Worcester County is a county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 862,111, making it the second-most populous county in Massachusetts. It is also the largest county in Massachusetts by geographic area. The largest city and traditional shire town is Worcester, Massachusetts. Worcester County is part of the Worcester, MA-CT metropolitan statistical area and as the Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT combined statistical area.
Acton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, approximately 21 miles (34 km) west-northwest of Boston along Massachusetts Route 2 west of Concord and about ten miles (16 km) southwest of Lowell. The population was 24,021 in April 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau. It is bordered by Westford and Littleton to the north, Concord and Carlisle to the east, Stow, Maynard, and Sudbury to the south and Boxborough to the west. Acton became an incorporated town in 1735. The town employs the Open Town Meeting form of government with a town manager and an elected, five-member select board. Acton was named the 11th Best Place To Live among small towns in the country by Money Magazine in 2015, and the 16th best in 2009 and in 2011. The local high school, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, was named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009.
Littleton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,141 at the 2020 census.
Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private elementary and high schools.
Leominster is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 43,782 at the 2020 census. Leominster is located north of Worcester and northwest of Boston. Both Route 2 and Route 12 pass through Leominster. Interstate 190, Route 13, and Route 117 all have starting/ending points in Leominster. Leominster is bounded by Fitchburg and Lunenburg to the north, Lancaster to the east, Sterling and Princeton to the south, and Westminster to the west.
Devens is a regional enterprise zone and census-designated place in the towns of Ayer and Shirley and Harvard in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is the successor to Fort Devens, a military post that operated from 1917 to 1996. The population was 1,840 at the 2010 census.
The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses, a satellite campus in Springfield and also 25 campuses throughout California and Washington with the University of Massachusetts Global.
Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a western suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, United States; and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population stood at 27,295, up 10.4% from 2010.
Burlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,377 at the 2020 census.
Bridgewater is a town located in Plymouth County, in the state of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population was 28,633. Bridgewater is located approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Boston and approximately 35 miles east of Providence, Rhode Island.
Plymouth is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as "America's Hometown". Plymouth was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Mayflower Pilgrims, where New England was first established. It is the oldest municipality in New England and one of the oldest in the United States. The town has served as the location of several prominent events, one of the more notable being the First Thanksgiving feast. Plymouth served as the capital of Plymouth Colony from its founding in 1620 until the colony's merger with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. The English explorer John Smith named the area Plymouth and the region 'New England' during his voyage of 1614. It was a later coincidence that, after an aborted attempt to make the 1620 trans-Atlantic crossing from Southampton, the Mayflower finally set sail for America from Plymouth, England.
Athol is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,945 at the 2020 census.
Lunenburg is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,946 at the 2020 census.
Fitchburg State University is a public university in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. It has 3,421 undergraduate and 1,238 graduate/continuing education students, for a total student body enrollment of 4,659. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in 25 academic disciplines. The main campus, the McKay Campus School, and athletic fields occupy 79 acres (320,000 m2) in the city of Fitchburg; the biological study fields occupy 120 acres (490,000 m2) in the neighboring towns of Lancaster, Leominster, and Lunenburg.
Aquinas College, locally abbreviated as Aquinas, is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, located at Salter Point, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC) is a public community college in Gardner, Massachusetts. Established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1963, it features an open admissions policy for the majority of its academic programs. MWCC offers more than 70 academic programs that allow students to earn either an associate of science degree (A.S.), associate of arts degree (A.A.), or a certificate.
Ayer station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station located off Main Street in the Ayer Main Street Historic District of Ayer, Massachusetts. It serves the Fitchburg Line. There are three tracks through the station, two of which are served by a pair of low-level side platforms, which are not accessible. There is a shelter on the inbound platform.
The New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a state special education school with a residential campus in Alamogordo, New Mexico and a preschool in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It operates outreach programs throughout the state.
Ayer is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Originally part of Groton, it was incorporated February 14, 1871, and became a major commercial railroad junction. The town was home to Camp Stevens, a training camp for Massachusetts volunteers during the American Civil War. Later, Fort Devens was established by the federal government to train New England soldiers for World War I. Fort Devens is a major influence on the area, although it is considerably smaller than when it was first closed in the mid-1990s. The town's population was 8,479 at the 2020 census.
John Chittick was a youth HIV/AIDS specialist known for his series of Global AIDS Walks to fight the spread of HIV by educating youth. He worked in over 85 countries providing outreach to young people at the grassroots level.
