Timeline of Worcester, Massachusetts

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 19th century

• 1669 – Common established.
• 1719 – Town meeting house built.
• 1722 - incorporated as a town June 14, 1722.
• 1731 - On April 2, 1731, Worcester was chosen as the county seat of the newly founded Worcester County
• 1733 – Court House built.
• 1763 – Old South Meeting house built (approximate date).
• 1775
  • Post office established.
  • Massachusetts Spy newspaper relocates to Worcester.
• 1776 – July 14, first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Isaiah Thomas.
• 1786 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.
• 1787 – First known printing of the word 'baseball' appears in A Little Pretty Pocket-book, Worcester, MA, by Isaiah Thomas, Rare Book and Special Collections, Library of Congress.
• 1792 – Second Meeting House dedicated.
• 1793 – Associate Library Company active.

19th century

• 1800 – Independent Gazeteer begins publication.
• 1801 – National Aegis newspaper begins publication.
• 1812 – American Antiquarian Society founded.
• 1818 – Worcester Agricultural Society incorporated.
• 1819 – Fraternity of Odd Fellows active.
• 1823 – Massachusetts Yeoman newspaper begins publication.
• 1824 – Town Hall built.
• 1825 – Worcester Lyceum of Natural History founded.
• 1828 – Blackstone Canal opens.
• 1829
  • Worcester County Republican newspaper begins publication.
  • Worcester County Athenaeum and Worcester Lyceum active.
• 1830
  • Worcester County Colonization Society formed.
  • Worcester Social Library active.
  • Population: 4,173.
• 1832 – Worcester Law Library Association active.
• 1833
  • Tolman carriage factory established.
  • Ezra Rice House built.
• 1834
  • St. John's Catholic Church established.
  • Worcester Palladium newspaper begins publication.
  • Worcester Academy established.
• 1835 – Harris' Circulating Library in operation.
• 1838
  • P. Young variety store established.
  • Christian Reflector newspaper begins publication.
  • Rural Cemetery is incorporated.
• 1843 – College of the Holy Cross established.
• 1840
  • Worcester County Horticultural Society formed.
  • Population: 7,497.
• 1844 – Worcester Almanac begins publication.
• 1845
  • Daily Transcript and Worcester County Gazette newspapers begin publication.
  • Classical and English High School opens.
• 1847 – Worcester Telegraph and Worcester Daily Journal newspapers begin publication.
• 1848
  • Worcester (a town) becomes the City of Worcester.
  • Levi Lincoln Jr. becomes mayor.
  • City hosts Whig State Convention.
• 1849 – Oread Institute founded.
• 1850
  • National Women's Rights Convention held in city.
  • Population: 17,049.
• 1851 – Daily Morning Transcript newspaper begins publication.
• 1852 – Worcester Young Men's Christian Association founded.
• 1853
  • Worcester Rhetorical Society incorporated.
  • Emmanuel Baptist church built.
  • Agricultural Fairgrounds in operation (approximate date).
• 1854
  • Hope Cemetery laid out.
  • Mission Chapel built.
• 1856 – Worcester Employment Society and Highland Military School founded.
• 1857
  • Mechanics Hall built.
  • Ladies' Collegiate Institute opens.
• 1858 – Worcester Music Festival begins; Frohsinn Gesang Verein chorus formed.
• 1860 – A.H. Word's Select Circulating Library active.
• 1862 – Free Public Library building constructed on Elm Street.
• 1864 – Dale Hospital opens.
• 1865 – Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science founded.
• 1866 – Worcester County Homoeopathic Medical Society formed.
• 1868 – Chamberlain's Circulating Library in operation.
• 1869 – Elwood Adams hardware store in business.
• 1872 – South End commercial circulating library in operation.
• 1873 – Home for Aged Women opens.
• 1874
  • Worcester Normal School established.
  • Soldiers' Monument dedicated.
  • Cathedral of Saint Paul built.
• 1875
  • Worcester Society of Antiquity formed.
  • Train station built.
• 1876 – Grand Army of the Republic Hall built.
• 1877 – Irvings base ball team active.
• 1879 – Worcester Worcesters base ball team formed (approximate date).
• 1880 – First perfect game in Major League Baseball history pitched by Lee Richmond, pitcher for the Worcester Worcesters.
• 1884
  • Worcester bicentennial.
  • St. Peters Catholic Church built.
• 1885 – Frederick Daniels House built.
• 1886
  • Worcester Daily Telegram newspaper begins publication.
  • Hatters' and Furnishers' Association formed.
• 1887
  • Clark University founded.
  • Becker's Business College formed.
  • Pilgrim Congregational Church built.
  • Horseshoers' Union organized.
• 1888 – St. Mark's Episcopal Church built.
• 1889 – Old South Church built, corner Main and Wellington St.
• 1891 – Lothrop's Opera House opens.
• 1892 – New English High School opens.
• 1894 – St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and South Unitarian Church built.
• 1895 – Union Congregational Church built.
• 1897 – Worcester Art Museum School established.
• 1898
  • Worcester Art Museum building opens.
  • Worcester City Hall built.
• 1899 – Worcester Business Institute established.

