Talk:Taunton, Massachusetts

School Consolidation
Somebody really needs to add a section about the closing of Maxham and Walker, the converting of Mulcahey, and the integration of eigth graders into THS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cgc25 (talk • contribs) 22:41, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Religious Suppression?
The article about religions suppression should be glanced over, modified, and perhaps removed. According to this associated press report, there is still a debate as to whether the kid actually drew that specific picture at all.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091216/ap_on_re_us/us_jesus_drawing —Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.225.107.17 (talk) 18:51, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

It could be renamed but should not be completely removed, maybe linked to an external page fully describing the situation, but it has occurred and should be noted. Right now the courts are deciding if the child was over-pressured and responded accordingly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Evilhenny (talk • contribs) 02:28, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Boston
Boston has greater land area than Taunton (232 sq km vs 124), so I removed the claim that Taunton was the largest city in MA. This is true even if you only include dry land (125 vs 121) MarcusGraly 21:53, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Your are correct...and dry land is the only portion considered "land area". The city, as well as the media, refer to Taunton as largest city based on land mass. 139.84.121.26 19:18, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
 * This is still incorrect; according to Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (see the Massachusetts state web site), Boston is 89.63 square miles overall and 48.32 square miles of land area. Taunton is 47.97 square miles overall and 46.62 square miles of land area.  Not that it matters, given the facts, but being a southern Bristol County resident, I have never heard Taunton referred to as "the largest city."  I have fixed it to reflect this.  ToddC4176 15:42, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Boston is 46 mi^2 and Taunton 48 mi^2. Why argue?
 * Because you seem to have those numbers backward. 155.52.208.80 (talk) 16:34, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Those of you who dispute that Taunton is larger, does the land area of Boston you are using contain suburbs ie. Brookline, Roxbury? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cgc25 (talk • contribs) 23:03, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Roxbury is not a suburb of Boston. It is a neighborhood. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.76.235.238 (talk) 03:56, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

This is all a moot point because Barnstable is the largest city in Massachusetts by land area at 60 square miles of land alone.--Marcbela (talk) 01:50, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

Article cleanup needed
Lots of list and images, but the format is messy and incorrect for a city article. Also, several of the images are copyrighted, which should be kept to a minimum. Also, I would suggest that the images should be placed in Wikimedia Commons (for GFDL-licensed).

Plymouth is 134.0 square miles, much bigger than Taunton. However, Plymouth is classified as a town, not a city.

The huge amount of external links within the main article is also worrisome and should be kept to a minimum. I am unsure why many such links exist in the first place. Pentawing 01:30, 30 September 2005 (UTC) I have re-added the clean-up tag. This article has too many lists, most of which are external links. Also why doesn't this article use the City infobox? And what is the purpose of the extensive gallery? Joelito 13:02, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
 * As of November 20, 2005, I believe that the article is cleaned up. Hence, I removed the cleanup tag. Pentawing 00:16, 21 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Most of the images were copyrighted but had incorrect PD or GFDL tags on them. I deleted them as copyvios. —Angr 07:45, 5 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I am working on cleaning up this article. I am not sure of what to do with the so-called "Notable firsts" section, as none of the information is considered verified.  For now, I will leave it in.  ToddC4176 15:42, 3 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I put the "unverified" tags up because I went to the site and didn't immediately find the information claimed. In the interests of verifiability, sources cited should be the exact page the information is found on, not the overall site.  If I told you the Sears Tower was the tallest building in the United States, telling me the information is somewhere on emporis.com wouldn't be enough info.  Pointing me to the Sears Tower, Chicago on Emporis.com page would be.--Loodog 16:33, 3 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Also, agree with Pentawing. Format should be consistent with wikiProject Cities guidelines.--Loodog 16:35, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Greater Taunton Area
The category "Greater Taunton Area" appears to be redundant with cat:Taunton and cat:Bristol County. Anyone have any strong feelings for/against deletion? Paul 15:49, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Largest city in area
Apparently someone found a source saying that Taunton is the largest city by area in the state. This is flagrantly wrong. Compare statistics for area against Boston!--Loodog 20:47, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Seal of Taunton.png
Image:Seal of Taunton.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 09:07, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Story of Taunton flag
Could anyone fill me in on the story of the Taunton flag? I'm assuming it must date to Revolutionary days, and the slogan "Liberty and Union" with the Union Jack certainly suggests divided (Revolutionary and Loyalist) loyalties.

What exactly is the story behind the flag? I tried Taunton's website, but their "history" link took me back to this Wikipedia article! --Saforrest (talk) 21:33, 21 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Nevermind then... this clears everything up nicely... --Saforrest (talk) 21:35, 21 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Can someone actually ADD information about the flag into the article? 76.66.202.139 (talk) 10:21, 18 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Exactly how did the British flag remain as part of any US flag in the 13 colonies after the start of the revolution? 76.66.202.139 (talk) 10:22, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Some proposed changes
The Old Colony Historical Society rebranded in 2015 as the Old Colony History Museum. Source: http://www.tauntongazette.com/article/20151011/NEWS/151019304 OldColonyHistoryMuseum (talk) 19:17, 16 February 2017 (UTC)
 * This request is misplaced. Raise it at the article on the museum. John from Idegon (talk) 00:52, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

