Easton, Massachusetts

Easton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Boston area.

Easton is governed by an elected Select Board. Open Town Meeting acts as the legislative branch of the town. The Select Board chooses a Town Administrator to run the day-to-day operations of the town.

History


Easton was first settled in 1694 and was officially incorporated in 1725.

In 1694, the first settler, Clement Briggs, established his home near the Easton Green. In 1711, the Taunton North Purchase area became Norton, and in 1713, the sixty-nine families settled in Easton and hired Elder William Pratt as their first minister. Prior to the settlers' establishment, the area was occupied by Native Americans as a hunting area and a burial ground. During King Philip's War, Metacom, also known as King Philip, used part of Easton as a headquarters for his troops. There was no legal parish in Easton until 1722, when the East Precinct of Norton was recognized. In 1725, the area was incorporated as the Town of Easton; it was so named because it was formerly called the "East End" of the Taunton North Purchase and was shortened by pronunciation to Easton. During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington stayed at the Benjamin Williams Tavern on Bay Road, which is now the second oldest existing house in Easton, while on his way to negotiate for cannonballs at the old Perry Foundry in Taunton.

In 1803, the Ames Shovel Works was established and became nationally known as having provided the shovels which laid the Union Pacific Railroad and opened the west. In 1875, the shovel production of the Ames plant was worth $1.5 million. The most notable of the Ames family were Oakes Ames, a key figure in the Crédit Mobilier of America scandal, and Oliver Ames (R), governor of Massachusetts from 1887 to 1890.

The Ames family shaped the town's economy, and was responsible for the presence of a number of landmark buildings in the town designed by H. H. Richardson, originator of the Richardsonian Romanesque style and designer of Trinity Church in Boston.

Richardson buildings in Easton include:


 * The Ames Free Library (town library)
 * Oakes Ames Memorial Hall
 * The Old Colony Railroad Station (houses the Easton Historical Society)
 * The Ames Gate Lodge (privately owned by the Ames family)
 * The F. L. Ames Gardener's Cottage (privately owned by the Ames family)

Though this school complex was not made by Richardson himself, it was dedicated to him and made in his style:


 * H. H. Richardson/F. L. Olmsted Intermediate School

In addition, there is a commercial building at 69 Main Street which was designed and built in the nineteenth century by Richardson's office in a Richardsonian style. The Richardson buildings are all located within a compact area designated as the H. H. Richardson Historic District. The area also includes The Rockery, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also landscaped grounds of Oakes Ames Memorial Hall and the Ames Free Library.

Within a few blocks of the H. H. Richardson Historic District is Unity Church, built by the Ames family in 1875, and designed in the Gothic Revival Style by architect and publisher John Ames Mitchell. It includes an ornate oak frieze including sculptures of twenty-two angels playing music, carved by Johannes Kirchmayer (1860–1930), and two notable stained-glass windows, "Angel of Help," and "Figure of Wisdom," both by John LaFarge (1835–1910). "Figure of Wisdom," completed in 1901, is the largest stained-glass work created by LaFarge.

Geography


According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 29.2 sqmi, of which 28.4 sqmi is land and 0.7 sqmi (2.54%) is water. The town, in addition to its own smaller town forest, includes part of Borderland State Park at the northwestern corner of town, Hockomock Swamp Wildlife Management Area at the southeastern corner of town, and all of Wheaton Farm Conservation Area in the southwest. All of the town's waterways are considered part of the Taunton River Watershed area, which in turn is the eastern section of the Narragansett Bay Watershed area.

Easton forms the northeastern corner of Bristol County, where the county intersects with Plymouth County to the east and Norfolk County to the north.

The localities of Easton include Alger's Corner, Daley Corner, Easton Center, Easton Green, Eastondale, Five Corners, Furnace Village, Goward's Corner, Morris Corner, Morse Corner, Pratt's Corner. Although there is no official designation dividing "North Easton" from "South Easton," the terms are colloquially used by older residents of the town even though they have no governmental or legal standing.

Easton is located in eastern Massachusetts. The roughly trapezoidal-shaped town is bordered by Brockton and West Bridgewater to the east, Taunton and Raynham to the south, Norton to either side of its southwest corner, Mansfield to the west, and Sharon and Stoughton to the north.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,299 people, 7,489 households, and 5,571 families residing in the town. The population density was 784.1 PD/sqmi. There were 7,631 housing units at an average density of 268.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 91.94% White, 1.59% African American, 0.04% Native American, 1.39% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 4.13% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.58% of the population.

There were 7,489 households, out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.3% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families. Of all households, 20.7% were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 13.1% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $89,144, and the median income for a family was $112,190. Males had a median income of $51,429 versus $35,912 for females. The per capita income for the town was $40,732. About 0.7% of families and 2.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.6% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Public schools
Easton's public school system includes one early-elementary school serving kindergarten through second grade: Blanche A. Ames Elementary School; there are two elementary schools serving grades 3–5: Frederick Law Olmsted School and Henry Hobson Richardson School (now considered one school, known as "Richardson-Olmsted.");  meanwhile grades 6 through 8 attend Easton Middle School, and high school students attend Oliver Ames High School (OA).

Oliver Ames High School's athletic teams' mascot is the tiger. The school colors are orange and black. The OA girls varsity basketball team won the Division II state basketball championship in 2006 and 2010. The Oliver Ames Varsity Baseball team won the Division II State Baseball Championship in June 2007. In November 2007, Oliver Ames girls' varsity soccer team won the Division II state soccer championship. In November 2015 the Oliver Ames boys soccer team won the state championship game. The high school also boasts an impressive music department, complete with a jazz band, marching band, concert band, show choir, concert choir and chamber orchestra. The Oliver Ames Marching Band won the 2008 Division 2 New England championships for USSBA, and placed fifth out of 29 bands competing.

