Dighton is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in
Bristol County,
, United States. The population was 8,101 at the 2020 census.
The town is located on the western shore of the
Taunton River
The Taunton River (historically also called the "Taunton Great River"), is a river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It arises from the confluence of the Town River and Matfield River, in the town of Bridgewater. From the ...
in the southeastern part of the state.
History
Crossroads
![Dighton Wharves historic marker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Dighton_Wharves_historic_marker.jpg)
Dighton's location has long made it a crossroads for travel The "Old Bristol Path" took early settlers from the Pilgrim settlement in
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...
to
Bristol, Rhode Island
Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, US as well as the historic county seat. The town is built on the traditional territories of the Pokanoket Wampanoag. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England.
The population of B ...
, the home of Massasoit.
A ferry took travelers across the Taunton River.
Later, a stage coach ran through Dighton, connecting
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
and Bristol.
Dighton was also along the route between
Fall River
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
and Taunton.
Origin
Dighton was originally part of
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
's South Purchase and other surrounding towns. It was separated in 1672,
officially incorporated in 1712. It was named for Frances Dighton Williams, wife of Richard Williams, a town elder. At the time of incorporation, the town included land on both sides of the Taunton River, including the land of Assonet Neck, which includes
Dighton Rock
The Dighton Rock is a 40-ton boulder, originally located in the riverbed of the Taunton River at Berkley, Massachusetts (formerly part of the town of Dighton). The rock is noted for its petroglyphs ("primarily lines, geometric shapes, and schema ...
, a rock found in the shallows of the river which includes cryptic carvings whose origins are debated to this day. However, in 1799, that land on the east bank of the river was annexed by
Berkley, thus giving that town the claim of being the home of the rock.
Molasses Affair
In 1765, shortly after the renewal of the
Molasses Act
The Molasses Act of 1733 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (citation 6 Geo II. c. 13) that imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on imports of molasses from non-British colonies. Parliament created the act largely at the insistence of ...
,
Dighton's wharves were the site of the "Molasses Affair," a protest of British taxes on molasses similar to the more famous
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea ...
.
A local ship reported a cargo of 63 casks of molasses to the British custom officials, but the ship actually contained double that number.
[ The customs official ordered the ship's cargo impounded while he departed for Newport for assistance.][ While he was gone, forty local men with blackened faces stole the cargo, ran the ship aground, and drilled holes in the hull to protest British tax policies.][
]
Revolution
During the time of the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, Dighton gave refuge to several refugees from Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
who had fled the British occupation there. These included Ezra Stiles
Ezra Stiles ( – May 12, 1795) was an American educator, academic, Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He is noted as the seventh president of Yale College (1778–1795) and one of the founders of Brown University. According ...
and William Ellery
William Ellery (December 22, 1727 – February 15, 1820) was a Founding Father of the United States, one of the 56 signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, and a signer of the Articles of Confederation as a representative of Rho ...
. Stiles kept a diary of his time in Dighton. In January 1778 the town council voted in favor of the Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...
.
Industries
As it was located at the beginning of the tidewater of the river, Dighton was a shipbuilding community, and even had status as a port of call. North of Dighton the Taunton River
The Taunton River (historically also called the "Taunton Great River"), is a river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It arises from the confluence of the Town River and Matfield River, in the town of Bridgewater. From the ...
becomes too shallow for ships to navigate, and this, along with its centralized location, allowed Dighton to become a shipping hub for southeastern Massachusetts. In 1789 Dighton was made a port of entry for the surrounding towns. Ships would unload in Dighton and goods were either transferred to smaller boats or towed by oxen along a tow path on the east side of the river to Taunton.
Herring
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...
were plentiful in the Taunton River, and at one point Dighton's herring fishery provided more income to the town than any other industry. Fish were preserved in salt and exported as far away as the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
.
Shipbuilding started in Dighton as early as 1698. Thomas Coram
Captain Thomas Coram (c. 1668 – 29 March 1751) was an English sea captain and philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury, to look after abandoned children on the streets of London. It is said ...
built Dighton's first shipyard on the west side of the Taunton River. Shipbuilding grew into a significant industry after 1800, peaking around 1850. During 1840–1845 twenty-two schooners, two sloops, four brigs, and three barks were built in Dighton.
There were also cotton mills, paper mills, manufacturers and farming concerns in the town. From before the Civil War to at least 1912, the town was regionally known for its strawberry farms. With time, however, many of these industries left, leaving the town as a rural suburban community with some small farms.
Tricentennial
In 2012, Dighton celebrated its Tricentennial with town selectmen donning historic costumes and crossing the Taunton River to Ferry Landing. Afterwards they held a ceremony at Founders Hall.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.56%, is water.
