CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS

'Concord' is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2000 Census, the town population was about 17,000. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Pronunciation

Points of interest

Education

Notable residents and natives

See alos

References

External links

History

The area which became the Town of Concord was originally known as "Musketaquid", situated at the confluence of the Sudbury and Assabet rivers.^[1] Native Americans had cultivated corn crops there; the rivers were rich with fish and the land was lush and arable.^[2] However, the area was largely depopulated by the smallpox plague that swept across the Americas after the arrival of Europeans.^[3] In 1635, a group of British settlers led by Peter Bulkeley and Simon Willard negotiated a land purchase with the remnants of the local tribe; that six-square-mile purchase formed the basis of the new town, which was called "Concord" in appreciation of the peaceful acquisition.^[1]
The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the initial conflict in the American Revolutionary War. On April 19th, 1775, a force of British Army regulars marched from Boston to Concord to capture a cache of arms that was reportedly stored in the town. Forewarned of the British troop movements, colonists from Concord and surrounding towns repulsed a British detachment at the Old North Bridge and forced the British troops to retreat.^[5] The battle was initially publicized by the colonists as an example of British brutality and aggression: one colonial broadside decried the "Bloody Butchery of the British Troops".^[6] A century later, however, the conflict was remembered proudly by Americans, taking on a patriotic, almost mythical status in works like the Concord Hymn and Paul Revere's Ride.^[7] In April 1975, the town hosted a bicentennial celebration of the battle, featuring an address at the Old North Bridge by President Gerald R. Ford.^[8]
Concord has a remarkably rich literary history centered in the mid-nineteenth century around Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), who moved to the town in 1835 and quickly became its most prominent citizen.^[9] Emerson, a successful lecturer and philosopher, had deep roots in the town: his father Rev. William Emerson (1769–1811) grew up in Concord before becoming an eminent Boston minister, and his grandfather, William Emerson Sr., fought at the North Bridge.^[10] Emerson was at the center of a group of like-minded Transcendentalists living in Concord.^[11] Among them were the author Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) and the philosopher Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), the father of Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). A native Concordian, Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), was another notable member of Emerson's circle. This substantial collection of literary talent in one small town led Henry James to dub Concord "the biggest little place in America."^[12]
Among the products of this intellectually stimulating environment were Emerson's many essays, including ''Self-Reliance'' (1841), Louisa May Alcott's novel ''Little Women'' (1868), and Hawthorne's story collection ''Mosses from an Old Manse'' (1846).^[13] Thoreau famously lived in a small cabin near Walden Pond, where he wrote ''Walden'' (1854).^[14] After being imprisoned in the Concord jail for refusing to pay taxes in political protest, Thoreau penned the influential essay "Resistance to Civil Government", popularly known as ''Civil Disobedience'' (1849).^[15]
The Wayside house, located on Lexington Road, has been home to a series of authorial inhabitants.^[16] It was occupied by scientist John Winthrop (1714–1779) when Harvard College was temporarily moved to Concord during the Revolutionary War.^[17] The Wayside was later the home of the Alcott family (who referred to it as "Hillside"); the Alcotts sold it to Hawthorne in 1852, and the family moved into the adjacent Orchard House in 1858. Hawthorne dubbed the house "The Wayside" and lived there until his death. The house was purchased in 1883 by Boston publisher Daniel Lothrop and his wife, Harriett, who wrote the Five Little Peppers series and other children's books under the pen name Margaret Sidney.^[18] Today, The Wayside and the Orchard House are both museums. Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts are buried on Authors' Ridge in Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.^[19]
Ephraim Bull developed the now-ubiquitous Concord grape at his home on Lexington Road, where the original vine still grows.^[20] Welch's, the first company to sell grape juice, maintains a small headquarters in Concord.^[21]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 67.1 km² (25.9 mi²). 64.5 km² (24.9 mi²) of it is land and 2.5 km² (1.0 mi²) of it (3.75%) is water.
'Nearest Cities'

