Spencer (town), Massachusetts

Spencer, Massachusetts
Town
Spencer's Memorial Town Hall, on Main Street at Maple Street.
Seal
Motto: "Look to the Future"
Location in Worcester County and the state of Massachusetts.
Coordinates: 42°14′38″N 71°59′34″W / 42.24389°N 71.99278°W / 42.24389; -71.99278Coordinates: 42°14′38″N 71°59′34″W / 42.24389°N 71.99278°W / 42.24389; -71.99278
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Worcester
Settled	1721
Incorporated	1753
Government
• Type	Open town meeting
• Town    Administrator	Adam Gaudette
Area
• Total	34.1 sq mi (88.2 km2)
• Land	32.9 sq mi (85.1 km2)
• Water	1.2 sq mi (3.1 km2)
Elevation	925 ft (282 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	11,688
• Density	340/sq mi (130/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	01562
Area code(s)	508 / 774
FIPS code	25-66105
GNIS feature ID	0618385
Website	www.spencerma.gov

Spencer is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,688 at the 2010 census.

For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Spencer, please see the article Spencer (CDP), Massachusetts.

Spencer was first settled in 1717 by Nathaniel Wood, and first permanently settled by Samuel Bemis in 1721.

Spencer is located in central Worcester County, twenty minutes west of Worcester via Route 9, and about forty-five east of Springfield via Routes 49, 20, and the Massachusetts Turnpike. It was officially incorporated on April 12, 1753, splitting from the town of Leicester. Spencer was named after the then-acting governor of Massachusetts, Spencer Phips. Spencer was the home of the Howe family of inventors, including Elias Howe, who perfected the lockstitch sewing machine.

In 1784 Spencer was a major stopping place on the Old Boston Post Road's stage route between Boston and Hartford, and on to New York. Passengers changed stages in Spencer, as one coach would come from Boston and connect with one coming north from Hartford. Each stagecoach would turn around and return whence it came. Travelers often stopped for the night at Jenk’s Tavern in Spencer, as did General Henry Knox, pushing his cannons through the streets of the town on his way to Boston from Ticonderoga, and George Washington in 1789. Spencer still has colonial-era milestone markers showing the route of the old post road.