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The Town of East Bridgewater
Massachusetts was an early industrial inland town located on the northern
portion of the Taunton River system. Situated in Plymouth County, the town's
European community had been heavily damaged in King Philip's war.
Nine of the ten homes in the area
were destroyed during the fighting. Its early economy was based on agriculture
but the community did have both grist and saw mills, iron forges and tanneries.
The Keith brothers iron slitting mill is reportedly one of the earliest
reported in southeastern Massachusetts.
The first triphammer to make scythes,
axes and other edged tools was established in town in 1740, and cannons
and muskets for the revolution were made in East Bridgewater. The late
19th and early 20th century saw residential development along the trolley
lines in the community.
The Bridgewater Branch Railroad from
Whitman through East Bridgewater stimulated further industrial growth,
and the town was the site of boot and shoe manufacturing and textile mills.
The real population expansion, however, followed the Second World War,
and the town now has a heavily residential population.
East Bridgewater Massachusetts is
located in Southeastern Massachusetts, bordered by Hanson and Halifax on
the east, Bridgewater on the south, West Bridgewater on the west, Brockton
on the northwest, and Whitman on the north. East Bridgewater is 14 miles
northeast of Taunton, 22 miles northwest of Plymouth, 25 miles southeast
of Boston. |