Editing Worcester County, Massachusetts (section)

==History==
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Worcester County was formed from the eastern portion of colonial [[Hampshire County, Massachusetts|Hampshire County]], the western portion of the original [[Middlesex County, Massachusetts|Middlesex County]] and the extreme western portion of the original [[Suffolk County, Massachusetts|Suffolk County]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, embracing a comprehensive history of the county from its first settlement to the present time. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/01012408/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> When the government of Worcester County was established on April 2, 1731, Worcester was chosen as its shire town (later known as a county seat). From that date until the dissolution of the county government, it was the only county seat. Because of the size of the county, there were fifteen attempts over 140 years to split the county into two counties, but without success.

Initially, [[Lancaster, Massachusetts|Lancaster]] was proposed as the seat of the northern county; later, [[Petersham, Massachusetts|Petersham]] was proposed once and [[Fitchburg, Massachusetts|Fitchburg]] was proposed repeatedly, most recently in 1903. Perhaps as a concession, in August 1884 the Worcester County Registry of Deeds was split in two, with the Worcester Northern registry placed in Fitchburg.