The Montachusett Region (also known as North County) is a region comprising several cities and towns in the north-central area of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

surrounding Fitchburg. As it has no legal standing in state government, definitions of the region vary. The terms, which are used interchangeably, are usually understood to refer to the area economically tied with the cities of Gardner, Fitchburg and

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...

. The "North County" label—the county referred to is Worcester County—is often used to emphasize the area's distance and separate political identity from the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. The region is sometimes defined as including Fitchburg suburbs in the northwestern corner of

Middlesex County, Massachusetts Middlesex County is located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and ...

. The region's leading

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

, the ''

Sentinel & Enterprise The ''Sentinel & Enterprise'' is a morning daily newspaper published in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, with a satellite news bureau in Leominster, Massachusetts. The newspaper covers local news in Fitchburg, Leominster and several nearby towns in north ...

'', is published in Fitchburg. Another, the ''

Telegram & Gazette The ''Telegram & Gazette'' (and ''Sunday Telegram'') is the only daily newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts. The paper, headquartered at 100 Front Street and known locally as ''the Telegram'' or the ''T & G'', offers coverage of all of Worceste ...

'' of Worcester, publishes a "North County" daily edition and ''Montachusett T&G'' semiweekly insert, both of which cover most of the areas usually considered parts of the North County and Montachusett regions. Montachusett–North County towns include (towns in Middlesex County marked with *): * Ashburnham *

Ashby Ashby may refer to: People * Ashby (surname) * Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England * Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and publi ...

* * Athol *

Ayer Ayer may refer to: Places * Ayer, Massachusetts, United States ** Ayer (CDP), Massachusetts, the central village in the town of Ayer ** Ayer (MBTA station), commuter rail station * Aller, Asturias, a municipality in Spain known in Asturian as A ...

* * Clinton * Fitchburg * Gardner *

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

* Hubbardston * Lancaster *

* Lunenburg * Petersham * Phillipston *

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

* Royalston *

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

* * Sterling * Templeton *

Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to: Places United States *Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York *Townsend, Delaware *Townsend, Georgia *Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Townsend ...

* *

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

* Winchendon

References

Geography of Worcester County, Massachusetts Regions of Massachusetts {{WorcesterCountyMA-geo-stub

See also

References