Lincoln, Massachusetts | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Seal | |
 Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts | |
| Coordinates:42°25′33″N71°18′16″W / 42.42583°N 71.30444°W /42.42583; -71.30444 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| County | Middlesex |
| Settled | 1650 |
| Incorporated | 1754 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Open town meeting |
| • Town Administrator | Timothy Higgins |
| Area | |
• Total | 15.0 sq mi (38.9 km2) |
| • Land | 14.4 sq mi (37.2 km2) |
| • Water | 0.66 sq mi (1.7 km2) |
| Elevation | 259 ft (79 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 7,014 |
| • Density | 488/sq mi (188.5/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (Eastern) |
| ZIP Codes |
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| Area code | 339/781 |
| FIPS code | 25-35425 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0619402 |
| Website | www |
Lincoln is a town inMiddlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,014 according to the2020 United States census, including residents ofHanscom Air Force Base who live within town limits. The town, located in theMetroWest region of Boston's suburbs, has a large amount of colonial history and a sizeable amount of publicconservation land.
Lincoln was settled by Europeans in 1654, as a part ofConcord. The majority of Lincoln was formed by splitting off a substantial piece of southeast Concord and incorporated as a separate town in 1754. Due to their "difficulties and inconveniences by reason of their distance from the places of Public Worship in their respective Towns," local inhabitants petitioned the General Court to be set apart as a separate town. Because the new town was composed of parts "nipped" off from the adjacent towns of Concord,Weston (which itself had been part ofWatertown) andLexington (which itself had been part ofCambridge), it was sometimes referred to as "Niptown."[1]
Chambers Russell, a Representative in the Court in Boston, was influential in the town's creation. In gratitude, Russell was asked to name the new town. He chose Lincoln, after his family home inLincolnshire, England. His homestead in Lincoln was later known as theCodman House property, which was occupied after his death by his relatives, the Codman family.
Lincoln is one of the few towns in America named after Lincolnshire, England[2] (and not the Revolutionary War Major General,Benjamin Lincoln or PresidentAbraham Lincoln),[3] althoughLincoln, New Hampshire, was named for the 9thEarl of Lincoln, an English nobleman and incorporated in 1764, 45 years before Abraham Lincoln's birth.
Paul Revere wascaptured by British soldiers in Lincoln on the night of April 18, 1775. Minutemen from Lincoln were the first to arrive to reinforce the colonists protecting American stores of ammunition and arms in Concord. Colonel Abijah Pierce of Lincoln led his troops, armed with a cane. He upgraded his weapon to a British musket after the battle. Five British soldiers who fell in Lincoln are buried in the town cemetery. A substantial portion of the first battle of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Lexington and Concord, was fought in Lincoln.[4]
Reverend Charles Stearns (1753–1826), a Harvard-trained minister, served theCongregational Church in Lincoln from late 1781 until his death. Only a handful of his sermons were printed, most in the early 19th century. In addition, Stearns was principal of the Liberal School, a relatively progressive and coeducational institution that opened in early 1793. While at the school, Stearns wrote and published a number of education-related works, includingDramatic Dialogues for Use in Schools (1798), a collection of 30 original plays that were performed by the students. After the school closed in 1808, Stearns continued to tutor students privately. Among his pupils were Nathan Brooks, a Concord lawyer, and George Russell, a Lincoln physician. Stearns's published works can be accessed atEarly American Imprints, a microform and digital collection produced by theAmerican Antiquarian Society. A summary article that surveys Stearns as a producer of children's drama is "The Dramatic Dialogues of Charles Stearns: An Appreciation" by Jonathan Levy, inSpotlight on the Child: Studies in the History of American Children's Theatre, ed. Roger L. Bedard and C. John Tolch (New York: Greenwood, 1989): 5–24.
The Lincoln School District operates elementary and middle schools, while the zoned high school isLincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, inSudbury, of the school district of that name.[5]
Lincoln's non-base area is home to one public K–8 school, the Lincoln School. In December 2018, voters in Lincoln approved the construction of a new K–8 school building and a Proposition2+1⁄2 property tax override to pay for the school.[6] To date $80 million financing has been raised via bond issuance for a $93.9 million renovation project at Lincoln School.[7]
The on-postK-8 school Hanscom School ofHanscom Air Force Base, a base which is partially in Lincoln, is operated the Lincoln School District.[8] Dependents of active duty military living on the base are sent toBedford High School of the Bedford School District. High school students living on the base who are not dependents of active duty military personnel are sent to Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High.[9]
The private schoolThe Carroll School maintains its middle school in Lincoln.[10]
Lincoln has a total area of 15.0 square miles (39 km2), of which 14.4 square miles (37 km2) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2) is water, representing 4.26% of the town's total area. (Source:United States Census Bureau.)
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 719 | — |
| 1860 | 718 | −0.1% |
| 1870 | 791 | +10.2% |
| 1880 | 907 | +14.7% |
| 1890 | 987 | +8.8% |
| 1900 | 1,127 | +14.2% |
| 1910 | 1,175 | +4.3% |
| 1920 | 1,042 | −11.3% |
| 1930 | 1,493 | +43.3% |
| 1940 | 1,783 | +19.4% |
| 1950 | 2,427 | +36.1% |
| 1960 | 5,613 | +131.3% |
| 1970 | 7,567 | +34.8% |
| 1980 | 7,098 | −6.2% |
| 1990 | 7,666 | +8.0% |
| 2000 | 8,056 | +5.1% |
| 2010 | 6,362 | −21.0% |
| 2020 | 7,014 | +10.2% |
| 2022* | 6,855 | −2.3% |
| * = population estimate. Source:United States census records andPopulation Estimates Program data.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] | ||
At the 2020census,[22] there were 7,014 people residing in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 76.2%White, 3.2%African American, 0.2%Native American, 6.4%Asian, 0.2%Pacific Islander, 1.0% fromother races, and 5.6% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 7.3% of the population. The 21.03% drop in population between the 2010 and 2000 censuses was the largest of any municipality in Massachusetts. Diversity in the public schools is higher due to theMETCO program.
The majority of the land in the town is zoned for residential and agricultural use.
Commuter rail service fromBoston'sNorth Station is provided by theMBTA witha stop in Lincoln on itsFitchburg Line.[24] Lincoln was previously home to a second railroad station, Baker Bridge station, which was the site of adeadly 1905 train wreck.[25]
25 Baker Bridge Road Lincoln, MA 01773
Municipalities and communities ofMiddlesex County, Massachusetts,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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