Bridgewater Real Estate

Bridgewater

Bridgewater is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 28 miles south of Boston. At the 2000 Census, the population was 25,185. It is named after Bridgwater, Somerset, England.

Bridgewater was one of the first interior towns in Massachusetts. First settled in 1650 as Nunkatateset, part of Duxbury, it was officially incorporated in 1656 as Bridgewater. At its greatest historical extent, the town included large parts of the modern towns of Abington, West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Pembroke and Hanson, as well as the City of Brockton. The exact origin of the town's name is not known, although there are some clues. The town seal includes the Bridgwater, England coat of arms. A story told says that the origin of the name could be from when the town was first settled, the only way to enter from the south was by going over the Taunton River.

Brick production was the town's most prominent industry, and still is to this day. The Stiles and Hart Conservation Area has the remains of the old brick factory as well as many piles of bricks scattered throughout the property. With several hiking trails the Stiles and Hart conservation area is a great place to walk, hike, and fish. In the center of town, many former mills have been converted into retail space.

Bridgewater lies along the Taunton River, which has several other rivers and brooks which branch off of the main waterway. There are also several ponds, the largest of which is Lake Nippennicket along the western edge of the town. There is also a state forest, a town forest, several conservation areas and a large portion of the Hockomock Swamp Wildlife Management Area, in the western part of town. Parts of this swamp give rise to the so-called Bridgewater Triangle, a small area of concentrated reports of strange Fortean phenomena, colonial "dark days," Bigfoot and mysterious black panthers, UFO sightings, and other weird encounters, a phrase coined by Loren Coleman, author of Mysterious America, often compared to the Bermuda Triangle.

Statistically, Bridgewater is the 71st largest town in the Commonwealth by population, and 110th by population density. In the county, Bridgewater ranks third in population and seventh in density. Neighborhoods in Bridgewater include Stanley, Scotland, Pratt Town (Paper Mill Village), and South Bridgewater.

Bridgewater is governed on the local level by the open town meeting form of government, led by a board of selectment. Town facilities are located at the center of town, with the police department headquarters being just west of the square along Route 104. There are two fire departments in town, next to the college and in the eastern part of town. There is one post office, located just north of the town center along Route 18. The town's public library is just north of the town center, and is a part of the Southeastern Area Internet Library Services (SAILS) network. The town also has a National Guard armory along Route 18, and much of the southern end of the town is occupied by the Bridgewater branch of the Massachusetts Correctional Institute (MCI). The jail also includes a state mental hospital, and both are major units of the state's penal system. See also Bridgewater State Hospital.

Bridgewater shares its school district with neighboring Raynham, with both towns operating their own elementary and middle schools, and sending their students to a common high school. Bridgewater has one elementary school, George H. Mitchell Elementary (south and west of the town center, formerly known as Bridgewater Elementary), which serves students from kindergarten through grade three. All the fourth, fifth and sixth graders attend M.G. Williams Intermediate School, while seventh and eighth graders attend Bridgewater Middle School. The Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School is located in Bridgewater, west of the town center. B-R's athletics teams are nicknamed the Trojans, and their colors are red, blue and white. The school's chief rival is Taunton, Massachusetts. The athletic teams of the Bridgewater Middle School use the Spartans nickname.

Bridgewater is home to the Southbrook School, a private school which serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade. There are also private schools in nearby Taunton and Brockton. Bridgewater was formerly the site of the Bridgewater Academy, a private high school located on the town common. The town is also home to Bridgewater State College, a public liberal arts college that was founded in 1840. It is the largest of the state's nine state colleges outside of the University of Massachusetts system.

Bridgewater is the site of the intersection of Interstate 495 and Route 24, with only a one mile stretch of the interstate running through the southwestern corner of town. Just north of this intersection along Route 24 are two large service areas, both of which have restaurants and a gas station. They are the only two such full service areas along Route 24, or, for that matter, anywhere along the highways of Southeastern Massachusetts (aside from a stop along U.S. Route 6 in Barnstable; that stop, however, is considered to be off the highway). At the center of town, Route 18, Route 28 and Route 104 meet at the town common. Routes 18 and 28, both north-south routes, are coextensive from this point south to the road's intersection with U.S. Route 44 in Middleborough. Route 104 passes from east to west, with ramp access to Route 24 in the west. A short portion of Route 106 passes along the town line in the northeast of town; Route 104 's eastern terminus is at that route, just along the East Bridgewater line.

The Middleborough-Lakeville line of the MBTA’s commuter rail passes through the town, with a stop at the southern end of the Bridgewater State College Campus, just south of the college's main parking lots at the southern campus. The route is currently the only such rail line bringing commuters from the South Coast area to South Station in Boston. There is no air service to the town; there is a small strip in nearby Taunton, and the nearest national air service can be found at T.F. Green Airport outside Providence and at Boston Logan International Airport.

Source: Wikipedia.org

More information on Bridgewater homes:

Number of properties currently on the market in Bridgewater:

Single Family: 84 Properties
Mobile Home: 1 Property
Condo: 35 Properties
Multi Family: 4 Properties

Number of new Bridgewater Real Estate listings in the last month:

Single Family: 16 Properties
Mobile Home: 0 Properties
Condo: 5 Properties
Multi Family: 1 Property

Average sale price for Real Estate sold in Bridgewater over the last 6 months:

Single Family: $367,215
Mobile Home: $209,900
Condo: $179,188
Multi Family: $254,633

123 Properties Found

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Bridgewater Real Estate

More information on Bridgewater homes:

123 Properties Found

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