The town is also home to Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School, which serves all the bordering towns (except Taunton and Raynham), plus Foxborough. Students may choose to attend Southeastern or Oliver Ames free of charge.

Higher education
Easton is home to Stonehill College, a private, non-profit, coeducational, Roman Catholic, liberal arts college. Their mascot is "Ace" the Skyhawk.

Transportation
Easton is served by the following highways that run through the town: Routes 106, 123 and 138. Additionally, the town is served by two major highways which run just outside its border, Route 24 to the east and Interstate 495 to the south.

Easton receives limited bus service from the Brockton Area Transit Authority, with Route 9 making stops adjacent to Stonehill College and the Easton Industrial Park. Bloom Bus Lines also offers commuter bus service to Taunton and Boston, with a flag stop at the corner of Route 138 and Route 106.

Easton is the site of two proposed MBTA Commuter Rail stations, North Easton and Easton Village, on the Stoughton Branch option of the MBTA's South Coast Rail project. In March 2011, following the release of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Draft Environmental Impact Report, Gov. Deval Patrick's administration and the MBTA announced this alternative as the best option for achieving all the goals of the project. As of 2019, the Easton stations have been moved to Phase 2 of the project, which will not be completed until 2030.

Points of interest

 * Ames Free Library
 * Borderland State Park
 * Governor Oliver Ames Estate
 * Oakes Ames Memorial Hall
 * Stonehill College
 * The Rockery

Athletes

 * Jim Craig, goaltender for the gold medal winning 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic hockey team
 * Corey Dillon, former NFL player; lived in Easton while playing for the New England Patriots
 * Irving Fryar, lived in Easton while playing for the Patriots
 * Scott Gordon, former US Olympic and NHL hockey goalie, AHL and NHL coach
 * Nick Green, lived in Easton while playing for the Boston Red Sox
 * Russ Hochstein, lived in Easton while playing for the Patriots
 * Cedric Green, lived in Easton while playing as a wide receiver for the Patriots
 * Ronnie Lippett, former Patriots player who still lives in Easton
 * Stanley Morgan, former Patriots player; lived in Easton
 * Andre Tippett, lived in Easton for a part of his career while playing for the Patriots
 * Mo Vaughn, former Red Sox first baseman; lived in Easton
 * Erik Vendt, three-time Olympic Medalist for swimming (two silver, one gold) in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics
 * Mike Vrabel, former NFL linebacker lived in Easton while playing for the Patriots
 * Brent Williams, former Patriots player; lives in Easton
 * John Marino, NHL defenseman for the New Jersey Devils
 * David MacKinnon, MLB First Baseman who has spent time on the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics

Historical

 * Blanche Ames Ames, Inventor/painter, suffragette, and first president of the Birth Control League of Massachusetts. Maiden name was Ames, married Oakes Ames (below) and kept both names, although no relation until married
 * Oakes Ames (1804–1873), manufacturer, United States Congressman
 * Oakes Ames, specialist in orchids
 * Oliver Ames Sr. (1779–1863), patriarch of Ames family
 * Oliver Ames Jr. (1807–1877), president of the Union Pacific railroad
 * Frederick Lothrop Ames (1835–1893), Vice President of the Old Colony Railroad and director of the Union Pacific railroad
 * Frederick Lothrop Ames Jr. (1876–1921), Son of Frederick Lothrop Ames
 * Ruth Graves Wakefield, Creator of the chocolate chip cookie; was born in Easton

Writers

 * Joseph Nassise, author

Politicians

 * Oliver Ames (1831–1895), governor of Massachusetts
 * Claire Cronin, 25th United States Ambassador to Ireland, and former Majority Leader of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
 * George Van Ness Lothrop (1817–1897), Michigan Attorney General
 * Martin V. Pratt (1828–1898), Wisconsin State Assemblyman

Actors

 * Kristian Alfonso, soap opera star

Government
Easton is represented by Gerald Cassidy (D) and Carol Doherty (D) in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Easton is represented by Walter Timilty (D).

Easton is represented by Elizabeth Warren (D) and Ed Markey (D) in the United States Senate.

In the United States Congress Easton is represented by Jake Auchincloss (D).

Local government
Easton is governed by an elected committee of select board members and a town administrator. Easton's "Board of Selectmen" was renamed a Select Board via Town Meeting in 2019.

The Easton Select Board as of September 2019:


 * Dottie Fulginiti (Chair)
 * Craig Barger (Vice-Chair)
 * Marc Lamb
 * Jennifer Stacy
 * Jamie Stebbins

The Easton Town Administrator as of September 2019:


 * Connor Read

Media
Easton does not have a daily newspaper, but is served by The Enterprise of Brockton, a GateHouse Media company. Easton's last town-specific newspaper, a weekly called the Easton Journal, published its final issue in 2019, combining with three other local weekly newspapers to create a regional weekly called the Journal News Independent (also owned by GateHouse Media).

Easton Community Access Television serves as the public access station for the town, with many town board meetings and school events televised on the channel. Because of Easton's proximity to both Boston and Providence, town residents have access to television networks in both media markets.

Religion
Easton has 13 houses of worship, including two Baptist churches, two Catholic churches, two Congregational churches, and two Jewish temples.