Paxton, Massachusetts

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Paxton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,004 at the 2020 census.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Paxton center church at night

Paxton was first settled by Europeans in 1749 and was officially incorporated in 1765. It was previously occupied by the Nipmuc tribe.

The district of Paxton was originally taken from the towns of Leicester and Rutland, in nearly equal parts, and was incorporated February 12, 1765. Charles Paxton, marshal of the Admiralty Court, offered a church bell to the town if it was named after him; no such gift was ever made.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The inhabitants soon commenced their plan for building a meeting house, and on the first day of April 1765, the town voted to build it. It was raised on June 18, 1766, and this is the frame of the present meeting house.

In 1766, within two years of the incorporation of the town, the foundation of the present meeting house was laid, on what is now the common, near the flagstaff. The land was given by Seth Howe, from a piece of his pasture.

David Davis went to Boston with a pair of oxen and drew to Paxton the bell now in use, which was made by Paul Revere.

A small historic and now defunct amusement park called "Paxton Navy Yard" operated here in the mid 20th century.

Asnebumskit Hill was the site of the Yankee Network's early FM broadcasting antenna, beginning its commercial operations in Summer 1939.<ref>Lawrence Lessing (1969), Man of High Fidelity: Edwin Howard Armstrong, revised edition, New York: Bantam, Ch.12, "The Defender of the Human Ear", pp. 194-195.</ref>

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert, or 4.78%, is water.

Adjacent cities and towns

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Demographics

Template:Historical populations As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2000, there were 4,386 people, 1,428 households, and 1,153 families residing in the town. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 1,461 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the town was 96.69% White, 0.68% African American, 0.09% Native American, 1.07% Asian, 0.57% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.55% of the population.

There were 1,428 households, out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.1% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.2% were non-families. 15.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 13.6% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $72,039, and the median income for a family was $80,498. Males had a median income of $51,694 versus $38,409 for females. The per capita income for the town was $29,573. None of the families and 1.8% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 4.5% of those over 64.

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Arts and culture

Points of interest

Education

Library

The Paxton public library began in 1877.<ref>C.B. Tillinghast. The free public libraries of Massachusetts. 1st Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts. Boston: Wright & Potter, 1891. Google books</ref><ref>Richards Memorial Library. Retrieved November 10, 2010</ref> In fiscal year 2008, the town of Paxton spent 1.53% ($143,354) of its budget on its public library—approximately $30 per person ($36.74 adjusted for inflation to 2021).<ref>July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008; cf. The FY2008 Municipal Pie: What's Your Share? Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Board of Library Commissioners. Boston: 2009. Available: Municipal Pie Reports Template:Webarchive. Retrieved August 4, 2010</ref>

Infrastructure

Paxton civil war memorial

Utilities

  • Electric service is provided by the town's own municipal light department.
  • Water service is provided by the town's own water department. Paxton's principal source of drinking water is Asnebumskit Pond. Recently, Paxton sells the raw Asnebumskit Pond water to Worcester, and buys back water treated at Worcester's filtration plant.
  • Telephone service is provided by Verizon. All phones in Paxton are connected to Verizon's main central office in Worcester.
  • Cable television service is provided by Charter Communications.
  • No natural gas or sewer service is available in Paxton. At least one house on the Paxton-Worcester city line is connected to the Worcester sewer system. Paxton residents voted down the creation of the South Paxton Sewer District at a February 28, 2006, town meeting. This district would have installed sewers in the part of Paxton adjacent to Worcester.

Notable people

See also

References

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