Whitinsville

History

This village was originally Nipmuc native lands, and was first settled as part of Mendon in 1662. From 1662 to 1727 it was part of Mendon, then later it became part of Uxbridge from 1727 to 1772. In 1772 Northbridge finally became a separate town. The village's early name was "South Northbridge", before the Whitin family's rise to prominence. Col. John Spring led a militia training company from Uxbridge which fought in the American Revolution. Col. Spring was from the section that became South Northbridge. Today a visitor can see much of the original village, including the housing for workers and their families, churches, and the Whitin Community Center. The textile machine company and industrial village were written up as one of the Harvard studies of history in business. Whitin Machine, founded in 1831, became the largest manufacturer of textile machinery in the world before its closing in 1964. A 1936 Berlin Olympics champion backstroke swimmer, Alice Bridges, then of Uxbridge, trained in the local gym pool (Whitin Community Center) in Whitinsville. The Whitinsville Savings Bank was involved in a precedent-setting case in the U.S., involving tort and contract law, known as "Swinton vs. Whitinsville Savings Bank (1942)". A real estate transaction two years earlier had failed to disclose termites in a building.

Geography

Whitinsville is located at (42.112208, -71.672890). According to the 2010 United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.64 square miles with 1,840.2 persons per square mile. Whitinsville is a "village" within the incorporated town of Northbridge, Massachusetts. It is located in Worcester County.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,971
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  15,902
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  14,619
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  14,513
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,512
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  11,591
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,508
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,385

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• 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
• M 2.8 — 2002-09-28
  2 km N of Wilton, New Hampshire