Some proposed changes
Settlers of Taunton came from Dorchester, MA not from within Plymouth Colony. Source: "As early as 1637, the people of Dorchester had begun to feel "much strained for want of room," and were beginning to look elsewhere, even into the territory of the Plymouth Colony." pg. 5, A History of Taunton, Massachusetts, by William F. Hanna. Also, archives, Old Colony History Museum, Taunton, MA. OldColonyHistoryMuseum (talk) 17:16, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Sources must be published, so the museum is a nonstarter. The reference to the book (?) is incomplete. Please provide enough information that it can be located. ❌ John from Idegon (talk) 00:43, 18 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I would like to point out that settling any fledgling community is not as cut and dry as saying "the settlers came from Dorchester" or "the settlers came from within Plymouth Colony." I am a genealogist and many of my ancestors were the early settlers of Taunton.  Some of them came from Dorchester.  Some of them came from the town of Plymouth.  Two went directly to Taunton after getting off the boat at Plymouth.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.190.183.221 (talk) 04:02, 11 January 2019 (UTC)

Some proposed changes
Settlers of Taunton came from Dorchester, MA not from within Plymouth Colony. "As early as 1637, the people of Dorchester had begun to feel "much strained for want of room," and were beginning to look elsewhere, even into the territory of the Plymouth Colony." Source: Hanna, William F. "A History of Taunton, Massachusetts," Old Colony Historical Society, 2008, pg. 5. OldColonyHistoryMuseum (talk) 22:32, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
 * ❌ See above. Also, please stop self-sourcing. If you haven't an academic source, please stop wasting our time. John from Idegon (talk) 23:14, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

Hi John. What part of a 300+ page, peer-reviewed, local history book that is in the Library of Congress do you consider non-academic? If it is because it was published by the Old Colony Historical Society, which has been existence since 1852 and has been used in many academic publications? If that is the issue, how would you like me to source the original documents, signed by the proprietors in Taunton in 1637, that I can go look at right now in this museum, which state that they came from Dorchester, Massachusetts and not Plymouth Colony as this INACCURATE article indicates? If you haven't a helpful suggestion for how to correct the misinformation on this page, please direct me to an editor with whom I can have a fruitful discussion. OldColonyHistoryMuseum (talk) 15:58, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Taunton, Massachusetts. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/elizabeth-poole-first-woman-found-town-americas/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080420065649/http://www.taunton-ma.gov/Pages/index to http://www.taunton-ma.gov/Pages/index/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120717013235/http://www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/TauntonVR/Taunton_1929_Vol1Births_0001.html/ to http://www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/TauntonVR/Taunton_1929_Vol1Births_0001.html/

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I'm sorry I'm new to editing, but when reading the Taunton, MA wiki page there are external links that I think you'd consider dead or incorrect. These links I'll try to list below: Vital Records of Taunton Mass. to 1850https://web.archive.org/web/20120717013235/http://www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/TauntonVR/Taunton_1929_Vol1Births_0001.html/ I'm pretty sure that takes you to a GoDaddy site to create one Then this link: http://www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/TauntonVR/Taunton_1929_Vol1Births_0001.html/ took me to an article then there's another that redirected me to an article titled: "How Does The Makita 18v LXT Cordless Drill Stack Up To The Competition?" I'm not too sure if these are errors by the bot or if this is the right way to notify anyone of this. I'm not using a computer at the time and am very new to any editing within all the Wiki sites. I've been supporting Wikipedia and other Wiki sites with my financial donations for years and believe in all the good that comes from these sites and understand there's always room for improvements as the world around us changes and Wiki is the place for sharing that knowledge and to continue to grow and build upon it and understand it's always going to be living article with room for improvement and the potential is there for this to be great. I appreciate everyone that shares their time and knowledge not only on the subject matter but formatting and editing as well. I wish I had the means to learn more to help in the contributing process and editing, but do have the patience and trust within the platform and those people that do contribute to these free sites and apps with the public and couldn't be more grateful. When I'm searching a subject that comes up with pages on the Brittania sites and Wikipedia I realize how lucky I am these days to have multiple options available to me and not just a set of encyclopedia books bought back in the 1980s from a door to door salesman and it wouldn't be possible without every one of you that puts your time, efforts, and knowledge into this living encyclopedia. I'm sorry I do not know how to correct any external links that may be incorrect and only know that it's best to share anything I may find incorrect within the talk community in case I am the one incorrect and where I'm not knowledgeable on how to make the editing changes I do hope that someone will read what I'm sharing and do what they feel best for the article and assist in removing or correcting or adding the proper information, please. Thank you all for your assistance. NuggettheBeagle (talk) 00:53, 12 May 2021 (UTC)

Addition of Camp Myles Standish
I added a section about the World War II army Camp Myles Standish. I only added a summary that reflects the Wikipedia article on the same topic. I felt it was important to include at least a mention of the camp since it played a major though brief role in Taunton history. I used the Wikipedia article as the reference. If this is not correct procedure than I shall defer to someone with greater expertise than I have. I also cleaned up that part of the history section to make it flow better from century to century. The way the history section was before, there was pretty much nothing happening in Taunton during most of the twentieth century. So I created a section for the twentieth century and then one for the twenty first century. I eliminated the title "recent history" since that is a subjective term. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.190.183.221 (talk) 04:14, 11 January 2019 (UTC)