshaw declared that "we must have companies of men ready to march upon a minute's notice."
- Col. Henshaw would become an adjutant general to Artemas Ward, who was second in command to George Washington in the Continental Army.
- "Minutemen" is now the nickname of University of Massachusetts athletes.
- The standing militia of Leicester fought in the first battles of the Revolutionary War, at Lexington and Concord, Mass., on April 19, 1775.
- A freed slave named Peter Salem moved to Leicester and fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he killed British Major John Pitcairn. There is currently a road in Leicester called "Peter Salem Rd.", and a street connecting to that road is called "Pitcairn Ave."
- In the 1780's, Leicester's mills churned out one-third of American hand cards, which were tools for straightening fibers before spinning thread and weaving cloth.
- Eli Whitney, the man who invented the cotton gin and devised the idea of interchangeable parts, went to school at Leicester Academy, which has since become part of the Leicester campus of Becker College.
- Ebenezer Adams, who would later be the first mathematics and natural philosophy professor at the Phillips Exeter Academy, was the academic preceptor in Leicester in 1792. [1]
- Charles Adams, United States military officer and foreign minister, was born here. [1].
- Leicester's Pliny Earle helped Samuel Slater build the first American mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, which began the American Industrial Revolution.
- A pastor named Samuel May was an active abolitionist in the 1860's whose house was a stop on the underground railroad. This house has also become a part of the Becker College campus.
- In 2005, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette named Leicester as one of Central Massachusetts' Top Ten sports towns.
- The end of Worcester Regional Airport's longest runway, along with much of the airport's property, is in Leicester. Additionally, most of Worcester's Kettle Brook water reservoir system is in Leicester.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 63.9 km² (24.7 mi²). 60.5 km² (23.4 mi²) of it is land and 3.4 km² (1.3 mi²) of it (5.35%) is water.
Leicester includes three distinct villages -- Leicester Center, Cherry Valley (the east side of town, near Worcester) and Rochdale (a crossroads in the southeast corner, near the Oxford line). Cherry Valley and Rochdale have separate ZIP codes from the rest of the town (01611 and 01542, respectively), but otherwise the village boundaries have no significance.
The town is cut into quarters by two state highways, east-west Route 9 and north-south Route 56. Route 9 is called Main Street through Cherry Valley and most of the rest of town; Route 9 follows a bypass alignment called South Main Street around the Washburn Square area. The town is actively trying to encourage business development along the western end of Route 9. Route 56 north of the Leicester Center crossroads is Paxton Street; south, it's Pleasant Street until it hits a bypass road, Huntoon Memorial Highway, that skirts the edge of Rochdale.
Spencer, now a separate town to the west, was once part of Leicester. Other municipalities bordering Leicester include Paxton along Route 56 to the north, Worcester and Auburn on the east, and Oxford and Charlton on the south.
[edit] Education
Becker College has a campus on Washburn Square in the center of Leicester. The college's main campus is in Worcester; the Leicester campus was formerly known as Leicester Junior College.
Public school students in Leicester attend Leicester Primary School (grades K-2), Leicester Memorial School (grades 3-5), Leicester Middle School (grades 6-8) and Leicester High School (grades 9-12).
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 10,471 people, 3,683 households, and 2,707 families residing in the town. The population density was 173.1/km² (448.3/mi²). There were 3,826 housing units at an average density of 63.2/km² (163.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.29% White, 1.28% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.75% of the population.
There were 3,683 households out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.21.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $55,039, and the median income for a family was $64,202. Males had a median income of $40,991 versus $27,913 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,822. About 3.2% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.3% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
| County government: Worcester County | |
|---|---|
| Clerk of Courts: | Francis A. Ford (D) |
| County Treasurer: | Position Eliminated |
| District Attorney: | John J. Conte (D) |
| Registrar of Deeds: | Anthony J. Vigliotti (D) |
| Registrar of Probate: | Stephen Abraham (D) |
| Sheriff: | Guy W. Glodis (D) |
| State government | |
| Representative(s) in General Court: | John J. Binenda (D) |
| Senator(s) in General Court: | Edward Augustus, Jr. (D) |
| Governor's Councilor(s): | Dennis P. McManus (D) |
| Federal government | |
| Member(s) of the U.S. House of Representatives: | Richard E. Neal (D-2nd District), |
| U.S. Senators: | Edward Kennedy (D) John Kerry (D) |
