Timeline of Worcester, Massachusetts

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

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 , 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 Gazetteer 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
• Bay State Bank was incorporated and remains the only Worcester-based bank in the City.
• 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
• of other municipalities in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts: Boston, Cambridge, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Salem, Somerville, Waltham

Images

References

Bibliography

Published in the 18th-19th century

Published in the 20th century

• . See also: v.3 (1902); v.6 (1903); v.14 (1911); v.15 (1912); v.19 (1916)

Published in the 21st century

External links

• Items related to Worcester, Massachusetts, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).
• Map of the city of Worcester, 1889.
• . "236 portraits of people of color–- African Americans and people of Native American descent" in the Beaver Brook neighborhood of Worcester