Worcester Business Journal

Worcester 300-City of Innovators-May 31, 2022

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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.

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