Concord, Massachusetts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Settled: 1635 – Incorporated: 1635 | ||
| Zip Code(s): 01742 – Area Code(s): 351 / 978 | ||
| Official website: http://www.concordnet.org/ | ||
| Location | ||
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 Location in Massachusetts |
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| Government | ||
| County | Middlesex County | |
| Form of Government | Open town meeting | |
| Executive office | Town Manager | |
| Geography | ||
| Area | ||
| Total | 25.9 mi² / 67.4 km² | |
| Land | 24.9 mi² / 64.5 km² | |
| Water | 1.0 mi² / 2.5 km² | |
| Coordinates | ||
| Elevation | 141 ft / 43 m | |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) | |
| Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) | |
| Population | ||
| Total (2000) | 16993 | |
| Density | 682.0/mi² / 263.3/km² | |
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2000 Census, the town population was about 17,000. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.
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[edit] History
Concord was first settled in 1635 and was officially incorporated in that same year. Concord was a site of the initial conflict in the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
Concord also has a remarkably rich literary history centered in the mid-nineteenth century. Among them were writers Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) and Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), whose novel Little Women (1868) was based in part on her experiences as a child in Concord; and Transcendentalist philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) and Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), who lived in a small cabin on nearby Walden Pond, where he wrote Walden (1854). Philosopher Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), father of Louisa May, and Rev. William Emerson (1769–1811), father of Ralph Waldo, were also notable residents. These persons all lived nearby and knew each other, some quite well, and were also connected with the major cultural center of Boston. Many are buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord.
The Wayside house, which was occupied by scientist John Winthrop (1714–1779) when Harvard College was temporarily moved to Concord during the Revolutionary War, was later the home of Bronson and Louisa May Alcott (when it was called Hillside), who sold it to Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1852 and named it The Wayside. Nathaniel Hawthorne had previously lived in The Old Manse. The Alcotts moved into The Orchard House in 1858, where Lousia May wrote Little Women. Today, The Wayside and The Orchard House are both museums.
Ephraim Bull developed the now-ubiquitous Concord grape at his home on Lexington Road, where the original vine still grows. Welch's, the first company to sell grape juice, maintains a small headquarters in Concord.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 67.1 km² (25.9 mi²). 64.5 km² (24.9 mi²) of it is land and 2.5 km² (1.0 mi²) of it (3.75%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 16,993 people, 5,948 households, and 4,437 families residing in the town. The population density was 263.3/km² (682.0/mi²). There were 6,153 housing units at an average density of 95.3/km² (246.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 91.64% White, 2.24% African American, 0.09% Native American, 2.90% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.12% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.80% of the population.
There were 13,090 households out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $95,897, and the median income for a family was $115,839. Males had a median income of $82,374 versus $47,739 for females. The per capita income for the town was $51,477. About 2.1% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Pronunciation
A great number of people mispronounce the name of Concord, including tourists and the children on the Welch's Fruit Juice commercials. The most common mispronunciation is "kon-kord," with the second syllable pronounced like the word "chord." The correct pronunciation would be saying the name of the town as if it were the word "conquered," with the "ord" in the name of the town pronounced as if it were "erd" as in "nerd."
Massachusetts natives with Boston accent often pronounce Concord "konk-id.".
[edit] Points of interest
- Old North Bridge
- The Old Manse, home of Emerson and Hawthorne
- The Wayside, home of Louisa May Alcott, Hawthorne, and Margaret Sidney
- Minute Man National Historical Park
- Walden Pond
[edit] Schools
- Concord Carlisle Regional High School, the local Public High School which the neighboring town Carlisle shares with Concord
- Concord Middle School (consisting of two buildings about a mile apart Sanborn and Peabody)
- Alcott, Willard, Thoreau and formerly Ripley, the local public elementary schools
- Concord Academy and Middlesex School, private preparatory schools.
- The Fenn School and The Nashoba Brooks School, private day schools, the former being all-boys, grades 4-9, and the latter being gender integrated pre K to 3rd grade and all-girls for grades 4-8.
[edit] External links
- Concord official website
- Walden Pond State Reservation
- Concord Academy (an independent college preparatory school)
- Concord's Colonial Inn
- Public School System Site
- Concord (Massachusetts) travel guide from Wikitravel
