Editing Brookfield, Massachusetts

{{Short description|Town in Massachusetts}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Brookfield, Massachusetts
|settlement_type          = [[New England town|Town]]
|image_skyline            = Central Street, Brookfield, MA.jpg
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = Central Street in 1908
|image_flag               = Flag of Brookfield, Massachusetts.png
|flag_size                = 110px
|image_seal               = Seal of Brookfield, Massachusetts.png
|seal_size                = 90px
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    = 
|image_map                = Worcester County Massachusetts incorporated and unincorporated areas Brookfield highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 260px
|map_caption              = Location in [[Worcester County, Massachusetts|Worcester County]] and the state of [[Massachusetts]].
|coordinates              = {{Coord|42|12|50|N|72|06|10|W|region:US-MA_city|display=inline,title}}
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Massachusetts|County]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Massachusetts]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Worcester County, Massachusetts|Worcester]]
|established_title        = Settled
|established_date         = 1660
|established_title2       = Incorporated
|established_date2        = 1718
|established_title3       = 
|established_date3        = 
|government_type          = [[Open town meeting]]
|leader_title             = [[Board of Selectmen]]
|leader_name              = {{Plain list|
* Richard A. Chaffee
* Beth L. Coughlin
* Sarah E. Campbell
}}
|leader_title1            = [[Town Administrator]]
|leader_name1             = Ronald Aponte
|leader_title2            = [[Administrative Assistant]]
|leader_name2             = Karen Trainor Resseguie
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 42.9
|area_total_sq_mi         = 16.6
|area_land_km2            = 40.2
|area_land_sq_mi          = 15.5
|area_water_km2           = 2.7
|area_water_sq_mi         = 1.1
|elevation_m              = 218
|elevation_ft             = 714
|population_total         = 3439
|population_as_of         = 2020
|population_density_km2   = auto
|population_density_sq_mi = 
|postal_code_type         = ZIP Code
|postal_code              = 01506
|area_code                = [[Area code 508|508]]/[[Area code 774|774]]
|website                  = {{URL|https://www.brookfieldma.us/|brookfieldma.us}}
|footnotes                = 
|timezone                 = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|Eastern]]
|utc_offset               = −5
|timezone_DST             = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|Eastern]]
|utc_offset_DST           = −4
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 25-09105
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 0618358
}}

'''Brookfield''' is a town in [[Worcester County, Massachusetts|Worcester County]], [[Massachusetts]], United States. Brookfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. The population was 3,439 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0600000US2502709105 |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=November 11, 2021 |title=Census - Geography Profile: Brookfield town, Worcester County, Massachusetts}}</ref>

==History==
[[Image:Brookfield1.jpg|thumb|left|Capture of Brookfield by [[Nipmuck]]s in 1675]]

Brookfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660 and was officially incorporated in 1718. The town was settled by men from [[Ipswich, Massachusetts|Ipswich]] as part of the [[Quaboag Plantation]] lands.

In August 1675, [[King Philip's War]] reached central Massachusetts. Brookfield, one of the most isolated settlements in the colony, was attacked by Nipmuck forces. After an ambush, the town was besieged. For two days the townsfolk, consisting of 80 people, sought shelter in the garrison house while the rest of the town was completely destroyed. The settlement lay abandoned for twelve years.<ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Mayflower-Story-Courage-Community-War/dp/0143111973/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430785422&sr=8-1&keywords=mayflower Philbrick, Nathaniel,''Mayflower: A story of Courage, Community, and War'',Penguin (New York), 2006.]</ref>

During the winter of 1776, [[Henry Knox|General Henry Knox]] passed through the town with cannon from [[Fort Ticonderoga]] to end the [[Siege of Boston]]. A marker along [[Massachusetts Route 9|Route 9]] commemorates his route.<ref>[http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/services/KnoxTrail/ktsignm13.html The Knox Trail Monument Number 13 - Brookfield.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517015850/http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/services/KnoxTrail/ktsignm13.html |date=May 17, 2008 }}</ref>

===Bathsheba Spooner===
In March 1778, Joshua Spooner, a [[gentleman farmer|wealthy farmer]] in Brookfield, was beaten to death and his body stuffed down a well. Four people were hanged for the crime: two [[British people|British]] soldiers, a young [[Continental Army|Continental]] soldier, and Spooner's wife, [[Bathsheba Spooner|Bathsheba]], who was charged with instigating the [[murder]]. She was 32 years old and five months pregnant when executed. Newspapers described the case as "the most extraordinary crime ever perpetrated in New England."

