Shrewsbury (Massachusetts)

Shrewsbury is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Shrewsbury, unlike other surrounding towns like Grafton, Millbury, Westborough, and Northborough did not become a mill town or farming village, rather most of its 19th-century growth was due to its proximity to Worcester and visitors to Lake Quinsigamond, making it effectively a Summer resort town. The population was 35,608 according to the 2010 US Census, in nearly 12,400 households.Incorporated in 1727, the town is governed now under the New England representative town meeting system, headed by the Town Manager and five-member elected Board of Selectmen whose duties include licensing, appointing various administrative positions, and calling a town meeting of citizens annually or whenever the need arises.HistoryThe Town of Shrewsbury, named for Shrewsbury, England, is a suburban community with an uneven and hilly terrain cut by a number of minor streams providing several small water power sites. Grants of land were made in what would eventually be the town beginning in 1664, with the 3200acre grant called Haynes Farm as the largest. Settlers came primarily from Sudbury and Marlborough, and the first permanent settler was Gersham Wheelock in 1720. As a town, Shrewsbury was first settled in 1722 and officially incorporated in 1727.