Timeline of Worcester, Massachusetts

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.

Prior to 19th century

 * 1669 – Common established.
 * 1719 – Town meeting house built.
 * 1722 - incorporated as a town June 14, 1722.
 * 1731 - On April 2, 1731, Worcester was chosen as the county seat of the newly founded Worcester County
 * 1733 – Court House built.
 * 1763 – Old South Meeting house built (approximate date).
 * 1775
 * Post office established.
 * Massachusetts Spy newspaper relocates to Worcester.
 * 1776 – July 14, first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Isaiah Thomas.
 * 1786 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.
 * 1787 – First known printing of the word 'baseball' appears in A Little Pretty Pocket-book, Worcester, MA, by Isaiah Thomas, Rare Book and Special Collections, Library of Congress.
 * 1792 – Second Meeting House dedicated.
 * 1793 – Associate Library Company active.

19th century

 * 1800 – Independent Gazeteer begins publication.
 * 1801 – National Aegis newspaper begins publication.
 * 1812 – American Antiquarian Society founded.
 * 1818 – Worcester Agricultural Society incorporated.
 * 1819 – Fraternity of Odd Fellows active.
 * 1823 – Massachusetts Yeoman newspaper begins publication.
 * 1824 – Town Hall built.
 * 1825 – Worcester Lyceum of Natural History founded.
 * 1828 – Blackstone Canal opens.
 * 1829
 * Worcester County Republican newspaper begins publication.
 * Worcester County Athenaeum and Worcester Lyceum active.
 * 1830
 * Worcester County Colonization Society formed.
 * Worcester Social Library active.
 * Population: 4,173.
 * 1832 – Worcester Law Library Association active.
 * 1833
 * Tolman carriage factory established.
 * Ezra Rice House built.
 * 1834
 * St. John's Catholic Church established.
 * Worcester Palladium newspaper begins publication.
 * Worcester Academy established.
 * 1835 – Harris' Circulating Library in operation.
 * 1838
 * P. Young variety store established.
 * Christian Reflector newspaper begins publication.
 * Rural Cemetery is incorporated.
 * 1843 – College of the Holy Cross established.
 * 1840
 * Worcester County Horticultural Society formed.
 * Population: 7,497.
 * 1844 – Worcester Almanac begins publication.
 * 1845
 * Daily Transcript and Worcester County Gazette newspapers begin publication.
 * Classical and English High School opens.
 * 1847 – Worcester Telegraph and Worcester Daily Journal newspapers begin publication.
 * 1848
 * Worcester (a town) becomes the City of Worcester.
 * Levi Lincoln, Jr. becomes mayor.
 * City hosts Whig State Convention.
 * 1849 – Oread Institute founded.
 * 1850
 * National Women's Rights Convention held in city.
 * Population: 17,049.
 * 1851 – Daily Morning Transcript newspaper begins publication.
 * 1852 – Worcester Young Men's Christian Association founded.
 * 1853
 * Worcester Rhetorical Society incorporated.
 * Emmanuel Baptist church built.
 * Agricultural Fairgrounds in operation (approximate date).
 * 1854
 * Hope Cemetery laid out.
 * Mission Chapel built.
 * 1856 – Worcester Employment Society and Highland Military School founded.
 * 1857
 * Mechanics Hall built.
 * Ladies' Collegiate Institute opens.
 * 1858 – Worcester Music Festival begins; Frohsinn Gesang Verein chorus formed.
 * 1860 – A.H. Word's Select Circulating Library active.
 * 1862 – Free Public Library building constructed on Elm Street.
 * 1864 – Dale Hospital opens.
 * 1865 – Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science founded.
 * 1866 – Worcester County Homoeopathic Medical Society formed.
 * 1868 – Chamberlain's Circulating Library in operation.
 * 1869 – Elwood Adams hardware store in business.
 * 1872 – South End commercial circulating library in operation.
 * 1873 – Home for Aged Women opens.
 * 1874
 * Worcester Normal School established.
 * Soldiers' Monument dedicated.
 * Cathedral of Saint Paul built.
 * 1875
 * Worcester Society of Antiquity formed.
 * Train station built.
 * 1876 – Grand Army of the Republic Hall built.
 * 1877 – Irvings base ball team active.
 * 1879 – Worcester Worcesters base ball team formed (approximate date).
 * 1880 – First perfect game in Major League Baseball history pitched by Lee Richmond, pitcher for the Worcester Worcesters.
 * 1884
 * Worcester bicentennial.
 * St. Peters Catholic Church built.
 * 1885 – Frederick Daniels House built.
 * 1886
 * Worcester Daily Telegram newspaper begins publication.
 * Hatters' and Furnishers' Association formed.
 * 1887
 * Clark University founded.
 * Becker's Business College formed.
 * Pilgrim Congregational Church built.
 * Horseshoers' Union organized.
 * 1888 – St. Mark's Episcopal Church built.
 * 1889 – Old South Church built, corner Main and Wellington St.
 * 1891 – Lothrop's Opera House opens.
 * 1892 – New English High School opens.
 * 1894 – St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and South Unitarian Church built.
 * 1895 – Union Congregational Church built.
 * 1897 – Worcester Art Museum School established.
 * 1898
 * Worcester Art Museum building opens.
 * Worcester City Hall built.
 * 1899 – Worcester Business Institute established.

