# 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 Gazetteer 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.