Editing Berkley, Massachusetts (section)

== History ==

[[File:Berkley Old Town Hall (Massachusetts).jpg|thumb|left|200px|Old Town Hall was built in 1849]]
The present town of Berkley, then belonging to the neighboring towns of [[Dighton, Massachusetts|Dighton]] and [[Taunton, Massachusetts|Taunton]], was first settled in 1638. It was officially incorporated as a separate town in 1735. The town was named for the philosopher and bishop [[George Berkeley]] (1685–1753), who lived in [[Newport, Rhode Island]] from 1728 to 1731. The change in the spelling to "Berkley" was likely due to the carelessness of the engrossing clerk of the [[Massachusetts General Court]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=uauYBOCKCS0C&dq=berkley%20massachusetts%20berkeley%20error&pg=PA174 History of Bristol County, Massachusetts:  With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 1, 1883]</ref>

Berkley's old Town Hall, a two-story white clapboard building located on [[Berkley Common Historic District|Berkley Common]], was built in 1849.<ref name="Gazette20161714">{{cite news|last1=Connell|first1=Lisa D|title=Old Town Hall will be new home for Berkley Historical Society|access-date=September 26, 2016|publisher=Taunton Daily Gazette|date=July 14, 2016|url=http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/20160714/old-town-hall-will-be-new-home-for-berkley-historical-society}}</ref> When a new Town Hall was built across the street in 2015, the Old Town Hall became home to the ''Berkley Historical Society''.<ref name="Gazette20161714" /> The new 9,778-square-foot Town Hall was built in 2014–2015, at a cost of $3.5 million.<ref name="Gazette20160429">{{cite news|last1=Larocque|first1=Marc|title=Berkley selectmen tour new Town Hall building as construction wraps up|url=http://www.tauntongazette.com/article/20150429/NEWS/150425978|access-date=September 26, 2016|publisher=Taunton Daily Gazette|date=April 29, 2016}}</ref> The new building contains a senior center, office, kitchen, and high-efficiency LED lighting.<ref name="Gazette20160429" />