Bristol County, Massachusetts

Bristol County is a county in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 579,200.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> The shire town is Taunton.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> Some governmental functions are performed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, others by the county, and others by local towns and cities. The county is the sixth most populous county in Massachusetts. Bristol County is part of the Providence metropolitan area, which is also included in Greater Boston. The county is adjacent to the state of Rhode Island. It is geographically adjacent to the Massachusetts counties of Plymouth, Norfolk, and Dukes (via water), and the Rhode Island counties of Bristol, Newport, and Providence.

History

Bristol County was created by the Plymouth Colony on June 2, 1685,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and named after its "shire town" (county seat), Bristol.<ref name="hurd" /> The Plymouth Colony, along with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Maine Colony and several other small settlements were rechartered in 1691, by King William III, to become The Province of Massachusetts Bay.

The towns of Bristol, Barrington, and Warren were awarded to Rhode Island in 1746 as part of the settlement of a long-running boundary dispute (see History of Massachusetts), forming Bristol County, Rhode Island. At the same time, Cumberland, Rhode Island was carved out of Attleborough, Massachusetts and annexed to Providence County, Rhode Island; Tiverton and Little Compton were transferred to Newport County, Rhode Island. East Freetown was officially purchased by Freetown, Massachusetts, from Tiverton in 1747, and so remained on the Massachusetts side.

After the departure of Bristol, Taunton was made the shire town of the county. A second county courthouse was constructed in 1828 in the growing town of New Bedford (designed a "half-shire town"). In 1862, a part of Seekonk (that portion of which is now East Providence, Rhode Island) and the entirety of East Pawtucket were transferred to Providence County, Rhode Island. At the same time, land ceded from Rhode Island was added to Fall River and Westport. The growing Fall River became the site of the third county courthouse in 1877.<ref name="hurd">History of Bristol County, Massachusetts with Biographical Sketches of many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 1 edited by Duane Hamilton Hurd. J. W. Lewis and Co., 1883. [1]. p. 1.</ref>

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (20%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> The highest point in Bristol County is Sunrise Hill (Watery Hill) at Template:Convert above sea level located in World War I Memorial Park in North Attleborough. It is also to note that Bristol, Plymouth and Taunton are all places in South West England. Their Massachusetts cousins were named after the originals as South West England was the focal point for sailing and discovery at the time of America's discovery. John Cabot set sail from Bristol and sailed down the Severn on which lies Newport in Wales.

Adjacent counties

• Norfolk County—north
• Plymouth County—east
• Newport County, Rhode Island—southwest
• Bristol County, Rhode Island—west
• Providence County, Rhode Island—northwest

To the south, Dukes County is opposite Buzzards Bay from Bristol County.

National protected area

• New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

Demographics

File:New England ancestry by county - updated.png

Largest self-reported ancestry groups in New England. Americans of Portuguese descent plurality shown in grey.

2000 census

At the 2000 census there were 534,678 people, 205,411 households, and 140,706 families in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 216,918 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 90.98% White, 2.03% Black or African American, 0.24% Native American, 1.26% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.12% from other races, and 2.34% from two or more races. 3.60%<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> was Hispanic or Latino of any race. 29.7% were of Portuguese, 13.0% Irish, 8.9% French, 8.2% English, 6.8% Italian and 6.4% French Canadian ancestry according to Census 2000. 79.1% spoke English, 13.9% Portuguese, 2.9% Spanish and 1.6% French as their first language. The United States Census Bureau reported Bristol County as being one of two counties in the United States with a plurality of people of Portuguese ancestry<ref>Census 2000 Brief - Ancestry Template:Webarchive</ref> (the other being the contiguous Bristol County, Rhode Island).

Of the 205,411 households 33.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.60% were married couples living together, 13.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.50% were non-families. Of all households 26.50% were one person and 11.00% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.08.

The age distribution was 24.60% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 30.50% from 25 to 44, 22.20% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.50 males.

The median household income was $43,496 and the median family income was $53,733. Males had a median income of $39,361 versus $27,516 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,978. About 7.80% of families and 10.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.00% of those under age 18 and 12.00% of that age 65 or over.

