8 W o r c e s t e r 3 0 0 : C i t y o f I n n o v a t o r s
1722-1821
Worcester's first century
O
n June 22, 1722, the General
Court in Massachusetts
authorized incorporating
Worcester as a town. For
nine years aerward, it was
a typical inland farming
village: relatively isolated,
uncomplicated by class distinctions or extremes of
wealth and poverty, and still centered on family and
church. at was, until April 1731 when the General
Court granted the petition to bring Worcester into
the newly created County of Worcester and making
it the county seat. is designation greatly enhanced
the value of land held near Worcester's village center
and began its transformation from agrarian to
industrial.
e town's first courthouse, built in 1733, drew
crowds of visitors during its quarterly court
meetings, attracting judges, lawyers, clerks, litigants,
traders, speculators, and spectators of all sorts. It
became a destination for stagecoaches, taverns and
inns. A shrewd marketing initiative tied court dates
to market-fair days, attracting visitors county-wide
to shop, watch court proceedings, wrestling matches,
or exhibitions of legal disciplines such as stockades
and whippings.is multi-faceted venue led to more
merchants opening retail stores to attract the new
visitors. Tradesmen such as Stephen Salisbury I
served this emerging clientele.
Meanwhile, forces inside and out recognized the
town's growth. Regional agricultural households had
more prospective heirs than land to grant them. An
influx of English immigrants experiencing the same
problem in their homeland and looking for land and
Image | Wikimedia Commons
From a farming community to a merchant destination
e first century
of Worcester's
istence as a town
would mark the
beginning of the
end of the agrarian
nature of its
commerce.