Brookfield, Massachusetts
Location in Worcester County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42Ā°12ā€²50ā€³N 72Ā°06ā€²10ā€³Wļ»æ / ļ»æ42.21389, -72.10278
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Worcester
Settled	1664
Incorporated	1718
Government
- Type	Open town meeting
- Administrative Assistant	Donna Neylon
Area
- Total	16.6 sq mi (42.9 kmĀ²)
- Land	15.5 sq mi (40.2 kmĀ²)
- Water	1.1 sq mi (2.7 kmĀ²)
Elevation	714 ft (218 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	3,051
- Density	196.5/sq mi (75.9/kmĀ²)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	01506
Area code(s)	508 / 774
FIPS code	25-09105
GNIS feature ID	0618358
Website: www.brookfieldma.us

Brookfield is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,051 at the 2000 census.

History

Brookfield was first settled in 1664 and was officially incorporated in 1718.

This section requires expansion.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 16.6 square miles (42.9 kmĀ²), of which, 15.5 square miles (40.2 kmĀ²) of it is land and 1.0 square miles (2.7 kmĀ²) of it (6.34%) is water. Brookfield is bounded on the west, north and east by towns that were formerly part of it: West Brookfield, North Brookfield, and East Brookfield, respectively, and on the south by Sturbridge.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 3,051 people, 1,204 households, and 857 families residing in the town. The population density was 196.5 people per square mile (75.9/kmĀ²). There were 1,302 housing units at an average density of 83.9/sq mi (32.4/kmĀ²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.10% White, 0.20% African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.03% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or 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 married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 23.8% of all households 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.

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 8-9) and Tantasqua Regional High School in Sturbridge. Union 61 and the Tantasqua district share administrators, including the superintendent, and both include Brimfield, Brookfield, Holland, Sturbridge and Wales.

Notable residents

• William Cameron Appleton, (1786-1862), United States Congressman from Massachusetts^[2]

• Elsie the Cow of Borden Products fame, originally called Brookfield home. She was raised on a farm near the center of town, and her "boyfriend" ended up being on another famous label, Elmer's Glue. Elsie won a beauty contest at the world's fair, (193?) and was then signed up for her borden duties.

• In March 1778, Joshua Spooner, a wealthy gentleman farmer in Brookfield, was beaten to death and his body stuffed down a well. Four people were hanged for the crime: two British soldiers, a young Continental soldier, and Spooner's wife, Bathsheba, who was charged with instigating the murder. She was thirty-two 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.

Divorces were all but impossible for women at that time and adulteresses 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 deserters from General Burgoyne's defeated army.

As the daughter of the state's most prominent and despised 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.

--from Murdered by His Wife, by Deborah Navas, (University of Massachusetts Press, 1999)

• 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, our first President traveled through five of the New England states. This tour has become the basis for all of the ā€œGeorge Washington slept hereā€ claims -- but although Washington watered his horses there, 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. On learning of her mistake, she supposedly said: "Bless me! One look at that good man would have cured my aching head.ā€

References

1. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
2. ^ (1963) Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 

External links

News from Brookfield

• The Brookfield Citizen - Local monthly newspaper
• Spencer New Leader - Free weekly newspaper
• Brookfield official website

v ā€¢ d ā€¢ e Municipalities and communities of Worcester County, Massachusetts Cities Fitchburg | Gardner | Leominster | Southbridge | Worcester Towns Ashburnham | Athol | Auburn | Barre | Berlin | Blackstone | Bolton | Boylston | Brookfield | Charlton | Clinton | Douglas | Dudley | East Brookfield | Grafton | Hardwick | Harvard | Holden | Hopedale | Hubbardston | Lancaster | Leicester | Lunenburg | Mendon | Milford | Millbury | Millville | New Braintree | North Brookfield | Northborough | Northbridge | Oakham | Oxford | Paxton | Petersham | Phillipston | Princeton | Royalston | Rutland | Shrewsbury | Southborough | Spencer | Sterling | Sturbridge | Sutton | Templeton | Upton | Uxbridge | Warren | Webster | West Boylston | West Brookfield | Westborough | Westminster | Winchendon CDPs Athol | Baldwinville | Barre | Clinton | Cordaville | East Brookfield | East Douglas | Fiskdale | Fort Devens | Hopedale | Lunenburg | Milford | North Brookfield | Northborough | Oxford | Rutland | South Ashburnham | South Lancaster | Spencer | Sturbridge | Upton-West Upton | Warren | Webster | West Brookfield | Westborough | Whitinsville | Winchendon Villages Gilbertville | Ironstone | Linwood | North Uxbridge | Old Furnace | Wheelockville | Wheelwright