As early as 1735 a long street, eight rods in width, was laid in a
north and south direction in the northwesterly part of Athol, a little east
of the top of West Pequoiag hill. On either side of this street small lots,
called home lots, were laid out in regular form. Many of the lots were
quickly occupied by settlers. The little community thus formed soon
attracted other settlers to adjacent parts of Warwick and Royalston.
However, this compact settlement was located so far from the center of
the nearest towns as to make it inconvenient for the people to gather with
their fellow townspeople for religious service and management of municipal
affairs. Then, between 1769 and 1780, the Ruggles Grant and the east end of
Erving's Grant filled with settlers. This population increase led the isolated
community decide to become a town.
As a result, on October 15, 1783, the area including the northwesterly
part of Athol, the southeasterly part of Royalston, the southeasterly part
of Warwick, the easterly part of a grant to John Erving, the Ruggles Grant
and the Hasting farm, were all incorporated as Orange.
The town was named after William, Prince of Orange.
Many of the early settlers were lineal descendants of the first
settlers at Plymouth and vicinity, and of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They
first settled in North Orange, which remains a scenic village.
From 1780 to 1840, Orange was primarily a farming town. Many of the
farms were large and well managed. However, various industries eventually
sprouted along the banks of the Millers River, including the New Home Sewing
Machine Company, which in 1892 produced 1,200,000 sewing machines.
By 1879, the town had a population of about 2,000 people, many
employed in industry. Orange was also the site of the first automobile factory
in the United States, at the current home of Pete's Tire Barn on East Main
Street, built in 1900. |
