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Sharon, Massachusetts

Sharon, Massachusetts
Town
Town center
Town center
Official seal of Sharon, Massachusetts
Seal
Motto: A nice place to live because it's naturally beautiful.
Location in Norfolk County in Massachusetts
Location in Norfolk County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°6′46″N 71°11′2″W / 42.11278°N 71.18389°W / 42.11278; -71.18389
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Norfolk
Settled 1650
Incorporated 1775
Government
 • Type Open town meeting
 • Town Administrator Frederic E. Turkington, Jr.
 • Board of
   Selectmen
Walter "Joe" Roach
John J. McGrath
William A. Heitin
Area
 • Total 24.2 sq mi (62.6 km2)
 • Land 23.3 sq mi (60.4 km2)
 • Water 0.9 sq mi (2.2 km2)  3.56%
Elevation 249 ft (76 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 17,612
 • Density 755.9/sq mi (291.6/km2)
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 02067
Area code(s) 339 / 781
FIPS code 25-60785
GNIS feature ID 0618329
Website http://www.townofsharon.net/

Sharon is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,612 at the 2010 census. Sharon is part of Greater Boston, about 17 miles (27 km) southwest of downtown Boston.

Sharon, first settled as part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637, was deemed the 2nd precinct of Stoughton in 1740. It was established as the district of Stoughtonham on June 21, 1765, incorporated as the Town of Stoughtonham on August 23, 1775 and was named Sharon on February 25, 1783 after Israel's Sharon plain, due to its high level of forestation. Several towns in New England were given this name. Part of Stoughtonham went to the new town of Foxborough on June 10, 1776. During the American Revolution, the townspeople of Sharon made cannonballs and cannons for the Continental Army at a local foundry.

In front of the Sharon Public Library stands a statue of Deborah Sampson, Sharon's town heroine. Sampson disguised herself as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War. She married Benjamin Gannett, a farmer, after she fought in the war and lived in Sharon until the end of her life. She is buried in the local Rockridge Cemetery. A street in Sharon is named Deborah Sampson Street in her honor.

The Unitarian and Congregational churches in the center of Sharon both have church bells manufactured by Paul Revere.

The recipient of letters from across the United States in Stanley Milgram's small-world experiment lived in Sharon.


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