How Massachusetts towns got their names

Burlington Retro researched the origin of every town name in Massachusetts, all 351 of them — and then threw away the boring ones. Here are the survivors:

Auburn — A fictional place in the 18th-century poem “The Deserted Village.”

Avon — An abbreviation of Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

Ayer — Dr. James Cook Ayer of Lowell, a mega-rich manufacturer of “patent medicine.” In other words, a snake oil salesman.

Barre — Sir Isaac Barré, a major advocate for American colonial rights when he was in British Parliament.

Belchertown — Jonathan Belcher, royal governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1730s.

Billerica — Billericay, England, home to at least four Mayflower passengers. What happened to the Y? Must have fallen overboard.

Blandford — It was supposed to be called New Glasgow, but the applicants botched the spelling and the acreage, so the governor overruled them and named the town after the ship he’d just ridden from England — the HMS Blandford. This snub came at a cost to the town. The city of Glasgow, Scotland had pledged a beautiful church bell if the town named itself Glasgow. Oh well. Blandford has a Glasgow Road near the center, but that’s about it.

Brockton — A local guy was traveling by train near Canada when he heard the announcement for a Canadian town called Brockville. He liked the name and proposed it for his new unnamed town back home in Massachusetts. The town adjusted it to Brockton to avoid confusion with Brockville. Turns out, the Canadian town is named after Sir Isaac Brock, a British hero in the War of 1812. Therefore, indirectly, so is Brockton.

Brookline — A chunk of it was owned by Judge Samuel Sewall from the Salem witch trials. A brook defined his property line. Get it?

Canton — The town’s founders mistakenly believed that Canton was on the exact opposite side of the earth from Canton, China. That’s not even close to accurate, but fantasies like this ran amuck when the young USA was finally able to trade with China without Britain getting in the way.

Clinton — The DeWitt Clinton Hotel in New York, the favorite meeting spot of the town’s founders.

Concord — Euro settlers chose the name after buying land from indigenous tribes in 1635. The word “concord” is synonymous with “accord,” meaning “peaceful agreement.”

Dighton — Frances Dighton, wife of early settler Richard Williams. Notable because few towns are named after women.

Douglas — Dr. William Douglass, who paid every resident $500 to name the town after him.

Florida — Spanish Florida, a big territory that was pared down to become today’s Florida, was a big topic of discussion at the time.

Foxborough — Charles James Fox, a British politician who pushed for the independence of early American colonies.

Franklin — Ben Franklin, a founding father, first American postmaster etc. etc.

Gay Head — It refers to the colorful ledge facing the ocean, “gay” for happy and “head” for headland. In 1997, the name changed to Aquinnah, a Wampanoag word for “Land under the Hill.”

Goshen — The Biblical land of Goshen in Egypt.

Hamilton — Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, whose face is on the town seal.

Hancock — John Hancock, signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first Massachusetts governor.

Harvard — Petitioners forgot to name the town on the official documents, so the secretary of the Mass Bay Colony wrote in “Harvard,” his alma mater.

Lawrence — Abbott Lawrence, mill owner and politician.

Leyden — Leiden, Netherlands, the resting spot for the Pilgrims before embarking on the Mayflower.

Lowell — Francis Cabot Lowell, a leader of the industrial revolution in America. Lowell and his chief engineer Paul Moody began with a factory in Waltham on the Charles River. That’s why there’s a Lowell Mill on Moody Street in Waltham.

Marblehead — European settlers mistakenly thought the granite ledge along the shore was white marble.

Maynard — Amory Maynard, a textile industrialist like Francis Cabot Lowell (on a smaller scale). He built the mammoth factory that dominates downtown.

Middleton — Halfway between settlements in Andover and Salem.

Monterey — Commemorates the victorious battle of Monterey (Mexican-American war). Palo Alto and Buena Vista were considered, but sounded “too foreign.”

Peru — It’s a high, mountainous area, just like the country in South America.

Rehoboth — One of the town’s first settlers was a priest, so he named it after a roomy area mentioned in the Bible.

Royalston — Isaac Royall, a wealthy businessman and slave owner from Medford, where you’ll find a museum in his name.

Salem — Derived from Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace.

Savoy — The Duchy of Savoy in France, because the mountainous landscape is similar.

Seekonk — Wampanoag word for “black goose,” probably referring to Canada geese.

Sharon — A Biblical place in Israel called Sharon Plain.

Somerville — No meaning at all. Just a fanciful name chosen by a committee when the area broke off from Charlestown.

Stoughton — William Stoughton, the colonial lieutenant governor and chief justice who presided over the Salem witch trials.

Stow — Named on a whim by the governor. He once knew a guy named John Stow. That’s all!

Tyngsborough — Pioneers Edward and John Tyng.

Tyringham — Jane Tyringham, a wealthy cousin of colonial Governor Francis Bernard. One of very few MA towns named after a woman.

Wakefield — Cyrus Wakefield, founder of Wakefield Rattan Company. He helped pay for the town hall, so South Reading became Wakefield in 1868.

Wayland — Francis Wayland, president of Brown University.

Webster — Senator and Secretary of State Daniel Webster. Sound familiar? He’s also the namesake of the Daniel Webster Highway in NH.

Wellesley — Isabella Pratt Welles, the namesake of a mansion at first, then Wellesley College, and eventually the whole town. She came from a rich family and married rich.

Wellfleet — Two possibilities: Maybe the popular Wellfleet oysters in England, or maybe a corruption of “whale fleet.”

Wendell — Judge Oliver Wendell, the great-grandfather of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Westfield — The most westerly settlement in the Massachusetts Bay Colony at the time.

Williamsburg — Maybe an early landowner named William Williams.

Winchester — When a group of Whigs in the lower part of Woburn decided to split from the Democratic majority, a wealthy Whig supporter sent $3,000 to help pay for their town hall — then dropped dead of Typhoid Fever at age 49. His named was William P. Winchester.