Raynham, Massachusetts

Raynham (/reɪnhæm/ ) is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located approximately 32 miles (51 km) south of Boston and 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 15,082 at the 2020 census. It has one village, Raynham Center.

The area that is now Raynham was settled in 1639 as a part of Taunton, and was founded by Elizabeth Pole, the first woman to found a town in America.

It was to that area three years earlier that Roger Williams, proponent of separation of church and state, of paying Indians for land acquired and abolishing slavery, had escaped, traveling 55 miles during a January blizzard. He was fleeing a conviction for sedition and heresy of the General Court of Salem, and it was here that the local Wampanoag people offered him shelter at their winter camp. Their Sachem Massasoit hosted Williams for the three months until spring.

In 1652, bog iron was found along the Two Mile (Forge) River. Soon after, the Taunton Iron Works was established by residents James and Henry Leonard. It was the first successful iron works established in what was then Plymouth Colony, and operated from 1656 to 1876. It was not the "First Iron Works in America", as proclaimed on the Town's official seal, having been predated by the Saugus and Braintree iron works. The success of the Taunton Iron Works, however, led to the establishment of other iron works throughout the colonies.

Raynham played a key part in King Philip's War. The Leonards had forged a friendship before the war began with King Philip, who lived in the area. It is said that Philip agreed to spare the town from the mass destruction if the Leonards repaired his troops' weapons in their iron forge.

The eastern end of Taunton was separated from that town and incorporated as Raynham on April 2, 1731, named after the English village of Raynham in the county of Norfolk, England. Many ships' hulls were built along the Taunton River in Raynham, which were sailed down the river towards Fall River and Narragansett Bay for final fittings. The town also had other small manufacturing industries, but for the most part it was known for its rural and agrarian base.

The intersection of Interstate 495 and Massachusetts Route 24, a four-lane divided highway, is located at the town's border with Bridgewater. Additionally, U.S. Route 44, Massachusetts Route 104 and Route 138 pass through the town. Route 24 has one exit which gives access to the town, Exit 20 (Route 44), and there is also a Raynham exit on Interstate 495: Exit 22 (Route 138).

Raynham is served Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) bus service. The nearest MBTA Commuter Rail stations are Bridgewater and East Taunton on the Fall River/New Bedford Line. The proposed second phase of the South Coast Rail project would include Raynham Place station.