Talk:Middleborough, Massachusetts/Archive 1

Haunted?
The town hall may be haunted? Give me a fucking break66.232.73.40 (talk) 01:53, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Cranberry Capital
Where are the facts supporting the claim that Middleborough is the Cranberry Capital of the world? anonymously added 12/2006

---Middleborough is one of a half dozen towns in southeastern Massachusetts that claim the monniker of "Cranberry Capital of the world." It is the location of Ocean Spray's headquarters, the former location of one of its processing plants, and has significant acreage devoted to the bogs and associated facilities and lands. I would support changing the statement that "it is" to one that it "is referred to" or "calls itself" Purplemouse 20:57, 16 January 2007 (UTC)purplemouse

Notable Figures
Is Leo Allen notable? Purplemouse 21:07, 16 January 2007 (UTC)purplemouse

Casino?
Middleboro as the "ideal" location for a casino is an opinion. The citation provided is merely a link to an article about a contested Town Meeting.

Notable people section
Hi, I removed the foloowing people from this section because they do not have their own Wikipedia article which is required to establish notability per Wikipedia guidelines. The information I removed is: Lydia Cabot Dodge, Abolitionist. Founded Middleboro's Cabot Club in 1897, Tyler Horan, professional baseball player with the San Francisco Giants organization and Andrew Osborne, writer of Image Comics' "Blue Estate". Thanks --BuzyBody (talk) 00:26, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

Education Section

 * this response is for an assignment in a college course*

-I believe this article has a lot of information to offer about Middleboro. The sources seem accurate, although I'm a little concerned about someone naming this the "Cranberry Capitol" of the world. We certainly do have a lot of cranberries and bogs but I don't know what qualifies us as a capitol.

-everything in the article is related and relevant to the topic, nothing was distracting.

-I think education was unrepresented for the following reasons: Although the only main schools ran by Middleboro are the kindergarten, high school, elementary, and the middle school...I think its valuable to add how the elementary school recently developed into two separate categories based on where the child is from in the town. I also think its important to mention the special education program offered to mentally changed or disabled young adults at Middleboro high school. This program is very important to not only residents of the town but also all surrounding towns because its one of the only special education programs offered in south eastern Massachusetts. In addition, it could be valuable to mention the Chamberlain School. Although often overlooked, this school is a great idea to help others achieve their goals and pursue them to try their best. The Chamberlain School, located in North Middleboro, is "a a co-educational therapeutic boarding and day school, serving students ages 11-22 from Massachusetts, across the United States, and throughout the world." . — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jencogan (talk • contribs) 16:00, 9 September 2016 (UTC)  Jencogan (talk) Jencogan (talk) 16:06, 9 September 2016 (UTC)

Etymology of Town's Name
The history section makes the claim "There are no contemporary records that indicate the name Middlebury was taken from a place in England, and changed to the more modern Middleborough. The names Middlebury and Middleborough were actually derived from the city of Middelburg, Zeeland, the westernmost province of the Netherlands." This claim was added on September 18, 2014, but no citation has ever been provided for it. I am unable to find an online source backing this up. This not to say it's incorrect, but that it should be treated as just one of several etymologies for the town name. The others being:

1) The original name Middleberry may have been a reference to the area being the midpoint between the original Plimoth settlement and Montaup (then home of Massasoit Ousamequin, now modern day Bristol, RI). See Nason's (1890:461) A gazetteer of the state of Massachusetts: with numerous illustrations and Weston's (1906:xvii) History of the town of Middleboro, Massachusetts, though it's not clear what source they are drawing from. This seems to be most widely accepted.

2) Weston (1906:xvii) also proposes the name, but came from the "town of Middleboro in North Riding of York, England". This is a reference to Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire. My understanding is that this is the origin sometimes taught in Middleborough, MA schools and believed by many locals. That said, Middlesbrough is over 80 miles further north from the next English city that was used as namesake in Plymouth Colony and there is no evidence of there having been a community of Brownists or Puritans in the 16th or 17th centuries. It is also unlikely that Middleberry and Mydilsburgh / Middlesburgh / Middlesbrough ever had a similar pronunciation to one another.

3) The Middelburg claim, referenced above, that doesn't seem to have a reference outside this article. Bradford's History Of Plymouth Plantation also references concerns among the settlers about losing their language, customs and sense of community while staying in Leiden. It would seem unusual - at least in this period - that Middleborough would be the only town in the colony with a Dutch namesake, especially given that the settlers' time in Leiden was in such recent memory and seemed to carry negative connotations. We don't see a town in Massachusetts with a Dutch namesake until 1809, long after the colony's founding was out of living memory.

4) There is a Middleborough Roundabout in Colchester, UK, but it is unclear how old if it dates back to the 17th century, and I've found no source citing it as a possible namesake.

tl;dr we may do well to add a "citation needed" to this claim in the article and either prioritize the town's name referring to geographic place or acknowledge the uncertainty around its origin.