Concord, Massachusetts

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Concord, Massachusetts
The Old Manse, home to Ralph Waldo Emerson and later Nathaniel Hawthorne.
The Old Manse, home to Ralph Waldo Emerson and later Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Official seal of Concord, Massachusetts
Seal
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°27′37″N 71°20′58″W / 42.46028, -71.34944
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Middlesex
Settled 1635
Incorporated 1635
Government
 - Type Open town meeting
Area
 - Total 25.9 sq mi (67.4 km²)
 - Land 24.9 sq mi (64.5 km²)
 - Water 1.0 sq mi (2.5 km²)
Elevation 141 ft (43 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 16,993
 - Density 682.0/sq mi (263.3/km²)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 01742
Area code(s) 351 / 978
FIPS code 25-15060
GNIS feature ID 0619398
Website: www.concordnet.org

Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2000 Census, the town population was about 17,000. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.

Contents

[edit] History

The area which became the Town of Concord was originally known as "Musketaquid", situated at the confluence of the Sudbury and Assabet rivers.[1] Native Americans had cultivated corn crops there; the rivers were rich with fish and the land was lush and arable.[2] However, the area was largely depopulated by the smallpox plague that swept across the Americas after the arrival of Europeans.[3] In 1635, a group of British settlers led by Rev. Peter Bulkley and Simon Willard negotiated a land purchase with the remnants of the local tribe; that six-square-mile purchase formed the basis of the new town, which was called "Concord" in appreciation of the peaceful acquisition.[1]

The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the initial conflict in the American Revolutionary War. On April 19th, 1775, a force of British Army regulars marched from Boston to Concord (after an early-morning skirmish at Lexington) to capture a cache of arms that was reportedly stored in the town. Forewarned of the British troop movements, colonists from Concord and surrounding towns repulsed a British detachment at the Old North Bridge and forced the British troops to retreat.[4] The battle was initially publicized by the colonists as an example of British brutality and aggression: one colonial broadside decried the "Bloody Butchery of the British Troops".[5] A century later, however, the conflict was remembered proudly by Americans, taking on a patriotic, almost mythical status in works like the Concord Hymn and Paul Revere's Ride.[6] In April 1975, the town hosted a bicentennial celebration of the battle, featuring an address at the Old North Bridge by President Gerald Ford.[7]

Concord has a remarkably rich literary history centered in the mid-nineteenth century around Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), who moved to the town in 1835 and quickly became its most prominent citizen.[8] Emerson, a successful lecturer and philosopher, had deep roots in the town: his father Rev. William Emerson (1769–1811) grew up in Concord before becoming an eminent Boston minister, and his grandfather, William Emerson Sr., witnessed the battle at the North Bridge from his house, and later became a chaplain in the Continental Army..[9] Emerson was at the center of a group of like-minded Transcendentalists living in Concord.[10] Among them were the author Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) and the philosopher Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), the father of Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). A native Concordian, Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), was another notable member of Emerson's circle. This substantial collection of literary talent in one small town led Henry James to dub Concord "the biggest little place in America."[11]

Among the products of this intellectually stimulating environment were Emerson's many essays, including Self-Reliance (1841), Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women (1868), and Hawthorne's story collection Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).[12] Thoreau famously lived in a small cabin near Walden Pond, where he wrote Walden (1854).[13] After being imprisoned in the Concord jail for refusing to pay taxes in political protest, Thoreau penned the influential essay "Resistance to Civil Government", popularly known as Civil Disobedience (1849).[14]

The Wayside house, located on Lexington Road, has been home to a number of authors.[15] It was occupied by scientist John Winthrop (1714–1779) when Harvard College was temporarily moved to Concord during the Revolutionary War.[16] The Wayside was later the home of the Alcott family (who referred to it as "Hillside"); the Alcotts sold it to Hawthorne in 1852, and the family moved into the adjacent Orchard House in 1858. Hawthorne dubbed the house "The Wayside" and lived there until his death. The house was purchased in 1883 by Boston publisher Daniel Lothrop and his wife, Harriett, who wrote the Five Little Peppers series and other children's books under the pen name Margaret Sidney.[17] Today, The Wayside and the Orchard House are both museums. Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts are buried on Authors' Ridge in Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.[18]

Ephraim Bull developed the now-ubiquitous Concord grape at his home on Lexington Road, where the original vine still grows.[19] Welch's, the first company to sell grape juice, maintains a small headquarters in Concord.[20]

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 25.9 square miles (67.1 km²), of which, 24.9 square miles (64.5 km²) of it is land and 1.0 square miles (2.5 km²) of it (3.75%) is water.

