 thumb|right|mount wachusett, the highest point in worcester county worcester county is a county located in the u.s. state of massachusetts. as of the 2010 census, the population was 798,552, making it the second-most populous county in massachusetts. the largest city and traditional county seat is the city of worcester. worcester county is included in the worcester, ma-ct metropolitan statistical area as well as the boston-worcester-providence, ma-ri-nh-ct combined statistical area. ==history== worcester county was formed from the eastern portion of colonial hampshire county, the western portion of the original middlesex county and the extreme western portion of the original suffolk county. when the government of worcester county was established on april 2, 1731, worcester was chosen as its shire town (later known as a county seat). from that date until the dissolution of the county government, it was the only county seat. because of the size of the county, there were fifteen attempts over 140 years to split the county into two counties, but without success. initially, lancaster was proposed as the seat of the northern county; later, petersham was proposed once and fitchburg was proposed repeatedly, most recently in 1903. perhaps as a concession, in august 1884 the worcester county registry of deeds was split in two, with the worcester northern registry placed in fitchburg. ==government and politics== worcester county has had no county government or county commissioners since july 1, 1998, when county functions were assumed by state agencies at local option following a change in state law. vestiges of the former system include an elected
1998_disestablishments_in_Massachusetts Greater_Boston Massachusetts_counties Populated_places_disestablished_in_1998 Populated_places_established_in_1731 Worcester,_MA-CT_metropolitan_area Worcester_County,_Massachusetts