Worcester County, Massachusetts
| Worcester County, Massachusetts | ||
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Worcester County Courthouse
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 Location in the U.S. state of Massachusetts |
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 Massachusetts's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | April 2, 1731 | |
| Seat | Worcester | |
| Largest city | Worcester | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 1,579 sq mi (4,090 km2) | |
| • Land | 1,511 sq mi (3,913 km2) | |
| • Water | 68 sq mi (176 km2), 4.3% | |
| Population | ||
| • (2010) | 798,552 | |
| • Density | 529/sq mi (204/km²) | |
| Congressional districts | 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th | |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 | |
| County-level state agency heads | |
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| Clerk of Courts: | Dennis P. McManus (D) |
| District Attorney: | Joseph D. Early, Jr. (D) |
| Register of Deeds: | Anthony J. Vigliotti (D) |
| Register of Probate: | Stephanie K. Fattman (R) |
| County Sheriff: | Lew Evangelidis (R) |
| State government | |
| State Representative(s): | by community |
| State Senator(s): | by community |
| Governor's Councilor(s): | Jen Caissie (R) |
| Federal government | |
| U.S. Representative(s): | by Congressional district |
| U.S. Senators: | Elizabeth Warren (D), Ed Markey (D) |
Worcester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 798,552, making it the second-most populous county in Massachusetts while also being the largest in area. The largest city and traditional county seat is the city of Worcester.
Worcester County is included in the Worcester, MA-CT Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area.
Worcester County was formed from the eastern portion of colonial Hampshire County, the western portion of the original Middlesex County and the extreme western portion of the original Suffolk County. When the government of Worcester County was established on April 2, 1731, Worcester was chosen as its shire town (later known as a county seat). From that date until the dissolution of the county government, it was the only county seat. Because of the size of the county, there were fifteen attempts over 140 years to split the county into two counties, but without success. Initially, Lancaster was proposed as the seat of the northern county; later, Petersham was proposed once and Fitchburg was proposed repeatedly, most recently in 1903. Perhaps as a concession, in August 1884 the Worcester County Registry of Deeds was split in two, with the Worcester Northern registry placed in Fitchburg.
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