20th century

 * 1900
 * Population: 118,421.
 * Bancroft School established.
 * Bancroft Tower in Salisbury Park erected.
 * 1901 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.
 * 1904
 * Assumption College established.
 * Shaarai Torah congregation incorporated.
 * 1906
 * Boulevard Park opens.
 * Worcester Lunch Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company founded.
 * Labor News begins publication.
 * Worcester Domestic Science School established.
 * 1907 – Slater Building constructed.
 * 1910
 * Population: 145,986.
 * April 3: President William Howard Taft visits Mechanics Hall to speak about labor issues to a meeting of Brotherhoods in Train Service
 * 1911 – Train station rebuilt.
 * 1912
 * Bancroft Hotel built.
 * Burnside Fountain installed.
 * 1913 – Greendale Branch Library, Quinsigamond Branch Library and South Worcester Branch Library built.
 * 1914
 * Park Building constructed.
 * September – Fashion Week.
 * 1921 – Temple Emanuel founded.
 * 1923 – Worcester Panthers baseball team active.
 * 1924
 * Fitton Field stadium opens.
 * Congregation Beth Israel founded.
 * 1927
 * Foley Stadium built.
 * Worcester Airport opens.
 * 1931 – Higgins Armory Museum opens.
 * 1938 – Worcester Junior College established.
 * 1950 – Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester established.
 * 1952 – Massachusetts Route 146 highway constructed.
 * 1953 – Tornado.
 * 1954 – Worcester Area Sports Car Club formed.
 * 1955 – Commerce Bank & Trust Company founded.
 * 1962 – University of Massachusetts Medical School established.
 * 1963
 * Smiley created by Harvey Ross Ball.
 * Quinsigamond Community College founded.
 * 1968 – Worcester Consortium of Universities founded.
 * 1971
 * Worcester Center Galleria opens.
 * Worcester Science Center and Mechanics Tower built.
 * 1974
 * Worcester Regional Transit Authority established.
 * Worcester Plaza built.
 * 1975 – Joseph D. Early becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district.
 * 1976 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.
 * 1980 – New England Summer Nationals automotive festival begins.
 * 1982 – Centrum arena opens.
 * 1983 – Interstate 190 highway in operation.
 * 1986 – Telegram & Gazette newspaper formed.
 * 1987
 * Greater Worcester Land Trust founded.
 * United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts division opens.
 * Sister city relationship established with Pushkin, Russia.
 * 1988
 * Jordan Levy becomes mayor.
 * Worcester Historical Museum opens on Elm Street.
 * 1991 – Sky Mark Tower built.
 * 1994
 * Raymond Mariano becomes mayor.
 * Worcester Women's History Project founded.
 * Worcester IceCats hockey team active.
 * 1996
 * City website online (approximate date).
 * Worcester Sharks ice hockey team active.
 * Music Worcester Inc. formed.
 * 1997 – Jim McGovern becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district.
 * 1999 – Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire.

21st century

 * 2000
 * Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences campus opens.
 * Union Station renovated.
 * 2001 – Worcester Public Library main branch renovated.
 * 2002 – Tim Murray becomes mayor.
 * 2004 – Worcester IceCats hockey team sold and moves out of Worcester.
 * 2005 – Worcester Tornadoes baseball team formed.
 * 2007 – Konstantina Lukes becomes mayor.
 * 2010 – Joseph C. O'Brien becomes mayor.
 * 2011 – Worcester Hydra soccer team founded.
 * 2012 –
 * Joseph Petty becomes mayor.
 * Worcester Tornados baseball team's final season.
 * 2013 – Higgin's Armory Museum closes.
 * 2014 – Worcester Bravehearts baseball team formed.
 * 2015 – Worcester Sharks hockey team moves to San Jose.
 * 2017 – Worcester Railers hockey team formed.
 * 2018 – Massachusetts Pirates indoor football team formed.