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Journey back in time to Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

Visit Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA. Discover its history. Learn about the people who lived there through stories, old newspaper articles, pictures, postcards and ancestry.

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Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA - Scotland Church  First organized as the Trinitarian Congregational Church of Bridgewater on October 21, 1821 in the Scotland section of Bridgewater,

Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Bridgewater was first settled in 1650 as a part of Duxbury and was one of the first interior towns of Massachusetts. The town of Bridgewater was incorporated in 1656.
citytowninfo.com

Bridgewater includes: Paper Mill Village (Pratt Town), Prattsville, Scotland, Stanley, State Farm, Titicut, Dublin, Eastville, Flagg Street, Iron Works, and Japan.



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There is MUCH more to discover about Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA. Read on!

Bridgewater Nostalgia: Vintage Photos, Ads, and Postcards

Scotland Church

First organized as the Trinitarian Congregational Church of Bridgewater on Octobe
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Scotland Church

First organized as the Trinitarian Congregational Church of Bridgewater on October 21, 1821 in the Scotland section of Bridgewater, the congregation moved in 1836 to the center of Bridgewater where it used the Bridgewater Academy (demolished) for several months until a meetinghouse could be constructed on the site of the current church... archipedianewengland.org
Bridgewater Academy

Bridgewater Academy building, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Built 1868. Renovat
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Bridgewater Academy

Bridgewater Academy building, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Built 1868. Renovated in 2016 to become the Bridgewater Town Hall.
Residence of S. P. Gates
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Residence of S. P. Gates
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The Bridgewater Inn, Bridgewater, Mass.

The Bridgewater Inn was known for its fine food, lodging
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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The Bridgewater Inn, Bridgewater, Mass.

The Bridgewater Inn was known for its fine food, lodging and spring-mounted dance area on the second floor. The Inn was town down in the 1930s. vc.bridgew.edu
The Common. Central Square.
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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The Common. Central Square.
Albert Gardner Boyden Gymnasium (dedicated on June 24, 1905) and Unitarian Church, Bridgewater, Mass
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Albert Gardner Boyden Gymnasium (dedicated on June 24, 1905) and Unitarian Church, Bridgewater, Mass.
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Railway Station, 1907
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Railway Station, 1907
Broad Street, 1908
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Broad Street, 1908
Catholic Church, 1908
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Catholic Church, 1908
South Side of Common, 1909
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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South Side of Common, 1909
The Library
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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The Library
Mc Elwain School, 1929

The William H. McElwain School is a historic school building at 250 Main S
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Mc Elwain School, 1929

The William H. McElwain School is a historic school building at 250 Main Street in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The two story brick Classical Revival building was built in 1912 to a design by the architectural firm of Loring & Phipps. The school was named for William H. McElwain (1867-1908), the founder of the William H. McElwain Shoe Company, a shoe manufacturer who was one of the major employers in Bridgewater at the turn of the 20th century... The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. wikipedia
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Trinity Episcopal Church
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Trinity Episcopal Church
Carver's Pond. The Boat House, 1917
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Carver's Pond. The Boat House, 1917
The L. Q. White Shoe Factory, Bridgewater, Mass.
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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The L. Q. White Shoe Factory, Bridgewater, Mass.

"... The largest shoe company ever to operate in Bridgewater was L.Q. White, starting in 1909. The company produced large orders of army shoes for foreign countries such as Belgium and Russia. Production during World War I may have exceeded 24,000 shoes per day. During the 1920s, L.Q. White employed more than 5,000 employees and produced 450 dozen pair of shoes a day in the main plant on Spring Street and the former McElwain plant on Perkins Avenue.

The plant was closed in 1933 due to labor problems..."

Bridgewater
by David R. Moore
Arcadia Publishing, Oct 15, 2003
Tinkham's Corner
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

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Tinkham's Corner
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Discover Bridgewater: History, News, Travel, and Stories

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1839 - Bridgewater
Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Plymouth county. This township was formerly very large. It is now divided into four distinct towns. Not content with attaching the cardinal points of the compass to the names of three divisions of this ancient and respectable town, this remnant of the old territory is often improperly called South Bridgewater. The Indian name of this township was Nunketest. Bridgewater contains some very good land, and is well watered by branches of Taunton river. It lies 27 miles S. by E. from Boston, 20 S.S.W. from Plymouth, and 17 S. from Weymouth landing. Population, 1830, 1,855; 1837, 2,092. This town was first settled in 1651, and incorporated in 1656. The settlements were nearly all destroyed by the Indians in 1676. Manufacturing operations commenced here at an early period. Hugh Orr, an eminent Scotchman, carried on the manufacture of cannon and small arms during the revolutionary war. The present manufactures consist of boots, shoes, hats, paper, anchors, bar iron... Read MORE...

1845 - BRIDGEWATER. Pop. 2,131. Inc. 1656.
The Indian name was Saughtucket, and the Ancient Town, which included North, East, and West Bridgewater, was purchased by Captain Miles Standish of Massasoit, and for several years formed a part of Duxbury. It was called Bridgewater, after the English Duke of that name.

To show how much towns cost in that day, it may be stated that the Four Bridgewaters cost 7 coats, 9 hatchets, 8 hoes, 20 knives, 4 moose skins, and 10 and a half yards of cotton.

This town, before the separation, was called South Bridgewater. Its soil is good, and well watered by Taunton River.