Bathsheba was the mother of three young children, and in her own words felt "an utter aversion" for her husband, who was known to be an abusive drunk.

A year before the murder, she took in and nursed a sixteen-year-old Continental soldier who was returning from a year's enlistment under [[George Washington]]. The two became lovers and conceived a child.

[[Divorce]]s were all but impossible for women at that time, and [[adulteress]]es were stripped to the waist and publicly whipped. Bathsheba's pregnancy occasioned a series of desperate plots to murder her husband, finally brought to fruition with the aid of two British [[deserter]]s from [[John Burgoyne|General John Burgoyne]]'s defeated army.

As the daughter of the state's most prominent and despised [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]], Bathsheba bore the brunt of the political, cultural, and gender prejudices of her day. When she sought a stay of execution to deliver her baby, the Massachusetts Council rejected her petition, and she was promptly hanged before a crowd of 5,000 spectators.<ref>Deborah Navas, ''Murdered by His Wife'', [[University of Massachusetts Press]], 1999</ref>

===Washington's visit===
Across from the former Brookfield Inn on West Main Street (Route 9) is a memorial that designates this part of the road as the George Washington Memorial Highway. In 1789, the first president of the United States traveled through five of the [[New England]] states. This tour has become the basis for all of the "George Washington slept here" claims—and although Washington watered his horses here, he never slept in Brookfield. It seems his party would have spent the night in Brookfield except that the innkeeper, Mrs. Bannister, was in bed with a terrible [[headache]]. When awakened, she mistook him for a [[college president]] and sent him on to the neighboring town of [[Spencer, Massachusetts|Spencer]]. On learning of her mistake, she supposedly said: "Bless me! One look at that good man would have cured my aching head."{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

===Other Brookfields===
Lands of the town have given rise to three others—[[North Brookfield, Massachusetts|North Brookfield]] in 1812, [[West Brookfield, Massachusetts|West Brookfield]] in 1848, and [[East Brookfield, Massachusetts|East Brookfield]] in 1920.

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|16.6|sqmi|0}}, of which {{convert|15.5|sqmi|0}} is land and {{convert|1.0|sqmi|1}}, or 6.34%, is water. Brookfield is bounded on the northwest, north and east by towns that were formerly part of it: [[West Brookfield, Massachusetts|West Brookfield]], [[North Brookfield, Massachusetts|North Brookfield]], and [[East Brookfield, Massachusetts|East Brookfield]], respectively; on the south by [[Sturbridge, Massachusetts|Sturbridge]] and a short, {{convert|0.33|mi|1|adj=on}} stretch of [[Brimfield, Massachusetts|Brimfield]]; and on the southwest by [[Warren, Massachusetts|Warren]].  Brookfield is {{convert|18|mi|0}} west of [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], {{convert|30|mi|0}} east-northeast of [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]], and {{convert|57|mi|0}} west of [[Boston]].

The town is located in the southwestern part of Worcester County, along the [[Quaboag River]]. The river is bordered by swampy lands, and several areas around it are protected as wildlife management areas. Along the East Brookfield border lie two large ponds which are part of the river, [[Quaboag Pond]] to the north and Quacumquasit Pond to the south, extending into Sturbridge. There are also several small brooks running into these waterways, and the land around the town is mostly flat, with some small hills in the southern half of town.