Nearest Cities

Massachusetts state routes 2, 2A, 62, 126, 119, and 111 pass through Concord.

Concord borders the following towns: Carlisle, Bedford, Lincoln, Sudbury, Maynard, Wayland and Acton.

[edit] Demographics

The Wayside, home in turn to Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Sidney.
The Wayside, home in turn to Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Sidney.
Main Street from Monument Square, Concord, MA.
Main Street from Monument Square, Concord, MA.

As of the census[21] of 2000, there were 16,993 people, 5,948 households, and 4,437 families residing in the town. The population density was 682.0 people per square mile (263.3/km²). There were 6,153 housing units at an average density of 246.9/sq mi (95.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 91.64% White, 2.24% African American, 0.09% Native American, 2.90% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.12% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.80% of the population.

There were 13,090 households out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $115,897, and the median income for a family was $135,839. Males had a median income of $92,374 versus $67,739 for females. The per capita income for the town was $51,477. About 2.1% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Pronunciation

The town's name is correctly pronounced "kŏng'kərd", in a manner indistinguishable from the American pronunciation of the word "conquered."[22]

[edit] Sister cities

[edit] Points of interest

[edit] Education

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Notable residents and natives

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Concord". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  2. ^ "Peter Bulkeley: Settlement in Concord". New England Historic Genealogical Society. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  3. ^ Shattuck, Lemuel (1835). "History of the Town of Concord, Mass". RootsWeb. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  4. ^ "Today In History: April 19th". The Library of Congress. Retrieved on April 3, 2007.
  5. ^ Randolph, Ryan. "Paul Revere and the Minutemen of the American Revolution". The Rosen Publishing Group via Google Books. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  6. ^ Gioia, Dana. "On "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow". Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  7. ^ "Featured Resource: Photograph Collection 374". The State Library of Massachusetts. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  8. ^ "Emerson in Concord". Concord Public Library - Special Collections. Retrieved on April 18, 2007.
  9. ^ "Emerson's Concord Heritage". Concord Public Library - Special Collections. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  10. ^ "Henry David Thoreau". Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  11. ^ Kehe, Marjorie. "Scenes from an American Eden". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved on March 06, 2007.
  12. ^ Perry, Bliss. "The American Spirit in Literature: The Transcendentalists". Authorama.com (public domain). Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  13. ^ "Thoreau's Walden, Present at the Creation". National Public Radio. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  14. ^ McElroy, Wendy. "Henry David Thoreau and 'Civil Disobedience'". The Future of Freedom Foundation. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  15. ^ "The Wayside". National Park Service. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  16. ^ "The Wayside: History". National Park Service. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  17. ^ "The Wayside Authors". National Park Service. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  18. ^ Lipman, Lisa. "Writers rest in Sleepy Hollow". The Globe & Mail. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  19. ^ "The Concord Grape". National Grape Cooperative. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  20. ^ "All About Welch's: General Company Information". Welchs.com. Retrieved on April 3, 2007.
  21. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  22. ^ "Concord". The American Heritage Dictionary. Retrieved on April 10, 2007.
  23. ^ United States Olympic Committee - Baker, Laurie. USOC.org. Retrieved on August 13, 2007.
  24. ^ Holloway, Diane. "Steve Carell's a Virgin, 42 and the worst boss ever". Austin360.com. Retrieved on August 3, 2007.
  25. ^ "Garnett". Boston Herald. Retrieved on October 22, 2007.
  26. ^ "Hal Gill". ESPN.com. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
  27. ^ "Tom Glavine". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved on August 2, 2007.
  28. ^ Lamb, Brian. "Booknotes: No Ordinary Time". CSPAN.com. Retrieved on April 3, 2007.
  29. ^ "Gregory Maguire". HoughtonMifflinBooks.com. Retrieved on August 13, 2007.
  30. ^ Kifner, John. "He Said He Had a Pistol; Then He Flashed a Knife". New York Times. Retrieved on April 3, 2007.
  31. ^ English, Bella. "She's home, for the long run". Boston Globe. Retrieved on June 25, 2007.
  32. ^ "SONICS: Presti Named Sonics General Manger". NBA.com. Retrieved on December 24, 2007.
  33. ^ "Providence College: 2007 Honorary Degree Citations". Providence.edu. Retrieved on August 30, 2007.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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