A Brief History of Worcester, Massachusetts

The Pakachoag tribe of the Nipmuc nation of Native Americans were the indigenous settlers of Quinsigamond, now known as Worcester. For the Pakachoag, Worcester's Lake Quinsigamond offered fine hunting and fishing grounds a short distance from their main village on Pakachoag Hill in what is now Auburn.

In 1673, Worcester was first settled by the English, and was incorporated in 1684. Settlers were forced to abandon Worcester by 1703, because of King Philip's War and other hardships, but in 1713 Worcester was re-settled by Jonas Rice, whose farm was located atop Union Hill. From this point forward, the community was permanently settled. Worcester was incorporated as a town in 1722 and chartered as a city in 1848