Dighton is bordered by Rehoboth to the west, Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
to the southwest, Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
to the south, the Taunton River
The Taunton River (historically also called the "Taunton Great River"), is a river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It arises from the confluence of the Town River and Matfield River, in the town of Bridgewater. From the ...
and the town of Berkley to the east, and the city of Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
to the north. In addition to being bordered by the Taunton River, it also is bordered by the Three Mile River
The Three Mile River or Threemile River is a river in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is formed by the junction of the Rumford and Wading rivers in the town of Norton. It flows in a southeasterly direction for U.S. Geological Survey. Nation ...
, a tributary which empties into the Taunton along the northeast border of town. The town is also crossed by the Segreganset River
The Segreganset River is a small river in Bristol County, Massachusetts that flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in a southeasterly direction through Taunt ...
, another tributary of the Taunton which flows through the center of town, as well as several smaller brooks. The highest point in the town is in its northwest corner, where the elevation rises above above sea level.
Dighton is the site of the Berkley–Dighton Bridge
The fourth Berkley–Dighton Bridge is a four-span concrete arch bridge with closed spandrel walls of cast-in-place concrete, using pile-supported abutments and piers. The bridge was made such that it appears to be constructed of stone masonry ...
, originally a one-lane bridge built in the 1890s as a link between Center Street in Dighton and Elm Street in Berkley. It is the only span crossing the Taunton River between the Brightman Street Bridge
The Brightman Street Bridge is a long, four-lane wide drawbridge spanning the Taunton River between the town of Somerset and the city of Fall River, Massachusetts. It was authorized in 1903 by the state legislature, and building took place betw ...
between Somerset and Fall River, and the Plain Street Bridge in Taunton, a drive of (and south of the Plain Street Bridge). In 2010, the old bridge was demolished and a temporary bridge handled traffic as a new bridge was built. In August 2015 a new two-lane bridge opened to traffic.
Dighton's localities are Chestnut Tree Corner, Dighton, Dighton Rock State Park
Dighton Rock State Park is a public recreation area and historic preserve located on the eastern shore of the Taunton River in the town of Berkley, Massachusetts. The state park is the site of a small museum that houses the Dighton Rock, an g ...
, North Dighton, Segreganset, South Dighton and Wheeler's Corner.
Demographics
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 6,175 people, 2,201 households, and 1,718 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,280 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.80% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.53% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.19% Native American, 0.49% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.02% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.28% from other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.70% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 1.07% of the population.
There were 2,201 households, out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.5% were married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.9% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $58,600, and the median income for a family was $64,792. Males had a median income of $41,427 versus $28,250 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the town was $22,600. About 1.0% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 1.2% of those age 65 or over.
Arts and culture
Annual cultural events
Dighton is home of the Cow Chip Festival. The Dighton Lions Club hosts the event. Every June a traveling carnival comes and sets up behind the Town Hall. Fireworks have been a recent addition to the festival. There are rides and a carnival mid-way along with food, musical performances, a lawn tractor pull, woodsman competition pony rides and the chicken BBQ.
The name was given to it because they set up squares on the field behind the town hall. They place cows out on the enclosed squares. People then place bets on the square that they believe will be defecated on first by one of the cows.
Parks and recreation
Sweets Knoll State Park is a fifty-six acre park located in Dighton. It was purchased in June 2009, and includes two miles of old railroad bed which may be adapted into a walking and biking path, picnic areas, a small boat launch, and fishing.
Tricentennial Park, a small waterfront park along the Taunton River, was created as an Eagle Scout project by a young resident in honor of the town's tricentennial in 2012.
Government
Dighton is governed by an open town meeting
Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...
led by a board of selectmen. Currently serving on the Board of Selectmen are: Leonard Hull (Chairman), Peter Caron (Clerk), and Kenneth Pacheco. The town has a central police station along Route 138 by the banks of the Segreganset River
The Segreganset River is a small river in Bristol County, Massachusetts that flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in a southeasterly direction through Taunt ...
, separate post offices and fire departments near the center of town and North Dighton, and the Dighton Public Library at the center of town. Dighton has a conservation area and a small park next to the town hall near the intersection of Center Street and Route 138.
Dighton is located in the Fifth Bristol state representative district, which includes Somerset and parts of Swansea and Taunton. The town is represented in the state senate in the First Plymouth and Bristol district, which includes the towns of Berkley, Bridgewater, Carver, Marion, Middleborough, Raynham, Taunton and Wareham. Dighton is patrolled by the Middleboro Barracks (D4) of the Massachusetts State Police. On the national level, the town is part of Massachusetts Congressional District 4, which is represented by Joe Kennedy. The state's junior (Class I) Senator is Ed Markey
Edward John Markey (born July 11, 1946) is an American lawyer, politician, and former Army reservist who has served as the junior United States senator from Massachusetts since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representati ...
and the state's senior (Class II) Senator is Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...
.
Education
Dighton and its neighboring town Rehoboth comprise one school district, the Dighton-Rehoboth School District. It was founded in 1987 to oversee the schools of both towns. The high school, Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School
Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School is a high school in North Dighton, Massachusetts, United States. it is part of the Dighton-Rehoboth School District which also serves the neighboring town, Rehoboth, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1961. ...
