Bridgewater is a town located in Plymouth County, in the state of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town’s population was 28,633. Bridgewater is located approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Boston and approximately 35 miles east of Providence, Rhode Island.

History

This area was established as a part of Duxbury in 1645 by purchase from the Native Americans by 54 proprietors—most who did not settle there. Bridgewater was established as a Township on June 3, 1656 from Duxbury in Plymouth Colony. The town was placed in Plymouth County when counties were formed in 1685. For a brief time, the town was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689. The township expanded by annexation between 1662 and 1798, and the town proper was bounded in 1846. The town is still in Plymouth County, though was in limbo, until the “Colony” was merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 that became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Education

Bridgewater shares its school district with neighboring Raynham, with both towns operating their own elementary and middle schools, and sending their students to a common high school. Bridgewater has one elementary school, George H. Mitchell Elementary School (south and west of the town center – formerly known as Bridgewater Elementary), which serves students from kindergarten through grade three. All the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders attend M.G. Williams Intermediate School, while seventh and eighth graders attend Bridgewater Middle School. The Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School is located in Bridgewater, west of the town center. B-R’s athletics teams are nicknamed the “Trojans”, and their colors are red and white. The athletic teams of the Bridgewater Middle School use the “Spartans” nickname.

In 2015 during February vacation, the roof of the Mitchell Elementary school collapsed due to heavy snow. The students at the elementary school were moved to Bridgewater Middle School, and the students at the middle school were split between the Williams Intermediate School and Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School.

There are private schools in nearby Taunton and Brockton.

Bridgewater was formerly the site of the well-known, influential Bridgewater Academy, a private high school formerly located on the “Town Common” (park). It was attended by many young men of the area in the early and mid 19th century, including a Massachusetts-born merchant/philanthropist Enoch Pratt (1808–1896), in the late 1830s, who endowed the Public Library in his hometown of North Middleborough and also set up the Enoch Pratt Free Library, one of the first free public library systems in America.

The town is also home to Bridgewater State University, a public liberal arts university that was founded as a “normal school” (now teachers’ school) in 1840. It is the largest of the state’s nine state universities outside of the University of Massachusetts system itself. As of 2015, approximately 10,000 undergraduate students and 1,800 postgraduate students were enrolled at the college.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 25,185 people, 7,526 households, and 5,584 families residing in the town. The population density was 916.2 inhabitants per square mile (353.7/km²). There were 7,652 housing units at an average density of 278.4 per square mile (107.5/km). The racial makeup of the town was 87.28% White, 17.47% People of Color.

There were 7,526 households, out of which 38.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8% were non-families. 19.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.9% under the age of 18, 14.7% from 18 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $65,318, and the median income for a family was $73,953. Males had a median income of $48,438 versus $32,383 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,105. About 1.9% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Bridgewater is the 71st largest municipality in the Commonwealth by population, and 110th by population density. In the county, Bridgewater ranks third in population and seventh in density.

Early demographics

Populations from 1765 through 1840, and 1855 are from a non-government source. From 1820 forward, the population excludes North, West and East Bridgewater.