Templeton is a town in
Worcester County,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, United States. The population was 8,149 at the
2020 census. The town comprises four main villages: Templeton Center, East Templeton,
Baldwinville, and Otter River.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.17%, is water.
Templeton is bordered by
Royalston and
Winchendon to the north,
Gardner Gardner may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Gardner (given name)
*Gardner (surname)
Places United States
* Gardner, Colorado
*Gardner, Illinois
*Gardner, Kansas
*Gardner, Massachusetts
* Gardner, North Dakota
* Gardner, Tennessee
* Ga ...
to the east,
Hubbardston to the southeast, and
Phillipston to the west.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 6,799 people, 2,411 households, and 1,808 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,597 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.15%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.35%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.22%
Native American
Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States.
Related terms and peoples include:
Ethnic groups
* Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...
, 0.28%
Asian, 0.43% from
other races, and 0.57% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 1.44% of the population. Other ethnicities: 19.2% were of
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
, 13.3%
French Canadian
French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...
, 12.8%
Irish, 10.1%
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, 9.6%
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
, 8.0%
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
, 5.4%
Finnish and 5.4%
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
ancestry according to
Census 2000.
There were 2,411 households, out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.5% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.0% were non-families. Of all households, 19.7% were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $48,482, and the median income for a family was $52,936. Males had a median income of $38,088 versus $26,993 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $21,994. About 7.4% of families and 9.1% 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 ...
, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Templeton is part of the Narragansett Regional School District, along with the neighboring town of
Phillipston. Elementary School students from both towns attend Templeton Elementary School, middle school students attend Narragansett Regional Middle School, and high school students attend
Narragansett Regional High School. The district previously also included Phillipston Memorial Elementary School, located on Phillipston Common, but that school was closed at the end of the 2019-2020 school year and all students relocated to Templeton Elementary School for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Government
Library
Templeton's Boynton Public Library began in 1868 and named after
John Boynton. In fiscal year 2008, the town of Templeton spent 0.49% ($53,608) of its budget on its public library—approximately $6 per person, per year ($7.91 adjusted for inflation to 2022).
[July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008; cf. The FY2008 Municipal Pie: What’s Your Share? Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Board of Library Commissioners. Boston: 2009. Available]
Municipal Pie Reports
. Retrieved 2010-08-04
Notable people
*
Stephen Pearl Andrews
Stephen Pearl Andrews (March 22, 1812 – May 21, 1886) was an American libertarian socialist, individualist anarchist, linguist, political philosopher, and outspoken Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist.
Life
Andrews was born ...
(1812–1886),
individualist anarchist
Individualist anarchism or anarcho-individualism is a collection of anarchist currents that generally emphasize the individual and their will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and ideological systems.
Individuali ...
*
John Boynton, entrepreneur, philanthropist, founder of
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
The Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a Private university, private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1865, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities and now h ...
*
George E. Bryant (1832–1907), Wisconsin legislator and general
*
George A. Fuller
George A. Fuller (October 21, 1851 – December 14, 1900) was an American architect often credited as being the "inventor" of modern skyscrapers and the modern contracting system.
Early life and career
Fuller was born in Templeton, Massachuse ...
(1851–1900), Architect, inventor" of modern
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...
s and the modern
contracting system
*
William Goodell (1792-1867),
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
and
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, the first to translate the
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
into
Armeno-Turkish
The Armeno-Turkish alphabet is a version of the Armenian script sometimes used to write Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish until 1928, when the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet was introduced.
The Armenian script was not just used by ...
*
Sarah Goodridge
Sarah Goodridge (February 5, 1788 – December 28, 1853; also referred to as Sarah Goodrich) was an American painter who specialized in portrait miniatures. She was the older sister of Elizabeth Goodridge, also an American miniaturist.
Life
Good ...
(1788–1853), painter
*
Elizabeth Goodridge (1798–1882), miniaturist, Sarah's sister
*
Mike Kelley (1875–1955), baseball player
*
Charles Knowlton
Charles Knowlton (May 10, 1800 – February 20, 1850) was an American physician and writer.
Education
Knowlton was born May 10, 1800, in Templeton, Massachusetts. His parents were Stephen and Comfort (White) Knowlton; his grandfather Ezekiel Kn ...
(1800–1850), physician, atheist, and writer
*
Pliny Norcross
Pliny Norcross (November 16, 1838July 11, 1915) was an American lawyer, businessman, and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Janesville, Wisconsin. He was the 20th mayor of Janesville, and an important character in the de ...
(1838–1915), Wisconsin legislator and lawyer
*
Sylvanus Sawyer (1822–1895), inventor and businessman
*
Jonathan Baldwin Turner
Jonathan Baldwin Turner (December 7, 1805 – January 10, 1899) was an American classical scholar, agriculturalist, and abolitionist. He also led a political movement to create agriculture colleges, and campaigned to institute land grant unive ...
(1805–1899), classical scholar, botanist, dedicated Christian, and political activist
*
Charlotte Frances Wilder (1839–1916), writer
Forest
Otter River State Forest, operated by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, is located by Beamon Pond and includes 85 campsites, a swimming beach, picnic areas and a ball field.
References
External links
Templeton official websiteNarragansett Regional School District
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