, was founded in 1958 to serve both towns. The school itself is located in North Dighton, mere yards away from the Rehoboth town line. Its athletics teams are known as the Falcons, and its colors are green and gold. The Dighton Middle and Elementary Schools are located near the corner of Center Street and Somerset Avenue ( Route 138) at the center of town.
The town is also the home of Bristol County Agricultural High School
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...
. The school operates a large farm along the banks of the Taunton River
The Taunton River (historically also called the "Taunton Great River"), is a river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It arises from the confluence of the Town River and Matfield River, in the town of Bridgewater. From the ...
at its Center Street location. The town does not have any affiliation with a regional vocational school system, the closest one being Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School
Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School is a vocational high school located in Taunton, Massachusetts, United States, that has been in operation since September 1972. Bristol-Plymouth is one of the three high schools in the city of Taunton, and ...
, located in Taunton, Massachusetts
Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount ...
.
Library
Dighton is served by the Dighton Public Library. As of December 2009, the Library Director was Jocelyn Tavares.
Historic places
* Coram Shipyard Historic District
The Coram Shipyard Historic District is a historic district (United States), historic district encompassing a colonial-era shipyard at 2120, 2125, and 2130 Water Street in Dighton, Massachusetts. The district includes two houses, built c. 1700, ...
* Dighton Wharves Historic District
The Dighton Wharves Historic District is a historic district at 2298-2328 Pleasant Street in Dighton, Massachusetts. It encompasses an area that was in the 18th and 19th centuries a port facility on the Taunton River for the town, including t ...
* Dighton Community Church
Dighton Community Church is a non-denominational church in Dighton, Massachusetts. Formerly known as the Dighton Unitarian Church. The congregation, formally and legally known as the Pedo-Baptist Congregational Society due to the practice of infan ...
, 1798
Notable people
* Thomas Coram
Captain Thomas Coram (c. 1668 – 29 March 1751) was an English sea captain and philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury, to look after abandoned children on the streets of London. It is said ...
(1668–1751), Lived in Dighton for ten years and founded the Coram Shipyard
* Ralph Moody
Ralph Moody (September 10, 1917 – June 9, 2004) was an American stock car racer. He eventually became a team co-owner of Holman Moody.
Background
He built his first Model T Ford race car in 1935, and ran it on nights and weekends. He served i ...
(1917–2004), American race car driver and engineer. Founder of Holman-Moody
Holman-Moody is an American racecar manufacturer, marine engine manufacturer and former auto racing team. The company currently operates out of Charlotte, North Carolina, but is no longer a race team. Holman-Moody continues to manufacture racing ...
of NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
and LeMans fame in the 1960s
* Samuel Shaw Samuel Shaw may refer to:
Sports
*Dexter Lumis (born 1984), American professional wrestler also known as Samuel Shaw
* Samuel Shaw (bowls player) from Lawn bowls at the 1996 Summer Paralympics
* Samuel Shaw (tennis), played in 1883 U.S. National ...
(1768–1827), United States Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from Vermont
* Jesse Talbot
Jesse Talbot (April 1, 1805 – January 29/30, 1879) was an American landscape painting, landscape painter and a friend of the poet Walt Whitman. Born in Dighton, Massachusetts, Talbot worked for the American Tract Society and other Evangelicalis ...
(1805–1879), Hudson River School
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, ...
painter, Associate Member of the National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...
, and friend to Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
* Silas Talbot
Captain Silas Talbot (January 11, 1751June 30, 1813) was an American military officer and slave trader. He served in the Continental Army and Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War, and is most famous for commanding from 1799 to ...
(1751–1813), U.S. Navy Commodore, Representative of New York's 10th district, and captain of the USS Constitution
USS ''Constitution'', also known as ''Old Ironsides'', is a three-masted wooden-hulled heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She is the world's oldest ship still afloat. She was launched in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized ...
* Ruth Tripp
Ruth Erskine Tripp (December 26, 1897 – May 1971) was an American composer, music critic, educator, and pianist. She administered the Works Progress Administration's Federal Music Project (WPA FMP) in the state of Rhode Island from 1940 to 1943.
...
(1897–1971), composer; administered the Works Project Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
's Federal Music Project in Rhode Island
See also
* Cole River
The Cole River is located in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 from its headwaters in Dighton, Massachusetts through ...
* Greater Taunton Area
200px, A map of the Greater Taunton Area
The Greater Taunton Area is the suburban area surrounding the city of Taunton, in northeastern Bristol County, Massachusetts. It comprises various present-day municipalities that were once under the jurisd ...
* Taunton River Watershed
An USGS map of the Taunton River Watershed
The Taunton River watershed or ''Taunton River basin'' is made up of of rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands in southeastern Massachusetts, US. It is the second largest watershed in the state. A ...
References
External links
Town of Dighton official website
Dighton.com
community website
ePodunk: Profile for Dighton Massachusetts
{{authority control
Towns in Bristol County, Massachusetts
Greater Taunton Area
Providence metropolitan area
Towns in Massachusetts