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2007 Population............................750
2008 Registered voters...................539
1999 Per capita income..............$19,989
2008 Average tax bill...................$2,870
1999 Median family income...........$45,795
2006 Budget.........................$1,401,892
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Town Hall........................(978) 544-6315
Town Clerk....................Jeanette Fellows
Treasurer........................Terry Kemerer
Police Chief........................Brian Peters
Fire Chief......................Gunnar Lambert
School Supt.........................Dayle Doiron
Selectboard........(chair)Nicholas Arguimbau
Patricia Lemon
Frederick Abbott
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Mount Grace State Forest, on route 78 near the New Hampshire
border, this 1,689-acre forest includes a picnic area, table and
fireplaces. There are streams for fishing and trails for hiking, horseback
riding, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. Hunting is also allowed. The
summit of Mt. Grace rises to an elevation of 1,617 feet, making it the
second-highest peak in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River. A trail
beginning on the west side of the mount, near the administration building,
provides a 1 1/2 hour hike to the top. A fire observation tower is atop the
summit. Call 978-544-3939 for further information.
Warwick State Forest, on Route 78 and Athol Road, features
Sheomet Lake, which is a 31-acre trout-stocked lake also known as
Clubhouse Pond. Motor boats are not allowed. 978-544-3939
Indian Cave, is a spectacular rock formation located north of
Stevens Swamp and south of the Old South Road to Northfield. You may enter
a tunnel and crawl approximately 30 feet to a 12-foot square opening with
a 3-foot thick granite roof.
Wawbeek Rock, is a huge glacial boulder at the side of
Hastings Pond Road, behind the fire station at the south end of Warwick Common.
"Wawbeek" is the Algonquin Indian name for "big rock."
It was dedicated in 1916 as a monument to God's work on earth, and bears a
carved inscription from the Bible. "In the beginning - God."
Warwick Historical Society, in Warwick Center, has a
collection that includes picture albums, furniture, relics from local industry
such as glass and boot factories, a "scythe tree' with a fascinating
story, the dairy of a Warwick minister from the 1700s and a pump log used
in the early 1800s. Open Sunday from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., July and August, or
by appointment. Call either 978-544-7545 for further
information.
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The history of Warwick began in the 1730s when the grant of township
was made by the Province of Massachusetts Bay. This was during the time of
French and Indian attacks on settlements along the Connecticut River, and
the province felt the best defense against the encroachment of the French
was to establish and encourage settlements whenever possible. The hilly land
some six miles east of the Connecticut River which became Warwick was
given to survivors and descendants of soldiers who took part in the
Canadian campaign.
On December 4, 1734, the House of Representatives received a petition
from Shubael Sever, Samuel Newell, Thomas Gardner and "sundry" others
of Roxbury and Brookline who were representatives of the company which
took part in the Canada expedition under Capt. Andrew Gardner. All in the
expedition were lost except the petitioner, Newell. The petition asked for
" a grant of six miles square for a township." After the area
was surveyed by Nathaniel Kellogg of Hadley, the General Court confirmed
the grant on June 15, 1736.
The township eventually came to include previous grants given to
Joseph Severance of Deerfield, Zachariah Field of Northfield and Samuel
Kendell, William Johnson and 10 others from Townsend. It was also altered by
the addition of lands in New Hampshire and Orange.
Much of the formal establishment of the new township took place a a
meeting in Roxbury at the home of James Jarvis on September 22, 1736 and in
subsequent meetings in that town. The meetings were called in the name of
either Roxbury or Gardner's Canada until the township was incorporated under
the name of Warwick.
It is not known how the town got its name, but one explanation is that
it is named in honor of Guy, Earl of Warwick, England, who played a
prominent role in the colonization of New England.
By the mid-1800s, there were sawmills, pail, stave and ax factories,
blacksmith shops and tanneries. |
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