Its chief manufactures are boots and shoes, machinery, nails, anchors, &c.

One of the State Normal Schools is established here. Distance from Plymouth, 20 miles; from Boston, 27.
An Elementary Geography for Massachusetts Children by William Bentley Fowle and Asa Fitz, 1845
Get it HERE!
1859
BRIDGEWATER, a township of Plymouth co., in the state of Massachusetts, 25 m. SE of Boston. It is watered by branches of Taunton river, is tolerably fertile, and possesses considerable manufactories. Pop. 2,131.
A Gazetteer of the World: Or, Dictionary of Geographical Knowledge, Publisher A. Fullarton, 1859
1879 - The oldest ex-representative of congress living is Mr. Austin Hale, of Bridgewater, Mass., who is ninety-six years old.

genealogybank.com
Kalamazoo Gazette
Kalamazoo, Michigan
June 3, 1879
Bridgewater Massachusetts, 1890
Bridgewater is a fine old town in the western part of Plymouth County, 28 miles south of Boston by the Old Colony Railroad, whose stations within it are Bridgewater Iron Works and, half a mile south of this, Bridgewater (Centre), and in the southern part of the town, State Farm. The post; offices are Bridgewater, Scotland and State Farm; the villages being these (except the last), and Paper Mill Village, in the eastern part of the town. The general form of the township is oval; having an assessed area of 16,055 acres, including 5,000 acres of woodland. The surface is for the most part undulating, having a fine eminence at the north called Sprague's Hill, 192 feet in height. In the western part of the town is the handsome Lake Nippenicket, covering 388 acres, and embracing several pretty islands. Robbin's Pond, three miles northeast of the centre, is also an attractive resort for fishing.

Town and Matfield rivers, entering Bridgewater on the north side, unite in the eastern part;... Read MORE...

1895 - Bridgewater
Bridgewater, a post-village of Plymouth co., Mass, in Bridgewater township, and on the Old Colony Railroad, # miles S. of Boston, and 32 miles N. by E. from Fall River, near the junction of the Abington & Bridgewater Railroad. It contains the Bridgewater State Normal School, and the Bridgewater Academy; also a savings-bank, and a manufactory of cotton-gins. One weekly newspaper is published here. The Taunton River forms the S.E. boundary of the township. It has 7 churches, and manufactures of cotton, iron, paper, augers, &c. The township is the seat of the state workhouse. Pop, in 1890, 4249.
Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott
1895 - THE BRIDEGROOM CAME NOT, And the Bride To Have Been Is Now Ill With Grief and Chagrin. A Church Wedding Which Failed to Come Off at Bridgewater, Mass.
Bridgewater, Mass., June 29. - Many invitations had been issued to the Perkins-Bevan wedding at Trinity-Episcopal church this forenoon, but the young man failed to put in an appearance and the young lady is ill at her home, prostrated with grief at the sudden change in her plans.

She first learned of the true state of affairs late Friday night from James Perkins, father of Robert H. Perkins, the prospective groom, who informed her of the departure of his son.

The breaking of the match is said to be the disinclination of the Perkins family to have the young man marry at present. He is 23 years old and Miss Bevan 29. Both are well known socially here, she being organist at Trinity church.

Perkins was for a while engaged in business here, having a store in Central Square.

It is understood that Miss Bevan will pass the summer in England. The couple had a home fitted up for their occupancy.
Lewiston Sunday Journal
Lewiston, Maine
June 29, 1895
1916
Bridgewater, a post-village of Plymouth co., Mass., in Bridgewater township (town), on the New York, New Haven and Hartford R., 27 miles S. of Boston. It contains the Bridgewater State Normal School and a state workhouse. The Taunton River forms the SE. boundary of the town, which has manufactures of cotton, iron, paper, shoes, brick, nails, etc., and has large foundries and machine-shops, cotton-gin factory, etc. Pop. of the town in 1890, 4249 ; in 1900, 5806.
Lippincotts New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns, Resorts, Islands, Rivers, Mountains, Seas, Lakes, Etc., in Every Portion of the Globe, Part 1 Angelo Heilprin Louis Heilprin - January 1, 1916 J.B. Lippincott - Publisher
2023 - Whether you're a resident or just passing through, there are numerous places to go and things to do in Bridgewater. Here's a list:
Bridgewater State University: Start your visit by exploring the beautiful campus of Bridgewater State University. Take a leisurely walk around the grounds, visit the library, or attend a cultural or sporting event if there's one happening during your visit.

Bridgewater Historic District: Stroll through the historic district and admire the well-preserved colonial and Victorian-era architecture. The town's historic charm is evident in its beautiful homes and buildings.

Bridgewater Iron Works Museum: For a glimpse into Bridgewater's industrial history, visit the Iron Works Museum. Learn about the town's role in the iron industry during the 19th century and the significance of the Bridgewater Iron Works.

Horseshoe Mill Dam Park: Enjoy some outdoor recreation at Horseshoe Mill Dam Park. You can go for a hike, have a picnic, or simply relax by the dam. It's a peaceful spot to connect with nature.

Bridgewater State Forest: If you're a nature enthusiast, Bridgewater State Forest... Read MORE...

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Ancestors Who Were Born or Died in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, USA

We currently have information about 215 ancestors who were born or died in Bridgewater.

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Updated: 9/15/2023 2:32:27 PM