Abington, Massachusetts

Abington is located in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. It is an inland town of the South Shore, situated 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Boston. Abington was first settled by European colonists in 1668. The lands included the current towns of Bridgewater, Rockland, Whitman and parts of Hanover. The town was officially incorporated in 1712, having been named six years earlier by Governor Joseph Dudley as a tribute to Anne Venables-Bertie, Countess of Abington, Cambridgeshire, who helped him secure the governorship of the colony from Queen Anne.

During the 19th and early 20th century, the manufacture of boots and shoes was Abington’s primary industry, with nearly half of the footwear provided for the Union Army during the Civil War manufactured in Abington factories. Abington is bordered by Holbrook to the northwest, Weymouth to the northeast, Rockland to the east, Whitman to the south and Brockton to the west.

Abington has two major waterways: the Shumatuscacant River to the west marks the town’s border with Brockton, with Beaver Brook running through the eastern part of town. In the northwestern corner of town lies Ames Nowell State Park, a large forested area around Cleveland Pond. Island Grove Pond formed in the 1700s, when a dam was built on the Shumatuscacant River. Much of the town’s population is centered on the eastern side of town, closer to the former town geographic center.