2010 census

At the 2010 census, there were 548,285 people, 213,010 households, and 141,338 families in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 230,535 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 88.4% white, 3.3% black, 1.9% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 3.4% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 6.0% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> The largest ancestry groups were:<ref name="census-dp2">Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col

• 30.1% Portuguese
• 19.2% Irish
• 13.1% French
• 12.5% English
• 9.3% Italian
• 5.7% French Canadian
• 5.0% German
• 4.5% Polish
• 3.4% Puerto Rican
• 3.3% Sub-Saharan African
• 2.5% American
• 2.0% Scottish
• 1.4% Swedish
• 1.3% Scotch-Irish
• 1.0% Arab

Of the 213,010 households, 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.6% were non-families, and 27.4% of households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.06. The median age was 39.8 years.<ref name="census-dp1" />

The median household income was $54,955 and the median family income was $70,161. Males had a median income of $51,785 versus $39,714 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,736. About 8.8% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Income breakdown by town

Template:See also The ranking of unincorporated communities that are included on the list are reflective if the census designated locations and villages were included as cities or towns. Data is from the 2007–2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rank	Town		Per capita income	Median household income	Median family income	Population	Number of households
1	Mansfield	Town	$39,792	$98,182	$112,788	23,094	8,161
2	Easton	Town	$39,751	$89,714	$111,045	23,061	7,852
3	Rehoboth	Town	$38,415	$87,563	$97,711	11,470	4,093
4	Westport	Town	$35,337	$73,736	$83,289	15,396	5,867
	Massachusetts	State	$35,051	$65,981	$83,371	6,512,227	2,522,409
5	Raynham	Town	$34,904	$82,855	$96,190	13,208	4,739
6	North Attleborough	Town	$34,374	$80,757	$94,469	28,593	10,426
7	Dighton	Town	$34,258	$85,284	$94,044	7,003	2,386
8	Swansea	Town	$33,910	$71,716	$79,486	15,886	6,173
	North Westport	CDP	$33,858	$67,614	$82,827	4,188	1,700
9	Seekonk	Town	$33,136	$78,032	$89,833	13,700	4,752
10	Freetown	Town	$32,437	$82,208	$93,773	8,828	3,150
11	Dartmouth	Town	$32,138	$73,007	$86,650	33,759	12,119
	Raynham Center	CDP	$32,034	$84,028	$91,154	4,619	1,563
	Mansfield Center	CDP	$31,762	$71,685	$98,902	7,946	3,022
12	Somerset	Town	$31,718	$69,449	$80,795	18,172	6,983
13	Norton	Town	$30,772	$75,538	$91,636	18,970	6,297
	North Seekonk	CDP	$30,705	$65,804	$81,111	2,552	941
14	Attleboro	City	$30,398	$65,298	$76,563	43,459	16,393
	Smith Mills	CDP	$30,207	$67,907	$79,123	5,030	1,965
15	Acushnet	Town	$30,084	$64,695	$81,643	10,299	3,818
	Bliss Corner	CDP	$29,569	$52,285	$63,554	6,063	2,534
	Bristol County	County	$28,682	$55,813	$71,416	547,305	210,536
16	Fairhaven	Town	$28,658	$60,179	$77,089	15,915	6,444
17	Berkley	Town	$28,206	$81,094	$83,228	6,336	1,970
	United States	Country	$27,915	$52,762	$64,293	306,603,772	114,761,359
18	Taunton	City	$26,309	$53,401	$67,447	55,930	21,799
	Acushnet Center	CDP	$26,295	$51,782	$64,750	2,737	1,159
	Ocean Grove	CDP	$25,058	$60,267	$72,594	3,098	1,230
19	New Bedford	City	$21,558	$37,493	$46,881	95,006	38,869
20	Fall River	City	$21,118	$34,789	$44,635	89,220	38,245
	Norton Center	CDP	$16,578	$83,465	$84,781	2,977	446

