WORCESTER, a city of Massachusetts, U.S.A., 4o m. W. of Boston, on the Blackstone river. Population (1920) 179, 754 (30% foreign-born white, representing most of the countries of Europe) ; 1930, 195,311.
The city occupies 38.41 sq.m., at an altitude of 48o feet. On its eastern border is Lake Quinsigamond (4 m. long), spanned by a reinforced concrete bridge. Worcester is an important edu cational centre, the seat of Clark university ; Worcester academy (1832); the Worcester Polytechnic institute (1865), one of the oldest and best equipped schools of engineering in the i country; the Jesuit College of the Holy Cross (founded in 1843 by the second bishop of Boston) ; Assumption college (1903) ; in cludes a State normal school (1874). The public school system n cludes 72 grammar, a junior high, 4 high schools, a boys' trade school (1909) and a girls' trade school Ow 1). There are ten parochial schools, three of which have high-school departments. The public library (founded 1859) was one of the first in America to admit readers on Sunday. In the library and museum of the American Antiquarian Society (established 1812) are many valu able early portraits, books and pamphlets. The Art museum (founded in 1896 by Stephen Salisbury) .contains, among other important collections, the Bancroft collection of Japanese art. The Worcester Natural History Society (1829) and the Wor cester Historical Society (1875) both maintain museums. An annual music festival is held. There are five daily newspapers, including one in French and one in Finnish. The city has more than 1 oo churches, and a boys' club of 5,500 members.
Worcester is a large producer of machine tools and of wire and wire products and mill machinery. In 1927 there were 494 factories, employing an average of 30,294 wage-earners and with an output of $193,502,298. The city's trade area embraces a population of 450,000, and retail sales aggregate $90,000,000 annually. Four insurance companies, with combined assets of $100,000,000, have their home offices here. Bank resources amount to over $200,000,000, and Worcester boasts never to have had a bank failure. Bank debits in 1926 aggregated $928,925,000. The
city's assessed valuation for 1927 was $339,552,850.
The first grant of land was made in 1657, and in 1668 the plantation of Quinsigamond was laid out, a committee of the gen eral court expecting it to support from 3o to 6o families. In 1675, on the outbreak of King Philip's War, the settlement was abandoned. It was revived in 1684, and was named after the English home of several of the settlers. In 1702 it was aban doned owing to attacks by Indians. In 1713 a tavern and a mill were built, and a turnpike was constructed to Boston. Worcester became a town in 1722, and in 1780 was incorporated. Until the Revolution it remained an isolated frontier settlement and as late as 1783 its population was not over 2,000. During the Shays Rebellion it was taken by the insurgents and the courts were closed.
Utilization of waterpower and establishment of industries began about 180o, and by 1825 the town was manufacturing hats, clocks, chairs, paper, cards, carpets, corduroy, fustians, textile machinery and many other articles. In 1828 the Blackstone canal was opened from Worcester to Providence. The railroad to Boston was completed in 1835; to Norwich in 1840; to Providence in 1847; and to Springfield in 1849. In 1848 the town was incor porated as a city. Strong anti-slavery sentiment led to a serious riot in 1854, owing to an apparent attempt to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. By 186o the population had grown to 24,960, and there has been a steady increase ever since. Many famous men and women of America have lived for longer or shorter periods in or near Worcester, including the inventors Elias Howe, Eli Whitney, Erastus Bigelow, Russell L. Hawes, Thomas Blanchard, William and George Crompton, L. J. Knowles, Draper Ruggles, Joel Nourse and J. C. Mason; and Gen. Artemas Ward, Gen. Rufus Putnam, Col. Timothy Bigelow, Isaiah Thomas, Dr. William T. G. Morton, Eli Thayer, Gen. Charles Devens, George Frisbie Hoar, George Bancroft, Dorothea Lynde Dix, Clara Barton, Edward Everett. Hale and John B. Gough.