22 Greenbriar Lane
Attleboro, MA 02703

History[edit]

In 1634, English settlers first arrived in the territory that is now Attleboro.^[4] It was later incorporated from Rehoboth in 1694 as the town of Attleborough.^[5] It included the towns of Cumberland, Rhode Island, until 1747 and North Attleborough, Massachusetts, until 1887. The town was reincorporated in 1914 as the City of Attleboro, with the "-ugh" removed from the name, although North Attleborough kept it. Like many towns in Massachusetts, it was named for a British town.

During the Native American insurgency in the colonial era, Nathaniel Woodcock, the son of an Attleborough resident, was murdered, and his head was placed on a pole in his father's front yard. His father's house is now a historical site. It is rumored that George Washingtononce passed through Attleborough and stayed near the Woodcock Garrison House at the Hatch Tavern, where he exchanged a shoe buckle with Israel Hatch, a revolutionary soldier and the new owner of the Garrison House.

The city became known for jewelry manufacturing in 1913, particularly because of the L.G. Balfour Company. That company has since moved out of the city, and the site of the former plant has been converted into a riverfront park. Attleboro was once known as "The Jewelry Capital of the World", and jewelry manufacturing firms continue to operate there. One such is the Guyot Brothers Company, which was started in 1904.^[6] General Findings, M.S. Company, James A. Murphy Co., Garlan Chain, Leach & Garner, and Masters of Design are jewelry manufacturing companies still in operation.

Geography[edit]

Attleboro is located at 41°56′N 71°18′W (41.933, −71.3) and has a total area of 27.8 square miles (72.0 km²), of which 26.8 square miles (69.4 km²) is land and 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²), or 3.59%, is water.^[7] Its borders form an irregular polygon that resembles a truncated triangle pointing west. It is bordered by North Attleborough to the north, Mansfield and Norton to the east, Rehoboth, Seekonk, andPawtucket, Rhode Island, to the south, and Cumberland, Rhode Island, to the west. It includes the areas known as Briggs Corner, Dodgeville, East Junction, Hebronville, and South Attleboro.

The Ten Mile River, fed by the Bungay River and by several brooks, runs through the center of Attleboro. The Manchester Pond Reservoir lies beside Interstate 95, and there are several small ponds in the city. There are two reservation areas, the Antony Lawrence Reservation Area and Coleman Reservation Area, as well as the Bungay River Conservation Area in the north of the city. The highest point in Attleboro is 249-foot (76 m) Oak Hill, located in the southern part of the city north of Oak Hill Avenue.^[8]

Demographics[edit]

Attleboro is part of the Providence metropolitan area. It is a short distance from Boston, and is linked to the Boston metropolitan area.

As of the 2010 census, there were 43,593 people, 16,884 households, and 11,212 families living in the city; the population density was 1,626.6 people per square mile (628.1/km²). There were 18,022 housing units at an average density of 672.5 per square mile (259.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.1% White, 3.0% African American, 0.2% Native American, 4.5% Asian (31.5% Cambodian,1.3%Indian, 0.4% Chinese, 0.4% Vietnamese) 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.8% some other race, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic andLatino people of any race made up 6.3% of the total (2.0% Puerto Rican, 1.7% Guatemalan, 0.5% Mexican, 0.4% Salvadoran, 0.3%Dominican, 0.2% Colombian).^[21] Most of the Hispanic and Asian populations were concentrated in the East Side.^{[citation needed]}

Of the 16,884 households, 33.3% had someone under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were headed by married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.6% were non-families, 26.4% were individuals, and 9.8% were people aged 65 or older living alone. The average size of household was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.11.^[21]

The age distribution in the city was: 22.7% under 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% over 64. The median age was 39.5 years. For every 100 females there were 95.5 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 93.3 males.^[21]

For the period 2009–2011, the estimated median annual income for a household in the city was $63,647, and the median income for a family was $71,091. Male full-time workers had a median income of $52,558, females $40,954. Per capita income was $30,039. About 4.2% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under 18 and 7.8% of those aged 65 or over.^[22]

Education[edit]

Attleboro's school department has five elementary schools (Hill-Roberts, Hyman Fine, A. Irvin Studley, Peter Thacher and Thomas Willett), three middle schools (Brennan, Coelho and Wamsutta), and one high school. Attleboro High School has its own vocational division, and its football team (the "Blue Bombardiers") has a traditional rivalry with North Attleborough High School, whom they play for their Thanksgiving Day football game.Bishop Feehan High School is a co-educational Roman Catholic high school which opened in 1961 and is named for Bishop Daniel Francis Feehan, second Bishop of the Diocese of Fall River. The city also has a satellite branch of Bristol Community College, which used to be housed in the city's former high school building but has since been relocated to an old Texas Instruments site. Bridgewater State University opened a satellite site in Attleboro in 2009, sharing space with Bristol Community College.

Points of interest[edit]

Downtown, about 1909

Attleboro has four museums: the Attleboro Arts Museum, the Attleboro Area Industrial Museum,^[23] the Women at Work Museum, and the Museum at the Mill. Other places of interest in the city include: Capron Park Zoo;^[24] L.G. Balfour Riverwalk, which was once the site of the L.G. Balfour jewelry plant, adjacent to the downtown business district; La Salette Shrine, which has a display of Christmas lights;^[25] Triboro Youth Theatre / Triboro Musical Theatre;^[26] Attleboro Community Theatre;^[27] and Dodgeville Mill.

Revitalization[edit]

In December 2011, the City of Attleboro was awarded $5.4 million in state and federal funding to support revitalization efforts within the city's Historic Downtown area.^[28] The city's "Downtown Redevelopment and Revitalization Project"^[28] is intended to transform underutilized industrial and commercial parcels into areas of mixed use that include commercial, recreational, and residential space. The project also includes transportation improvements to both MBTA rail and GATRA bus services along with enhanced road construction.^[28]

The city project was also selected for the state Brownfield Support Team (BST) Initiative,^[28] which encourages collaboration between state, local, and federal government to address complex issues to help pave the way for economic development opportunities in cities and towns across the state of Massachusetts. Contributing BST organizations include theMassachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), MassDevelopment, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).^[28]

Congressman Jim McGovern highlighted the importance of this project in 2011 by saying, "This transformative funding presents a landmark opportunity for Attleboro to reshape its downtown and make a strong community even stronger. The new transit plan, when implemented, will make Attleboro a model for other small cities, and the aggressive reclaiming of contaminated sites will enhance economic development."^[28]

Transportation[edit]

Attleboro is located beside Interstate 95 (which enters the state between Attleboro and Pawtucket, Rhode Island), I-295 (whose northern terminus is near the North Attleborough town line at I-95), US Route 1, and Routes 1A, 118, 123 and 152, the last three of which intersect at Attleboro center. The proposed Interstate 895 was to run through Attleboro and have a junction at the present day I-295/I-95 terminus. When driving from Rhode Island on I-295, the stub exits before the half-cloverleaf exit to I-95.