Timeline of Worcester, Massachusetts
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Prior to 19th century
- 1669 – Common established.
- 1719 – Town meeting house built.
- 1722 - incorporated as a town June 14, 1722.
- 1731 - On April 2, 1731, Worcester was chosen as the county seat of the newly founded Worcester County
- 1733 – Court House built.
- 1763 – Old South Meeting house built.
- 1775
- * Post office established.
- * Massachusetts Spy newspaper relocates to Worcester.
- 1776 – July 14, first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Isaiah Thomas.
- 1786 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.
- 1787 – First known printing of the word 'baseball' appears in A Little Pretty Pocket-book, Worcester, MA, by Isaiah Thomas, Rare Book and Special Collections, Library of Congress.
- 1792 – Second Meeting House dedicated.
- 1793 – Associate Library Company active.
19th century
- 1800 – Independent Gazetteer begins publication.
- 1801 – National Aegis newspaper begins publication.
- 1812 – American Antiquarian Society founded.
- 1818 – Worcester Agricultural Society incorporated.
- 1819 – Fraternity of Odd Fellows active.
- 1823 – Massachusetts Yeoman newspaper begins publication.
- 1824 – Town Hall built.
- 1825 – Worcester Lyceum of Natural History founded.
- 1828 – Blackstone Canal opens.
- 1829
- * Worcester County Republican newspaper begins publication.
- * Worcester County Athenaeum and Worcester Lyceum active.
- 1830
- * Worcester County Colonization Society formed.
- * Worcester Social Library active.
- * Population: 4,173.
- 1832 – Worcester Law Library Association active.
- 1833
- * Tolman carriage factory established.
- * Ezra Rice House built.
- 1834
- * St. John's Catholic Church established.
- * Worcester Palladium newspaper begins publication.
- * Worcester Academy established.
- 1835 – Harris' Circulating Library in operation.
- 1838
- * P. Young variety store established.
- * Christian Reflector newspaper begins publication.
- * Rural Cemetery is incorporated.
- 1843 – College of the Holy Cross established.
- 1840
- * Worcester County Horticultural Society formed.
- * Population: 7,497.
- 1844 – Worcester Almanac begins publication.
- 1845
- * Daily Transcript and Worcester County Gazette newspapers begin publication.
- * Classical and English High School opens.
- 1847 – Worcester Telegraph and Worcester Daily Journal newspapers begin publication.
- 1848
- * Worcester becomes the City of Worcester.
- * Levi Lincoln Jr. becomes mayor.
- * City hosts Whig State Convention.
- 1849 – Oread Institute founded.
- 1850
- * National Women's Rights Convention held in city.
- * Population: 17,049.
- 1851 – Daily Morning Transcript newspaper begins publication.
- 1852 – Worcester Young Men's Christian Association founded.
- 1853
- * Worcester Rhetorical Society incorporated.
- * Emmanuel Baptist church built.
- * Agricultural Fairgrounds in operation.
- 1854
- * Hope Cemetery laid out.
- * Mission Chapel built.
- 1856 – Worcester Employment Society and Highland Military School founded.
- 1857
- * Mechanics Hall built.
- * Ladies' Collegiate Institute opens.
- 1858 – Worcester Music Festival begins; Frohsinn Gesang Verein chorus formed.
- 1860 – A.H. Word's Select Circulating Library active.
- 1862 – Free Public Library building constructed on Elm Street.
- 1864 – Dale Hospital opens.
- 1865 – Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science founded.
- 1866 – Worcester County Homoeopathic Medical Society formed.
- 1868 – Chamberlain's Circulating Library in operation.
- 1869 – Elwood Adams hardware store in business.
- 1872 – South End commercial circulating library in operation.
- 1873 – Home for Aged Women opens.
- 1874
- * Worcester Normal School established.
- * Soldiers' Monument dedicated.
- * Cathedral of Saint Paul built.
- 1875
- * Worcester Society of Antiquity formed.
- * Train station built.
- 1876 – Grand Army of the Republic Hall built.
- 1877 – Irvings base ball team active.
- 1879 – Worcester Worcesters base ball team formed.
- 1880 – First perfect game in Major League Baseball history pitched by Lee Richmond, pitcher for the Worcester Worcesters.
- 1884
- * Worcester bicentennial.
- * St. Peters Catholic Church built.
- 1885 – Frederick Daniels House built.
- 1886
- * Worcester Daily Telegram newspaper begins publication.
