Sharon

History

The Town of Sharon was first settled as part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 and was deemed the 2nd precinct of Stoughton in 1740. It was established as the district of Stoughtonham on June 21, 1765, incorporated as the Town of Stoughtonham on August 23, 1775, and was named Sharon on February 25, 1783, after Israel's Sharon plain, due to its high level of forestation. Several towns in New England were given this name. Part of Stoughtonham went to the new town of Foxborough on June 10, 1776. During the American Revolution, the townspeople of Sharon made cannonballs and cannons for the Continental Army at a local foundry. In front of the Sharon Public Library stands a statue of Deborah Sampson, Sharon's town heroine. Sampson disguised herself as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War. After the war, she married Benjamin Gannett, a farmer, and lived in Sharon until the end of her life. Sampson began a campaign in 1790 to secure a pension from her time in the Revolutionary War, which earned the support of well known public figures, including Paul Revere. In 1804, Revere visited Sampson (then Sampson Gannett) at her farm in Sharon and wrote to the congressman of her district, William Eustis, that he found her "much more deserving than hundreds to whom Congress have been generous." Sampson was placed on the United States pension list a year later, and awarded an annual payment. She is buried in the local Rock Ridge Cemetery. A street in Sharon is named Deborah Sampson Street in her honor. In 1983, the Massachusetts General Court designated Sampson as the official State Heroine of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Unitarian and Congregational churches in the center of Sharon both have church bells manufactured by Paul Revere. The recipient of letters from…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 24.2 square miles (62.6 km), of which 23.3 square miles (60.4 km) is land and 0.9 square mile (2.2 km) (3.56%) is water. This includes Lake Massapoag, which is one of the town's most prominent features and a popular recreational site for swimming and boating. It was largely responsible for the town's early development as a summer resort location. Massapoag is drained by the Canoe River to the south, and Massapoag Brook to the north. Sharon is bordered by the towns of Stoughton and Canton to the east, Mansfield and Easton to the South, Foxborough to the west, and Walpole and Norwood to the north. Sharon is located in a continental climate, like most of New England and most of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. It is cooler than coastal New England locations because it is inland. The town has warm to hot summers and cold winters. It is often humid in the summer. Sharon receives about 50 inches of precipitation every year on average. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Sharon has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  37,237
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  36,744
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  33,926
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  33,812
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  33,457
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  27,383
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  26,960
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  26,841

Largest nearby schools

• TEC Connections Academy Commonwealth Virtual School
  Other · East Walpole · 2,940 students · 24.7:1 ratio
• Foxborough Regional Charter School
  Other · Foxborough · 1,569 students
• Sharon High
  High · Sharon · 1,143 students · 11.4:1 ratio
• King Philip Regional High
  High · Wrentham · 1,142 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Stoughton High
  High · Stoughton · 1,073 students · 10.5:1 ratio
• Walpole High
  High · Walpole · 987 students · 11.1:1 ratio
• Norwood High
  High · Norwood · 941 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• Blue Hills Regional Vocational Technical
  High · Canton · 920 students · 11.5:1 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