Taunton, MA

Taunton's Silver City nickname captures one chapter in an industrial history approaching four centuries. The discovery of iron ore in 1652 began its industrial development; later factories produced silver, stoves, locomotives, textiles, nails, pottery, and bricks. Rivers powered early works and supported shipping from Weir Village, while railroads broadened access to outside markets. Reed & Barton began with pewterware in 1824, expanded into silver-plated and sterling goods, and operated its Taunton factory until 2015. That company helped make Silver City an enduring nickname, yet metalwork was only one part of the industrial mix. Former mills, workers' housing, and brick commercial buildings remain in several neighborhoods, and the Old Colony History Museum now maintains a digital Reed & Barton archive alongside its broader regional collections.

The industrial city also serves as the Bristol County seat, and its downtown life meets around a set of old public greens. Founded by Plymouth Colony settlers in 1637, the city stands on the Taunton River, which continues south to Mount Hope Bay. Taunton Green was laid out in the 1740s at the meeting of routes now numbered 44, 138, and 140, and the surrounding National Register district contains the historic commercial core. Church Green, the earlier common, sits a few blocks away beside civic buildings and the Old Colony History Museum. County offices, City Hall, the public library, shops, cultural sites, and recurring events remain concentrated in a downtown whose street pattern still reveals its colonial and nineteenth-century roles. Most industrial work now lies beyond those downtown blocks.

Taunton lies between Boston, Providence, New Bedford, and Fall River, with Interstate 495 connecting the city to the wider southeastern Massachusetts market. The city's approved 2024-2028 consolidated plan places Myles Standish Industrial Park at nearly six million square feet of development and over 7,000 jobs. Manufacturing and distribution operate there alongside a city economy that also includes health care, small businesses, public administration, and downtown services. Large industrial and office buildings spread across the park near the city's western side, separate from the county seat and smaller downtown storefronts. Taunton's industrial identity survives through present production as well as preserved factory history. Community destinations extend from downtown to East Taunton.

At 66 Church Green, the Old Colony History Museum occupies an 1852 brick schoolhouse designed by Richard Upjohn. Its parent historical society was founded in 1853, and the building now holds exhibits, archives, a genealogy library, and year-round programs. In East Taunton, Massasoit State Park offers wooded and cranberry-bog trails, ponds, paddling, fishing, and seasonal camping. Downtown's strongest recurring tradition arrives in December. The 112th Lights On Festival in 2025 filled Taunton Green and nearby streets with the opening ceremony, indoor activities, and a parade route ending at City Hall. For residents, the Green is still a working civic space: the same historic square that organizes downtown traffic becomes the center of the Christmas City celebration each year.