Politics and government

Bristol County has voted for the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in every election since 1960 and, with the exception of Dwight D. Eisenhower's victorious campaigns of 1952 and 1956, for the Democratic nominee since 1928, before which it was a Republican stronghold. However, in 2024, Republican Donald Trump came the closest to winning the county since 1984 (when Ronald Reagan came within less than 800 votes of winning), with Democrat Kamala Harris winning only 49.6% of the vote. It was also the closest any Massachusetts county came to flipping Republican since 1988, as all counties have been won by the Democratic candidate since 1992. Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow |} Template:Hidden begin

Gubernatorial elections results<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Year	Republican	Democratic	Third parties
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|2022	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|44.19% 81,033	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|53.97% 98,969	1.84% 3,388
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|2018	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|70.76% 132,371	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|29.02% 54,280	0.23% 423
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|2014	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|49.70% 72,641	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|45.19% 66,045	5.11% 7,471
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|2010	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|42.66% 73,220	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|47.23% 81,059	10.11% 17,340
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|2006	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|34.32% 57,233	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|57.33% 95,623	8.36% 13,925
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|2002	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|44.99% 71,189	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|50.73% 80,275	4.28% 6,779

• Paul B. Kitchen—County Commissioner
• John R. Mitchell—County Commissioner
• John T. Saunders—County Commissioner
• Thomas M. Quinn, III—District Attorney
• Paul Heroux—Sheriff
• Christopher T. Saunders—County Treasurer
• Barry Amaral—Register of Deeds, Northern District
• Bernard McDonald—Register of Deeds, Fall River District
• Frederick M. Kalisz—Register of Deeds, Southern District
• Marc Santos—Clerk of Courts

The Bristol County Sheriff's Office maintains its administrative headquarters and operates several jail facilities in the Dartmouth Complex in North Dartmouth in Dartmouth. Jail facilities in the Dartmouth Complex include the Bristol County House Of Correction and Jail, the Bristol County Sheriff's Office Women's Center, and the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center. The office also operates the Ash Street Jail and Regional Lock-Up and the Juvenile Secure Alternative Lock Up Program (JALP) in New Bedford.<ref name="JailFacilities">"Facilities." Bristol County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved on January 30, 2012. "400 Faunce Corner Road, Dartmouth, MA 0274" and "Bristol County House Of Correction and Jail 400 Faunce Corner Road North Dartmouth, MA 02747" and "Bristol County Sheriff's Office Women’s Center 400 Faunce Corner Road North Dartmouth, MA 02747" and "C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center: 400 Faunce Corner Road North Dartmouth, MA 02747" and "Juvenile Secure Alternative Lock Up Program 323 Mill Street New Bedford, MA 02740 " and "Ash Street Jail and Regional Lock-Up 226 Ash Street New Bedford, MA 02740 "</ref>

The Bristol County House Of Correction and Jail has room for 1,100 prisoners. It houses men convicted of crimes who have been sentenced to Template:Frac years or less. It also houses high-security male pre-trial prisoners, high-security female prisoners, and pre-trial female prisoners.<ref name="JailFacilities" />

The women's center, a medium security jail, can house up to 106 women. The self-contained women's center had opened as a minimum security pre-release center for male prisoners in 1990 which could house up to 106 prisoners. When it was a pre-release facility it only housed an average of 60 prisoners because the county sheriff imposed strict conditions upon the pre-release program. In 1999 the sheriff received a federal grant to convert the pre-release center into a women's center, and he moved the pre-release program to modular units at the main jail.<ref name="JailFacilities" />

The Carreiro jail houses detained individuals who are scheduled for deportation and individuals who are engaging in proceedings with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Ash Street jail houses over 200 pre-trial prisoners and a few sentenced inmate workers for the system. JALP houses up to 12 pre-arraingment juvenile prisoners.<ref name="JailFacilities" />

Voter registration

Voter registration and party enrollment as of February 2024<ref name="Voters">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Party color cell	Unenrolled	280,908	Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell	Democratic	95,921	Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell	Republican	39,270	Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell	Libertarian	1,810	Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell	Other parties	3,795	Template:Percentage
Total		421,704	Template:Percentage

Twin town

The county is twinned with the municipality of Lagoa in the Azores.<ref>Câmara Municipal de Lagoa Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Transportation

Transportation authorities providing public bus service include the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority; and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority serving the Fall River and New Bedford areas.

