Brookfield

History

Brookfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660 and was officially incorporated in 1718. The town was settled by men from Ipswich as part of the Quaboag Plantation lands. In August 1675, King Philip's War reached central Massachusetts. Brookfield, one of the most isolated settlements in the colony, was attacked by Nipmuck forces. After an ambush, the town was besieged. For two days the townsfolk, consisting of 80 people, sought shelter in the garrison house while the rest of the town was completely destroyed. The settlement lay abandoned for twelve years. During the winter of 1776, General Henry Knox passed through the town with cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to end the Siege of Boston. A marker along Route 9 commemorates his route. In March 1778, Joshua Spooner, a wealthy farmer in Brookfield, was beaten to death and his body stuffed down a well. Four people were hanged for the crime: two British soldiers, a young Continental soldier, and Spooner's wife, Bathsheba, who was charged with instigating the murder. She was 32 years old and five months pregnant when executed. Newspapers described the case as "the most extraordinary crime ever perpetrated in New England." Bathsheba was the mother of three young children, and in her own words felt "an utter aversion" for her husband, who was known to be an abusive drunk. A year before the murder, she took in and nursed a sixteen-year-old Continental soldier who was returning from a year's enlistment under George Washington. The two became lovers and conceived a child. Divorces were all but impossible for women at that time, and adulteresses were stripped to the waist and publicly whipped. Bathsheba's pregnancy occasioned a series of desperate plots to murder her husband, finally brought to fruition with the aid of two…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 6.34%, is water. Brookfield is bounded on the northwest, north and east by towns that were formerly part of it: West Brookfield, North Brookfield, and East Brookfield, respectively; on the south by Sturbridge and a short, stretch of Brimfield; and on the southwest by Warren. Brookfield is west of Worcester, east-northeast of Springfield, and west of Boston. The town is located in the southwestern part of Worcester County, along the Quaboag River. The river is bordered by swampy lands, and several areas around it are protected as wildlife management areas. Along the East Brookfield border lie two large ponds which are part of the river, Quaboag Pond to the north and Quacumquasit Pond to the south, extending into Sturbridge. There are also several small brooks running into these waterways, and the land around the town is mostly flat, with some small hills in the southern half of town. The town center lies at the intersection of Route 9 and Route 148. The town also lies along the former Boston and Albany Railroad (now owned/operated by CSX). This line is also the Lake Shore Limited route of Amtrak's rail service between Worcester and Springfield, though there is no stop between the two cities. The town lies just north of Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike) near its junction with Interstate 84 at Exit 9. This intersection is the closest exit along the Pike to town, away to the south, with Palmer's exit being to the west, and Auburn's exit (at Interstate 395) being to the east. The nearest municipal airport is located in Southbridge, and the nearest national air service via Jet Blue can be reached at Worcester Regional Airport (ORH), located in…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  10,805
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,125
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  9,072
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,910
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  8,700
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  7,900
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,721
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  7,503

Largest nearby schools

• Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School
  High · Charlton · 1,185 students · 10.2:1 ratio
• Burgess Elementary
  Elementary · Sturbridge · 877 students · 12:1 ratio
• Tantasqua Regional Sr High
  High · Fiskdale · 677 students · 9.4:1 ratio
• Tantasqua Regional Jr High
  Middle · Fiskdale · 551 students · 11.7:1 ratio
• Tantasqua Regional Vocational
  High · Fiskdale · 524 students · 40.3:1 ratio
• Wire Village School
  Elementary · Spencer · 417 students · 12.6:1 ratio
• Knox Trail Middle School
  Middle · Spencer · 363 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• David Prouty High
  High · Spencer · 357 students · 11.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• 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 2.8 — 2002-09-28
  2 km N of Wilton, New Hampshire
• M 2.5 — 2002-06-07
  3 km NNW of Hopedale, Massachusetts