★ Lowell, MA (13 miles)

★ Boston, MA (19 miles)

★ Nashua, NH (23 miles)

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 16,993 people, 5,948 households, and 4,437 families residing in the town. The population density was 263.3/km² (682.0/mi²). There were 6,153 housing units at an average density of 95.3/km² (246.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 91.64% White, 2.24% African American, 0.09% Native American, 2.90% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.12% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.80% of the population.
There were 13,090 households out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $95,897, and the median income for a family was $115,839. Males had a median income of $82,374 versus $47,739 for females. The per capita income for the town was $51,477. About 2.1% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over.

Pronunciation

The town's name is correctly pronounced "kŏng'kərd", in a manner indistinguishable from the American pronunciation of the word "conquered."^[22]

Points of interest

★ Concord Museum

★ Old North Bridge

★ The Old Manse, home of Emerson and Hawthorne

★ Ralph Waldo Emerson House

★ The Wayside, home of Louisa May Alcott, Hawthorne, and Margaret Sidney

★ Orchard House

★ Minute Man National Historical Park

★ Walden Pond

★ Wright's Tavern

★ First Parish Church

Education

★ Concord Carlisle Regional High School, the local public high school

★ Concord Middle School (consisting of two buildings about a mile apart: Sanborn and Peabody)

★ Alcott School, Willard School, and Thoreau School, the local public elementary schools

★ Concord Academy and Middlesex School, private preparatory schools

★ The Fenn School and The Nashoba Brooks School, private primary schools

Notable residents and natives

★ Bronson Alcott

★ Louisa May Alcott

★ Laurie Baker^[23]

★ Ephraim Bull

★ Steve Carell^[24]

★ Ralph Waldo Emerson

★ Daniel Chester French

★ Hal Gill^[25]

★ Tom Glavine^[26]

★ Doris Kearns Goodwin^[27]

★ Richard Goodwin

★ Nathaniel Hawthorne

★ Alan Lightman[1]

★ Gregory Maguire^[28]

★ Robert B. Parker^[29]

★ Uta Pippig^[30]

★ Margaret Sidney (Harriett Mulford Stone)

★ Henry David Thoreau

★ Kevin Garnett

★ Gordon S. Wood^[31]

See alos

★ List of Registered Historic Places in Concord, Massachusetts

References

1. "Concord"
2. "Peter Bulkeley: Settlement in Concord"
3. "History of the Town of Concord, Mass"
4. "Concord"
5. "Today In History: April 19th"
6. "Paul Revere and the Minutemen of the American Revolution"
7. "On "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow"
8. "Featured Resource: Photograph Collection 374"
9. "Emerson in Concord"
10. "Emerson's Concord Heritage"
11. "Henry David Thoreau"
12. "Scenes from an American Eden"
13. "The American Spirit in Literature: The Transcendentalists"
14. "Thoreau's Walden, Present at the Creation"
15. "Henry David Thoreau and 'Civil Disobedience'"
16. "The Wayside"
17. "The Wayside: History"
18. "The Wayside Authors"
19. "Writers rest in Sleepy Hollow"
20. "The Concord Grape"
21. "All About Welch's: General Company Information"
22. "Concord"
23. United States Olympic Committee - Baker, Laurie
24. "Steve Carell's a Virgin, 42 and the worst boss ever"
25. "Hal Gill"
26. "Tom Glavine"
27. "Booknotes: No Ordinary Time"
28. "Gregory Maguire"
29. "He Said He Had a Pistol; Then He Flashed a Knife"
30. "She's home, for the long run"
31. "Providence College: 2007 Honorary Degree Citations"

External links

★ Concord official website

★ Guide to Concord, MA

★ Walden Pond State Reservation

★ The Concord Life (updated bi-weekly blog of Concord, MA)

★ Public School System Site

★ Concord Residents Email Discussion List

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