Airports include the Mansfield Municipal Airport, Myricks Airport, New Bedford Municipal Airport and Taunton Municipal Airport; of these, the New Bedford airport is a commercial airport, with flights serving the Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard area.

The Providence/Stoughton Line of the MBTA commuter rail has stops in Mansfield, Attleboro, and South Attleboro. The line provides connections to Providence and Boston (at Back Bay Station and South Station), as well as intermediate stops. An extension has been completed that connects to T. F. Green Airport.

The Fall River/New Bedford Line also runs through Bristol County. With stops at East Taunton station, Freetown station, Fall River Depot, Church Street Station and New Bedford station.

Major highways

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Communities

File:Bristol County Courthouse B&W.jpg

Bristol County Superior Courthouse in Taunton.

File:Map of Bristol County Massachusetts.jpg

An 1851 map of Bristol County, Massachusetts

Cities

• Attleboro
• Fall River
• New Bedford
• Taunton (county seat)

Towns

• Acushnet
• Berkley
• Dartmouth
• Dighton
• Easton
• Fairhaven
• Freetown
• Mansfield
• North Attleborough
• Norton
• Raynham
• Rehoboth
• Seekonk
• Somerset
• Swansea
• Westport

Census-designated places

• Acushnet Center
• Bliss Corner
• Mansfield Center
• North Seekonk
• North Westport
• Norton Center
• Ocean Grove
• Raynham Center
• Smith Mills

Other villages

• Assonet
• Bowensville
• Britannia
• East Freetown
• East Taunton
• Fall River Station
• Five Corners
• Flint Village
• Four Corners
• Globe Village
• Gushee Pond
• Highlands
• Hixville
• Hornbine
• Hortonville
• Kingmans Corner
• Myricks
• North Attleborough Center
• North Raynham
• North Rehoboth
• North Taunton
• Oakland
• Padanaram
• Pecks Corner
• Perrys Corner
• Perryville
• Pleasantfield
• Pleasant Street
• Pottersville
• Prattville
• Ramblewood
• Rehoboth
• Sassaquin
• South Attleboro
• South Rehoboth
• Squawbetty
• Steep Brook
• Titicut
• Tracy Corner
• Wade's Corner
• Weir Village
• Westville
• Whittenton
• Whittenton Junction

Ghost town

• Norton Furnace

Education

School districts include:<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref>

K–12: Template:Div col

• Attleboro School District
• Bridgewater-Raynham School District
• Dartmouth School District
• Dighton-Rehoboth School District
• Easton School District
• Fairhaven School District - Takes Acushnet for secondary school
• Fall River School District
• Freetown-Lakeville School District
• Mansfield School District
• New Bedford School District - Takes Acushnet for secondary school
• North Attleborough School District
• Norton School District
• Seekonk School District
• Swansea School District
• Taunton School District
• Westport School District

Secondary:

• Somerset-Berkley School District

Elementary:

• Acushnet School District
• Berkley School District
• Somerset School District

Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School is also in the county.

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Stonehill College are in the county.

See also

• Administrative divisions of Massachusetts
• Registry of Deeds (Massachusetts)
• Bristol Community College
• Horseneck Beach State Reservation
• Freetown-Fall River State Forest
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Bristol County, Massachusetts
• Southern New England School of Law
• Taunton River
• Taunton River Watershed
• University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
• Wheaton College

Further reading

• Template:Citation
• History of Bristol County, Massachusetts with Biographical Sketches of many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 1 edited by Duane Hamilton Hurd. J.W. Lewis and Co., 1883. [2]
• Template:Citation
• A history of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Volume 1 by Frank Walcott Hutt. Lewis Historical Pub. Co., Inc., 1924.

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:Osmrelation
• US Census Bureau map of cities, towns, Native American reservations, and census-designated places