Named after the city in England, Worcester is the second-most populous city in Massachusetts after Boston.  It is 40 miles west of Boston. It was incorporated on June 14, 1722 and was chartered as a city on February 29, 1848.

Worcester is known for U.S. President John Adams, the invention of candlepin bowling, yellow smiley faces, the first Valentine’s cards, monkey wrenches and envelope folding machines!

Originally called Quinsigamond, the area was first inhabited by the Nipmuc tribe. (The large lake is still called Quinsigamond to this day.)  In 1675, during the King Philip’s Wars (King Phillip was a fierce Indian chief), the English settlers abandoned the area. The town was abandoned again during Queen Anne’s War in 1702. In 1713, Worcester was permanently resettled for a third time. Between 1755 and 1758, future U.S. president John Adams worked as a schoolteacher and studied law in Worcester.

Worcester, MA was a center of American revolutionary activity. On July 14, 1776, Isaiah Thomas performed the first public reading in Massachusetts of the Declaration of Independence from the porch of the Old South Church.

In the 1800s, Worcester moved into manufacturing. Factories produced textiles, shoes and clothing. The opening of the Blackstone Canal in 1828 and the Worcester and Boston Railroad in 1835 were a boon to the city. In 1831, Ichabod Washburn opened the Washburn & Moen Company, the largest wire manufacturer in the country.

Inventions/Innovations/Cool stuff!

• New England Candlepin bowling was invented in Worcester by Justin White in 1879.
• Esther Howland created the first Valentine’s Day cards from her Worcester home in 1847.
• Loring Coes invented the first monkey wrench
• Russell Hawes designed the first envelope-folding machine.
• OLee Richmond pitched the first perfect game in Major league baseball history for the Worcester Ruby Legs on June 12, 1880.
• In 1963, Worcester native Harvey Ball introduced the yellow smiley face. Where would emojis be today without the smiley face?!
• Do not forget to visit the Worcester Art Museum.

Among the media businesses in Worcester are:

MassLive Media www.masslivemedia.com

Stephanie Audette Design www.stephanieaudette.com

Casey: Design + Visual Communication www.caseydzn.com

David Advertising www.davisad.com

InCloud Design www.inclouddesign.com

FedEx Shipping/Print Services https://local.fedex.com/ma/worcester/office

Staples www.stores.staples.com/ma/worcester

Turek Web Design is also serving Worcester businesses with local website optimization and website design.