Place Information
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Groton is a town located in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 9,547 at the 2000 census. Groton is home to two renowned college preparatory schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1793. The town hosts the National Shepley Hill Horse Trials. History
Groton began with the trading post of John Tinker, who conducted business here with the Nashaway Abenaki Indians at the confluence of Nod Brook and the Nashua River. Indians called the area "Petapawag," meaning "swampy land." Pioneers would follow Indian trails from Massachusetts Bay, as Tinker had, and found the region productive for fishing and farming. The town was officially settled and incorporated in 1655, named for Groton in Suffolk County, England, the hometown of an early selectman, Dean Winthrop. Called "The Plantation of Groton," it included all of present-day Groton and Ayer, almost all of Pepperell and Shirley, large parts of Dunstable and Littleton, plus smaller parts of Harvard, Westford, Nashua, NH, and Hollis, NH. During King Philip's War, in 1676 the Indians burned all but four Groton garrisons. Survivors fled to Concord and other safe havens, but returned two years later to rebuild the town. Groton would again be beset by Indians during Queen Anne's War, when several citizens of the town were abducted to Canada. In 1775, the common in front of the First Parish Church was an assembly area for Groton Minutemen, who fought in the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Research Tips
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