page_title: Berkley, Massachusetts
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Berkley, Massachusetts / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Berkley Old Town Hall. Part of Berkley Common (Massachusetts) NRHP 15000980 This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 15000980
context_page_description: Berkley is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston and east of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 6,411 at the 2010 census, making it the least populated town in the county.
context_section_description: The present town of Berkley, then belonging to the neighboring towns of Dighton and Taunton, was first settled in 1638. It was officially incorporated as a separate town in 1735. The town was named for the philosopher and bishop George Berkeley (1685-1753), who lived in Newport, Rhode Island from 1728 to 1731. The change in the spelling to "Berkley" was likely due to the carelessness of the engrossing clerk of the Massachusetts General Court.
  Berkley's old Town Hall, a two-story white clapboard building located on Berkley Common, was built in 1849. When a new Town Hall was built across the street in 2015, the Old Town Hall became home to the Berkley Historical Society. The new 9,778-square-foot Town Hall was built in 2014-2015, at a cost of $3.5 million. The new building contains a senior center, office, kitchen, and high-efficiency LED lighting.
caption: Old Town Hall was built 1849
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