- * Hatters' and Furnishers' Association formed.
- 1887
- * Clark University founded.
- * Becker's Business College formed.
- * Pilgrim Congregational Church built.
- * Horseshoers' Union organized.
- 1888 – St. Mark's Episcopal Church built.
- 1889 – Old South Church built, corner Main and Wellington St.
- 1891 – Lothrop's Opera House opens.
- 1892 – New English High School opens.
- 1894 – St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and South Unitarian Church built.
- 1895
- * was incorporated and remains the only Worcester-based bank in the City.
- * Union Congregational Church built.
- 1897 – Worcester Art Museum School established.
- 1898
- * Worcester Art Museum building opens.
- * Worcester City Hall built.
- 1899 – Worcester Business Institute established.
20th century
- 1900
- * Population: 118,421.
- * Bancroft School established.
- * Bancroft Tower in Salisbury Park erected.
- 1901 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.
- 1904
- * Assumption College established.
- * Shaarai Torah congregation incorporated.
- 1906
- * Boulevard Park opens.
- * Worcester Lunch Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company founded.
- * Labor News begins publication.
- * Worcester Domestic Science School established.
- 1907 – Slater Building constructed.
- 1910
- * Population: 145,986.
- * April 3: President William Howard Taft visits Mechanics Hall to speak about labor issues to a meeting of Brotherhoods in Train Service
- 1911 – Train station rebuilt.
- 1912
- * Bancroft Hotel built.
- * Burnside Fountain installed.
- 1913 – Greendale Branch Library, Quinsigamond Branch Library and South Worcester Branch Library built.
- 1914
- * Park Building constructed.
- * September – Fashion Week.
- 1921 – Temple Emanuel founded.
- 1923 – Worcester Panthers baseball team active.
- 1924
- * Fitton Field stadium opens.
- * Congregation Beth Israel founded.
- 1927
- * Foley Stadium built.
- * Worcester Airport opens.
- 1931 – Higgins Armory Museum opens.
- 1938 – Worcester Junior College established.
- 1950 – Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester established.
- 1952 – Massachusetts Route 146 highway constructed.
- 1953 – Tornado.
- 1954 – Worcester Area Sports Car Club formed.
- 1955 – Commerce Bank & Trust Company founded.
- 1962 – University of Massachusetts Medical School established.
- 1963
- *Smiley created by Harvey Ross Ball.
- *Quinsigamond Community College founded.
- 1968 – Worcester Consortium of Universities founded.
- 1971
- * Worcester Center Galleria opens.
- * Worcester Science Center and Mechanics Tower built.
- 1974
- * Worcester Regional Transit Authority established.
- * Worcester Plaza built.
- 1975 – Joseph D. Early becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district.
- 1976 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.
- 1980 – New England Summer Nationals automotive festival begins.
- 1982 – Centrum arena opens.
- 1983 – Interstate 190 highway in operation.
- 1986 – Telegram & Gazette newspaper formed.
- 1987
- * Greater Worcester Land Trust founded.
- * United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts division opens.
- * Sister city relationship established with Pushkin, Russia.
- 1988
- * Jordan Levy becomes mayor.
- * Worcester Historical Museum opens on Elm Street.
- 1991 – Sky Mark Tower built.
- 1994
- * Raymond Mariano becomes mayor.
- * Worcester Women's History Project founded.
- * Worcester IceCats hockey team active.
- 1996
- * City website online.
- * Worcester Sharks ice hockey team active.
- * Music Worcester Inc. formed.
- 1997 – Jim McGovern becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district.
- 1999 – Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire.
21st century
- 2000
- * Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences campus opens.
- * Union Station renovated.
- 2001 – Worcester Public Library main branch renovated.
- 2002 – Tim Murray becomes mayor.
- 2004 – Worcester IceCats hockey team sold and moves out of Worcester.
- 2005 – Worcester Tornadoes baseball team formed.
- 2007 – Konstantina Lukes becomes mayor.
- 2010 – Joseph C. O'Brien becomes mayor.
- 2011 – Worcester Hydra soccer team founded.
- 2012 –
- *Joseph Petty becomes mayor.
- *Worcester Tornados baseball team's final season.
- 2013 – Higgin's Armory Museum closes.
- 2014 – Worcester Bravehearts baseball team formed.
- 2015 – Worcester Sharks hockey team moves to San Jose.
- 2017 – Worcester Railers hockey team formed.
- 2018 – Massachusetts Pirates indoor football team formed.