Brockton

Sister cities

• Ripa Teatina
• Galway

History

In 1649, Ousamequin (Massasoit) sold the surrounding Wampanoag land—then known as Saughtucket—to Myles Standish as an addition to Duxbury. Brockton was part of this area, which the English renamed Bridgewater. On June 15, 1821, a portion of the then Bridgewater Township was established as North Bridgewater. North Bridgewater was renamed Brockton, Massachusetts, on May 5, 1874, when community leaders wanted to adopt a distinctive new name to reflect the town's growing industrial importance, in order to attract customers and new businesses. When town booster and trolley-car magnate Ira Copeland (inventor and manufacturer; b. November 14, 1831 West Bridgewater) was on a business trip, he heard a Canadian train conductor announce the Brockville, Ontario station. Copeland considered the name Brockton would suit North Bridgewater. Since Brockville is named after Isaac Brock as an exemplar of leadership, bravery and duty, ergo Brockton is indirectly named after him. He was the British commanding general who was killed by an American sniper at Queenston Heights It also has Dutch/Flemish origins as a topographic name for a "water meadow" (from broek). Ultimately, "Brockton" received 1081 votes (~72%), renaming the town on May 5, 1874. Famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass, spoke to a crowd at the Liberty Tree in Brockton during the pre-Civil War period. During the American Civil War, Brockton was America's largest producer of shoes, and until the latter parts of the 20th century, Brockton had a large shoe and leather products industry. Since the company's 1898 founding, Brockton has been the headquarters city of office supplies retailer W.B. Mason, itself founded to provide those supplies to the city's shoe industry. The city's economy was once based on the shoe…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.56%) is water. Brockton is the 162nd largest city by land area in the Commonwealth, and the twelfth largest of the twenty-seven towns in Plymouth County. Bordered by Avon to the north, Holbrook to the northeast, Abington to the northeast, Whitman and East Bridgewater to the southeast, West Bridgewater to the south, Easton to the west, and Stoughton to the northwest. Brockton is located 22 miles (35 km) south of Boston, and 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. Brockton is mostly an urban setting, lying along the Salisbury Plain River, which once powered the many shoe factories of the city. To the northeast lies the Beaver Brook Conservation Land, attached to the southern end of the Ames Nowell State Park in Abington. There are several parks throughout the city, but the largest is D.W. Field Park, an Olmsted-inspired park which includes ponds, Waldo Lake and Brockton Reservoir in Avon, as well as a golf course. According to the Köppen climate classification, Brockton has either a hot-summer humid continental climate (abbreviated Dfa), or a hot-summer humid subtropical climate (abbreviated Cfa), depending on the isotherm used.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  30,095
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  29,774
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  28,830
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  27,806
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  26,771
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  22,900
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  20,973
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,651

Largest nearby schools

• Brockton High
  High · Brockton · 3,679 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• Bridgewater-Raynham Regional
  High · Bridgewater · 1,390 students · 16:1 ratio
• Whitman Hanson Regional
  High · Whitman · 1,093 students · 15.4:1 ratio
• South Shore Charter Public School
  Other · Norwell · 1,054 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Mitchell Elementary School
  Elementary · Bridgewater · 957 students · 17.1:1 ratio
• Edgar B Davis
  Elementary · Brockton · 930 students · 15:1 ratio
• East Bridgewater JR./SR. High School
  High · East Bridgewater · 904 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Hingham Middle School
  Middle · Hingham · 844 students · 11.3:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
• M 2.6 — 2015-01-13
  2 km E of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 3.3 — 2015-01-12
  0 km NE of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 2.5 — 2007-10-19
  2 km WSW of Littleton Common, Massachusetts
• M 2.5 — 2005-11-17
  4 km S of Plymouth, Massachusetts