20th century

• 1900
  • Population: 118,421.
  • Bancroft School established.
  • Bancroft Tower in Salisbury Park erected.
• 1901 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.
• 1904
  • Assumption College established.
  • Shaarai Torah congregation incorporated.
• 1906
  • Boulevard Park opens.
  • Worcester Lunch Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company founded.
  • Labor News begins publication.
  • Worcester Domestic Science School established.
• 1907 – Slater Building constructed.
• 1910
  • Population: 145,986.
  • April 3: President William Howard Taft visits Mechanics Hall to speak about labor issues to a meeting of Brotherhoods in Train Service
• 1911 – Train station rebuilt.
• 1912
  • Bancroft Hotel built.
  • Burnside Fountain installed.
• 1913 – Greendale Branch Library, Quinsigamond Branch Library and South Worcester Branch Library built.
• 1914
  • Park Building constructed.
  • September – Fashion Week.
• 1921 – Temple Emanuel founded.
• 1923 – Worcester Panthers baseball team active.
• 1924
  • Fitton Field stadium opens.
  • Congregation Beth Israel founded.
• 1927
  • Foley Stadium built.
  • Worcester Airport opens.
• 1931 – Higgins Armory Museum opens.
• 1938 – Worcester Junior College established.
• 1950 – Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester established.
• 1952 – Massachusetts Route 146 highway constructed.
• 1953 – Tornado.
• 1954 – Worcester Area Sports Car Club formed.
• 1955 – Commerce Bank & Trust Company founded.
• 1962 – University of Massachusetts Medical School established.
• 1963
  • Smiley created by Harvey Ross Ball.
  • Quinsigamond Community College founded.
• 1968 – Worcester Consortium of Universities founded.
• 1971
  • Worcester Center Galleria opens.
  • Worcester Science Center and Mechanics Tower built.
• 1974
  • Worcester Regional Transit Authority established.
  • Worcester Plaza built.
• 1975 – Joseph D. Early becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district.
• 1976 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.
• 1980 – New England Summer Nationals automotive festival begins.
• 1982 – Centrum arena opens.
• 1983 – Interstate 190 highway in operation.
• 1986 – Telegram & Gazette newspaper formed.
• 1987
  • Greater Worcester Land Trust founded.
  • United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts division opens.
  • Sister city relationship established with Pushkin, Russia.
• 1988
  • Jordan Levy becomes mayor.
  • Worcester Historical Museum opens on Elm Street.
• 1991 – Sky Mark Tower built.
• 1994
  • Raymond Mariano becomes mayor.
  • Worcester Women's History Project founded.
  • Worcester IceCats hockey team active.
• 1996
  • City website online (approximate date).
  • Worcester Sharks ice hockey team active.
  • Music Worcester Inc. formed.
• 1997 – Jim McGovern becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district.
• 1999 – Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire.

21st century

• 2000
  • Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences campus opens.
  • Union Station renovated.
• 2001 – Worcester Public Library main branch renovated.
• 2002 – Tim Murray becomes mayor.
• 2004 – Worcester IceCats hockey team sold and moves out of Worcester.
• 2005 – Worcester Tornadoes baseball team formed.
• 2007 – Konstantina Lukes becomes mayor.
• 2010 – Joseph C. O'Brien becomes mayor.
• 2011 – Worcester Hydra soccer team founded.
• 2012 –
  • Joseph Petty becomes mayor.
  • Worcester Tornados baseball team's final season.
• 2013 – Higgin's Armory Museum closes.
• 2014 – Worcester Bravehearts baseball team formed.
• 2015 – Worcester Sharks hockey team moves to San Jose.
• 2017 – Worcester Railers hockey team formed.
• 2018 – Massachusetts Pirates indoor football team formed.

