History of Princeton, Massachusetts, USA

Princeton, Massachusetts
Worcester county. This town, the Indian Wachusett, is pleasantly situated at the base of the mountain of that name, 45 miles W. by N. from Boston and 16 N. by W. from Worcester. Incorporated, 1758. Population, 1837, 1,267. This is a township of good land, and produces considerable quantities of beef, butter, cheese, &c. It is watered by a branch of the Nashua, and has some manufactures. Wachusett is 2,990 feet in height; it is the highest land in the county, and presents a landscape exceedingly variegated and beautiful. It is a place much frequented in the summer months.

The manufactures of the town consist of shoes, leather, palm-leaf hats, chairs, and cabinet ware: annual amount, about $50,000.

Princeton was made up of some land belonging to the State and of a portion of Rutland. It was named in honor of the Rev. Thomas Prince of Bolton, who left a valuable but unfinished Chronology of New England.

This town is on the high lands that separate the waters of the Merrimack and the Connecticut, and it sends streams into both of them.

Wachusett Mountain, the highest land in the county, is in Princeton, and the town itself was once called Wachusett.

Agriculture is the main occupation, but large quantities of shoes and palm-leaf hats are made.

Distance from Worcester, 15 miles ; from Boston, 45.

This township was partly taken from Rutland, and partly made up of some lands in the neighborhood which belonged to the state. It was incorporated in 1771, and named Princeton, in honor of Rev. Thomas Prince, pastor of the Old South church in Boston, and a large proprietor of this tract of land.

At the time of its incorporation there were about 20 families in the place. The inhabitants erected a meeting house in 1762, and in 1764 the church was embodied; and alter a number of unsuccessful attempts to settle a minister, Rev. Timothy Fuller was ordained, in 1767. He was dismissed in 1776, and the church was destitute of a pastor till 1786, when Rev. Thomas Crafts was ordained. Inconsequence of ill health, he was dismissed in 1791. Rev. Joseph Russell, the next pastor, was ordained 1796, ana was succeeded by Rev. James Murdock, D. D.. in 1802. Rev. Samuel Clarke succeeded Dr. Murdock in 1817. Rev. Aloazo Phillips was ordained the pastor of the second church in 1820, and was succeeded...

Princeton, a post-township in Worcester co., Massachusetts, 45 miles W. by N. from Boston. Population, 1318.

Princeton is an agricultural town of high altitude in the northerly part of Worcester County, 60 miles west of Boston. The post-offices are Princeton (centre), East Princeton, Mount Wachusett, Princeton Depot and Brooks Station, — which are also villages, the two last being stations on the Gardner and Worcester Division of the Fitchburg Railroad, which passes through the western part of the town. The other villages are Everettville and Slab City.

The boundaries are Hubbardston and Westminster on the north-west; the latter, Leominster and Sterling on the northeast; the last and Holden on the southeast, and Rutland on the southwest. The assessed land is 21,756 acres; the area of forest being upwards of 6,500 acres. The grand and prominent feature of the town is Wachusett Mountain, which occupies a large space at the northern angle, rising to the height of 2,018 feet above sea-level. The ascent is through a growth of timber which diminishes in size toward the summit. On the top of the ...