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Whitman, Massachusetts
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Whitman, Massachusetts
Whitman is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,121 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Boston on the western edge of the South Shore. The chocolate chip cookie was invented in Whitman by Ruth Graves Wakefield at the Toll House Inn.
Little Comfort, then part of Bridgewater was first settled by Europeans beginning around 1675. Abington (including Little Comfort) separated from Bridgewater in 1712. South Abington was established as a separate parish in the 19th century. It was incorporated as a separate town on March 4, 1875. It was renamed Whitman by town vote on May 3, 1886. The name was in honor of Jared Whitman, a local lawyer who served in the 1839 and 1840 state legislatures. Whitman's early industry included shoemaking.
In the late 1930s, Ruth Graves Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies in Whitman at the Toll House Inn on Bedford Street. The Toll House burned completely on New Year's Eve 1984, in a fire that originated in the kitchen. The inn was not rebuilt. The site is marked with a historical marker, and that land is now home to a Wendy's restaurant and Walgreens pharmacy, with the Toll House sign still in existence.
The former Whitman Savings Bank was the first in the country to offer savings bank life insurance (SBLI).[citation needed] From 1968 to 1994, Whitman was also home to King's Castle Land, a children's amusement park owned by the Whitney family and located near the intersection of Routes 18 and 14.
In the 1970s, Whitman was home to a then-secret National Security Agency classified materials disposal facility built on Essex Street by American Thermogen Inc. It was code named "White Elephant No. 1" and it was to be the prototype for the government's premier "classified waste destructor". Reaching temperatures up to 3,400 degrees, the three-story incinerator did not work up to expectations—only operating a limited number of hours and not always fully destroying the material—and after spending $1.2 million to build the unit it was abandoned. It was one time used as a club house by children in the area, and later dismantled. The office section, and some of the warehouse area, still remain in use by new owners.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.0 square miles (18 km2), of which 7.0 square miles (18 km2) is land and 0.14% is water. Statistically, the town is the 327th of 351 communities in the Commonwealth by land area, and is the second smallest (above only Hull) in Plymouth County. Whitman is bordered by Abington to the north, Rockland to the northeast, Hanson to the southeast, East Bridgewater to the south, and the city of Brockton to the west. Whitman's town center is approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east of the center of Brockton and approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Boston.
The small town today is mostly residential, with a small town forest in the northeastern corner of town. The eastern half of the town is divided by the Shumatuscacant River, which is dammed near the town center at the site of the town's mills. The eastern half of town is also dominated by two meadows, the Hobart Meadow to the north and the Bear Meadow to the south, both along the banks of the river.
The center of town is about half a mile to the east of the intersection of Route 18 and Route 27, the actual center of town being at the intersection of Route 27 and Washington Street. Route 14 also intersects with Route 18, about three-quarters of a mile south of the intersection of Routes 27 and 18. Route 58 also crosses through the eastern corner of town. There are no interstates or divided highways in town; the nearest highway is Route 24 which passes through Brockton.
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Whitman, Massachusetts
Whitman is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,121 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Boston on the western edge of the South Shore. The chocolate chip cookie was invented in Whitman by Ruth Graves Wakefield at the Toll House Inn.
Little Comfort, then part of Bridgewater was first settled by Europeans beginning around 1675. Abington (including Little Comfort) separated from Bridgewater in 1712. South Abington was established as a separate parish in the 19th century. It was incorporated as a separate town on March 4, 1875. It was renamed Whitman by town vote on May 3, 1886. The name was in honor of Jared Whitman, a local lawyer who served in the 1839 and 1840 state legislatures. Whitman's early industry included shoemaking.
In the late 1930s, Ruth Graves Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies in Whitman at the Toll House Inn on Bedford Street. The Toll House burned completely on New Year's Eve 1984, in a fire that originated in the kitchen. The inn was not rebuilt. The site is marked with a historical marker, and that land is now home to a Wendy's restaurant and Walgreens pharmacy, with the Toll House sign still in existence.
The former Whitman Savings Bank was the first in the country to offer savings bank life insurance (SBLI).[citation needed] From 1968 to 1994, Whitman was also home to King's Castle Land, a children's amusement park owned by the Whitney family and located near the intersection of Routes 18 and 14.
In the 1970s, Whitman was home to a then-secret National Security Agency classified materials disposal facility built on Essex Street by American Thermogen Inc. It was code named "White Elephant No. 1" and it was to be the prototype for the government's premier "classified waste destructor". Reaching temperatures up to 3,400 degrees, the three-story incinerator did not work up to expectations—only operating a limited number of hours and not always fully destroying the material—and after spending $1.2 million to build the unit it was abandoned. It was one time used as a club house by children in the area, and later dismantled. The office section, and some of the warehouse area, still remain in use by new owners.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.0 square miles (18 km2), of which 7.0 square miles (18 km2) is land and 0.14% is water. Statistically, the town is the 327th of 351 communities in the Commonwealth by land area, and is the second smallest (above only Hull) in Plymouth County. Whitman is bordered by Abington to the north, Rockland to the northeast, Hanson to the southeast, East Bridgewater to the south, and the city of Brockton to the west. Whitman's town center is approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east of the center of Brockton and approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Boston.
The small town today is mostly residential, with a small town forest in the northeastern corner of town. The eastern half of the town is divided by the Shumatuscacant River, which is dammed near the town center at the site of the town's mills. The eastern half of town is also dominated by two meadows, the Hobart Meadow to the north and the Bear Meadow to the south, both along the banks of the river.
The center of town is about half a mile to the east of the intersection of Route 18 and Route 27, the actual center of town being at the intersection of Route 27 and Washington Street. Route 14 also intersects with Route 18, about three-quarters of a mile south of the intersection of Routes 27 and 18. Route 58 also crosses through the eastern corner of town. There are no interstates or divided highways in town; the nearest highway is Route 24 which passes through Brockton.
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