See also

• Worcester history
• List of mayors of Worcester, Massachusetts
• Worcester, Massachusetts Firsts
• Media in Worcester, Massachusetts
• Timelines of other municipalities in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts: Boston, Cambridge, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Salem, Somerville, Waltham

Images

• 
  Town Hall, corner Main and Front St., built 1824
• 
  Massachusetts Yeoman newspaper published in Worcester ca.1820s
• 
  Dale Hospital, opened in 1864
• 
  Map of Worcester, 1878
• 
  Lothrop's Opera House, 1891 advertisement
• 
  Worcester, ca.1905
• 
  Group photo 1909 in front of Clark University. Front row: Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, Carl Jung; back row: Abraham A. Brill, Ernest Jones, Sándor Ferenczi
• 
  "President Taft and Governor Draper passing Worcester City Hall, April 3, 1910"
• 
  Worcester Domestic Science School, 1914
• 
  Map of Worcester, 1919
• 
  High-resolution birds-eye-view map of Worcester in 1878

Bibliography

Published in the 18th-19th century

• Peter Whitney (1793), History of the County of Worcester, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts: Isaiah Thomas, OL 6905743M
• Henry J. Howland (1853), Worcester Almanac, Directory, and Business Advertiser, for 1854, Worcester: H.J. Howland, OCLC 785826916, OL 25278704M
• Heart of the Commonwealth, or, Worcester as it is, Worcester, Massachusetts: Henry J. Howland, 1856, OL 14011107M
• Henry J. Howland (1861), Worcester Almanac, Directory, and Business Advertiser, Worcester: H.J. Howland, OCLC 785827805, OL 25278671M
• Henry J. Howland (1865), Worcester Directory, Worcester: H.J. Howland, OCLC 18580655, OL 25285405M
• Claflin; Black (1870), Five hundred past and present citizens of Worcester, Mass, G. R. Peckham, OCLC 1600205, OL 14008064M
• Franklin P. Rice (1884), The Worcester Book: a diary of noteworthy events in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1657 to 1883, Worcester: Putnam, Davis and Co., OCLC 6676339, OL 7202093M
• 1684, 1884: Celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the naming of Worcester, October 14 and 15, 1884, Worcester, Mass: Printed by order of the City Council, 1885, OL 13988362M
• City of Worcester, Massachusetts: its Public Buildings and its Business, 1886, Worcester: Sanford & Davis, 1886, OL 14050449M
• Baynes, T. S.; Smith, W. R., eds. (1888). "Worcester (3.)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
• Franklin Pierce Rice (1893), Dictionary of Worcester and Vicinity, Worcester: F. S. Blanchard & Co., OL 14050717M
• Franklin P. Rice, ed. (1899), Worcester of eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, Worcester, Mass: F. S. Blanchard, OCLC 404208, OL 14048656M

Published in the 20th century

• "Worcester Magazine". 1. Worcester Board of Trade. 1901. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help). See also: v.3 (1902); v.6 (1903); v.14 (1911); v.15 (1912); v.19 (1916)
• "Worcester (Massachusetts)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). 1910. pp. 822–823.
• "Worcester", Handbook of New England, Boston: Porter E. Sargent, 1916, OCLC 16726464
• Charles L. Nichols (1918), Bibliography of Worcester (2nd ed.), Worcester: Priv. print., OL 7058897M
• Worcester Bank & Trust Company (1922), Historic events of Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts, OCLC 2973056, OL 6642342M{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Richards Standard Atlas of the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. L.J. Richards & Co. 1922 – via State Library of Massachusetts.
• R. W. G. Vail, ed. (1936). "Worcester". Bibliotheca Americana. Vol. 29. New York. OCLC 13972268.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Federal Writers' Project (1937), "Worcester", Massachusetts: a Guide to its Places and People, American Guide Series, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, hdl:2027/mdp.39015014440781
• Ory Mazar Nergal, ed. (1980), "Worcester, MA", Encyclopedia of American Cities, New York: E.P. Dutton, OL 4120668M

Published in the 21st century

• "Long a College Town, Worcester Now Looks the Part", New York Times, January 6, 2015

External links

• Items related to Worcester, Massachusetts, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).
• Map of the city of Worcester, 1889.
• Clark University; Worcester Art Museum (2017), Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard, 1897–1917. "236 portraits of people of color–- African Americans and people of Native American descent" in the Beaver Brook neighborhood of Worcester