[[Brookfield (CDP), Massachusetts|The town center]] lies at the intersection of [[Massachusetts Route 9|Route 9]] and [[Massachusetts Route 148|Route 148]]. The town also lies along the former [[Boston and Albany Railroad]] (now owned/operated by [[CSX]]).  This line is also the ''[[Lake Shore Limited]]'' route of [[Amtrak]]'s rail service between Worcester and Springfield, though there is no stop between the two cities. The town lies just north of [[Interstate 90 in Massachusetts|Interstate 90]] (the [[Massachusetts Turnpike]]) near its junction with [[Interstate 84 (east)|Interstate 84]] at Exit 9. This intersection is the closest exit along the Pike to town, {{convert|10|mi|0}} away to the south, with Palmer's exit being {{convert|15|mi|0}} to the west, and Auburn's exit (at [[Interstate 395 (Connecticut-Massachusetts)|Interstate 395]]) being {{convert|22|mi|0}} to the east.  The nearest municipal airport is located in [[Southbridge, Massachusetts|Southbridge]], and the nearest national air service via Jet Blue can be reached at Worcester Regional Airport (ORH), located in Worcester.

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations | type=USA
 | align=left
 | 1850|1674
 | 1860|2276
 | 1870|2527
 | 1880|2823
 | 1890|3352
 | 1900|3062
 | 1910|2204
 | 1920|2216
 | 1930|1352
 | 1940|1393
 | 1950|1567
 | 1960|1751
 | 1970|2063
 | 1980|2397
 | 1990|2968
 | 2000|3051
 | 2010|3390
 | 2020|3439
 | 2022|3450
 | footnote={{Historical populations/Massachusetts municipalities references}}<ref>{{cite web | title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2022| publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] | access-date=November 10, 2023 | url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html}}</ref>
}}
{{Worcester County politicians
| align = right
| wraparound = yes
| county= Worcester
 | state_rep = Donnie Berthiaume (R)
| state_sen = Anne M. Gobi (D) 
| gov_councilors = Jen Caissie (R)
| fed_rep = [[United States House of Representatives, Massachusetts District 1|1st District]]
}}
By the 2010 census, the population had reached 3,390.

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 3,051 people, 1,204 households, and 857 families residing in the town.  The population density was {{convert|196.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 1,302 housing units at an average density of {{convert|83.9|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the town was 98.10% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.20% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.52% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.29% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.03% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.85% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.59% of the population.

There were 1,204 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. Of all households 23.8% were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.6 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $45,655, and the median income for a family was $54,519. Males had a median income of $38,806 versus $29,155 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $20,144.  About 3.8% of families and 6.1% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 4.9% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over.

==Library==

[[Image:1899 Brookfield public library Massachusetts.png|thumb|right|Brookfield public library, 1899]]

The public library in Brookfield began in the 1860s.<ref>C. B. Tillinghast. The free public libraries of Massachusetts. 1st Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts. Boston: Wright & Potter, 1891. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LusKAAAAYAAJ Google books]</ref><ref>[http://merrickpubliclibrary.org/ Merrick Public Library] Retrieved November 10, 2010</ref> In fiscal year 2008, the town of Brookfield spent 1.49% ($106,066) of its budget on its public library—approximately $35 per person.<ref>July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008; cf. The FY2008 Municipal Pie: What's Your Share? Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Board of Library Commissioners. Boston: 2009. Available: [http://mblc.state.ma.us/advisory/statistics/public/repmunicpie/index.php Municipal Pie Reports] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123010127/http://mblc.state.ma.us/advisory/statistics/public/repmunicpie/index.php |date=January 23, 2012 }}. Retrieved August 4, 2010</ref>

==Education==
Brookfield Elementary School, serving grades K–6, has its own [[school committee]], part of School Union 61. Brookfield students attend Tantasqua Regional Junior High School (grades 7–8) and [[Tantasqua Regional High School]] in Sturbridge. Union 61 and the Tantasqua district share administrators, including the superintendent, and both include [[Brimfield, Massachusetts|Brimfield]], Brookfield, [[Holland, Massachusetts|Holland]], Sturbridge and [[Wales, Massachusetts|Wales]].

