Place:Brockton, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States

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NameBrockton
Alt namesNorth Bridgewatersource: Encyclopædia Britannica (1988) II, 539; USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS25010750
TypeCity
Coordinates42.083°N 71.022°W
Located inPlymouth, Massachusetts, United States     (1640 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population was 93,810 in the 2010 Census. Brockton, along with Plymouth, are the county seats of Plymouth County. Brockton is the seventh largest city in Massachusetts and is sometimes referred to the "City of Champions", mainly due to the success of native boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, as well as its successful Brockton High School sports programs.

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History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

In 1649, Ousamequin (Massasoit) sold the surrounding land, then known as Saughtucket, to Myles Standish as an addition to Duxbury. Brockton was part of this area, which the English renamed Bridgewater, until 1821, when it became the town of North Bridgewater. Its name changed in 1874, after a contentious process finally decided on naming it after Isaac Brock, after a local merchant heard of Brockville, Ontario, on a trip to Niagara Falls. The town of Brockton became a city on April 9, 1881. During the American Civil War, Brockton was America's largest producer of shoes, and until the latter parts of the 20th century Brockton had a large shoe and leather products industry.


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Historical firsts

World firsts
  • On October 1, 1883, Brockton became the first place in the world to have a three wire underground electrical system when Thomas Edison threw a switch to activate it.[1]
  • The City Theater opened on October 24, 1894, the first theater in the world to be tied into the three wire electrical system.
US firsts
  • On December 30, 1884, the first electrically operated fire station in the United States opened in Brockton.
  • The department store Santa Claus appeared in Brockton in December 1890, when James Edgar, of Edgar's Department Store, suited up for the first time.
  • Brockton became the first city in the country to abolish grade crossings in 1896.
World Records
  • On November 23, 2010, Brockton set the world record for the most Santa Hat wearers in one place at one time with 872 people participating in the event.[2]
  • On November 20, 2011 Brockton doubled the city's Santa Claus hat-wearing record with 1,792 people in downtown Brockton beating last years record when 872 people donned Santa hats. “That’s unbelievable. Whoever’s watching, that’s pretty big,” said organizer John Merian, a member of the Greater Brockton Holiday Parade planning committee, who planned the Santa Hat Challenge.
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Research Tips

  • Outstanding guide to Brockton family history and genealogy resources (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Birth, marriage, and death records, town histories, city directories, cemeteries, churches, newspapers, libraries, and historical societies.
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