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Stoughton was settled in 1713, and officially incorporated in 1726 from the southwestern portion of the large town of Dorchester. At its founding, it included the current towns of Sharon (which separated in 1765), Canton (which separated in 1797) and Avon (which separated in 1888). It was named after William Stoughton, who was the first chief justice of Colonial Courts, and the notorious chief justice of the Salem Witch Trials. The Suffolk Resolves were written in Old Stoughton (current day Milton, Massachusetts) at Doty's Tavern. They are thought to be the basis for the Declaration of Independence. The meeting included the Rev. Samuel Dunbar and Paul Revere; the site was chosen by Samuel Adams and Dr. Joseph Warren. Originally an agricultural community, Stoughton developed into an important shoemaking center. In 1874, the Stoughton Public Library was established. The oldest choral society in the United States is located in Stoughton. Founded in 1786 as The Stoughton Musical Society, it is now known as the Old Stoughton Musical Society. It has the oldest constitution of any musical society in the United States, written in 1787, only a few weeks after the United States Constitution. In 1893, this musical society distinguished itself by performing several concerts at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, heard by an audience of several thousand people. In 1986, the musical society celebrated its bicentennial with a series of concerts and special events. In 1940, artist Jean Watson painted the mural, A Massachusetts Countryside, as a project of the WPA. The artwork is currently on display in the attic at the Stoughton Historic Society. The Save Our Stoughton campaign attracted national attention in the 1980s for their work picketing a local adult book store. Most recently, Stoughton became the first municipality in Massachusetts to declare itself a "No Place for Hate" town. Stoughton's train station was built in 1888, and is the only one in Massachusetts to house a clock tower. The station is unique in another way as it was built out of stones from a West Street quarry that belonged to Stoughton resident Myron Gilbert. In 1974 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Over one million dollars was raised to restore the station to its original luster in time for the 100th anniversary. In 2009, however, the MBTA permanently closed the station, which stood at the terminus of the Stoughton Branch of the MBTA's Providence/Stoughton Line. The building still stood but remained closed to the public as of 2015. In 2015, members of Town Meeting voted to purchase the train station from the state. Plans for use of the property are being developed by the Community Preservation Committee. On August 15, 1908, Stoughton was hit by a moderate earthquake. Although the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory was affected, the shockwaves did not reach to Boston. On May 9, 2013, a weak, brief, and unexpected tornado touched down in Stoughton, with minor damage occurring. The tornado was rated EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale after the National Weather Service office in Taunton, Massachusetts confirmed this tornado in a damage survey on May 10.
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