==Notable people==
[[Image:Tip Top Country Store Brookfield Center.jpg|thumb|right|Tip Top Country Store in Brookfield Center]]
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* [[William Appleton (politician)|William Appleton]], congressman<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=  http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=A000270|title=  APPLETON, William, (1786 - 1862)|dictionary =Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date= March 30, 2014}}</ref>
* [[John Brooks, Jr.]], military officer during the [[War of 1812]]<ref>{{cite web|url= http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/MAMIDDLE/2005-07/1120945443|title=  MAMIDDLE-L Archives|publisher = Ancestry.com |access-date= March 28, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Asa Danforth]], highway engineer<ref>{{cite book|last=Temple|first=Josiah Howard and Adams, Charles|title=History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts: Preceded by an Account of Old Quabaug, Indian and English Occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield Records, 1686-1783|date=1887|publisher=Brookfield, Massachusetts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHmAAAAAIAAJ&q=Asa+Danforth+brookfield+ma&pg=PA235}}</ref> 
* [[Arthur Louis Day]], geological physicist<ref>{{cite book|last=National Academies|title=Biographical Memoirs, Volume 47|date=1975|page=37|isbn=9780309022453|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V5QrAAAAYAAJ&q=Arthur+Louis+Day+brookfield+ma&pg=PA37}}</ref> 
* [[William B. Draper]], importer and bank president<ref>{{cite book|last=Temple|first=Josiah Howard Temple and Adams, Charles|title=History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts: Preceded by an Account of Old Quabaug, Indian and English Occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield Records, 1686-1783|date=1887|publisher=Brookfield, Massachusetts|page=578|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHmAAAAAIAAJ&q=William+B.+Draper+brookfield+ma&pg=PA578}}</ref> 
* [[Theodore Foster]], politician<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000313|title=FOSTER, Theodore, (1752 - 1828)|dictionary = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date= March 28, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Mary Jane Hawes]], author<ref>{{cite book|last=Kellogg|first=Day Otis and Smith, William Robertson|title=The Encyclopædia Britannica: latest edition. A dictionary of arts, sciences and general literature, Volume 27|date=1902|publisher=Werner|page=305|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LBJGAQAAIAAJ&q=Mary+Jane+Hawes+brookfield+ma&pg=PA305}}</ref> 
* [[Albert R. Howe]], congressman<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000850|title=HOWE, Albert Richards, (1840 - 1884)|dictionary = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date= March 31, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Harrison Hunter]], actor<ref>{{cite news |title=Harrison Hunter Fled |work=[[Oakland Tribune]] |date=March 17, 1912 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10373219/oakland_tribune/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
* [[Jennifer Lafleur]], actor
* [[Pliny T. Merrick]], attorney and judge<ref>{{cite book|last=Tracy, Gibbs & Company|title=Genealogy of the Merrick-Mirick-Myrick Family of Massachusetts, 1636-1902|date=1902|publisher=Tracy, Gibbs & Company|page=301|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2rU0AAAAMAAJ&q=Pliny+T.+Merrick+brookfield+ma&pg=PA301}}</ref> 
* [[Joseph Read]], soldier{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}<!--MISSING CONNECTION TO BROOKFIELD-->
* [[Bathsheba Spooner]], criminal<ref>{{cite book|last=Bales|first=Jack|title=Esther Forbes: A Bio-bibliography of the Author of Johnny Tremain|date=1998|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=9|isbn=9780810833708|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c_GXmkqqv5IC&q=Bathsheba+Spooner+brookfield+ma&pg=PA9}}</ref> 
* [[George B. Upham]], congressman<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=U000022|title=UPHAM, George Baxter, (1768 - 1848)|dictionary = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date= March 31, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Jabez Upham]], congressman<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=U000023|title=UPHAM, Jabez, (1764–1811)|dictionary = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date= March 31, 2014}}</ref>

==References==

{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Brookfield, Massachusetts}}
* [http://www.brookfieldma.us/ Town of Brookfield]

{{Worcester County, Massachusetts}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1660 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony]]
[[Category:Towns in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Towns in Worcester County, Massachusetts]]