Main Street Taunton Massachusetts

The city is located 40 miles south of Boston, 18 miles east of Providence, 18 miles north of Fall River and 25 miles west of Plymouth. The City of Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way south to Mount Hope Bay.

As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 55,874. The current mayor is Thomas Hoye.

Founded in 1637, by members of the Plymouth Colony, Taunton is one of the oldest towns in the United States. The city takes its name from Taunton, England, the birthplace of its founder, Elizabeth Pole.

Taunton is rich in history and the Old Colony Historical Society houses collections of objects from Taunton families as well as genealogical resources.

Taunton is also known as the Silver City, as it was an historic center for the Silver Industry beginning in the 19th century when companies such as Reed & Barton and F.B. Rogers, Poole Silver and others produced fine quality silver goods in the city.

The city provides a large annual light display each December on Taunton Green, also giving it the nickname of The Christmas City.

Taunton once included many surrounding towns, including Norton, Easton, Mansfield, Dighton, Raynham, and Berkley. Possession of the latter is still noted by the naming of Taunton Hill in Assonet, which is now North Main Street, a street that heads into Berkley.

Historic City of Taunton Slide Show

The following slide show is from public historic photographs from the Taunton Massachusetts Group on Flickr. The rights to most of these public photographs are held copyright all rights reserved by the individual photographers.

For more information regarding the City of Taunton please go to the Official State Page for Taunton, Massachusetts.