Timeline of Worcester, Massachusetts

Prior to 19th century

1669 – Common established.

1719 – Town meeting house built.

1733 – Court House built.

1763 – Old South Meeting house built (approximate date).

1775

Post office established.

Massachusetts Spy newspaper relocates to Worcester.

1786 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.

1787 - First known printing of the word 'baseball' appears in A Little Pretty Pocketbook, Worchester, MA, by Isaiah Thomas, Rare Book and Special Collections, Library of Congress.

1792 – Second Meeting House dedicated.

1793 – Associate Library Company active.

19th century

1800 – Independent Gazeteer begins publication.

1801 – National Aegis newspaper begins publication.

1812 – American Society of Antiquaries founded.

1818 – Worcester Agricultural Society incorporated.

1819 – Fraternity of Odd Fellows active.

1823 – Massachusetts Yeoman newspaper begins publication.

1824 – Town Hall built.

1825 – Worcester Lyceum of Natural History founded.

1828 – Blackstone Canal opens.

1829

Worcester County Republican newspaper begins publication.

Worcester County Athenaeum and Worcester Lyceum active.

1830

Worcester County Colonization Society formed.

Worcester Social Library active.

Population: 4,173.

1832 – Worcester Law Library Association active.

1833

Tolman carriage factory established.

Ezra Rice House built.

1834

St. John's Catholic Church established.

Worcester Palladium newspaper begins publication.

Worcester Academy established.

1835 – Harris' Circulating Library in operation.

1838

P. Young variety store established.

Christian Reflector newspaper begins publication.

Rural Cemetery is incorporated.

1843 – College of the Holy Cross established.

1840

Worcester County Horticultural Society formed.

Population: 7,497.

1844 – Worcester Almanac begins publication.

1845

Daily Transcript and Worcester County Gazette newspapers begin publication.

Classical and English High School opens.

1847 – Worcester Telegraph and Worcester Daily Journal newspapers begin publication.

1848

Levi Lincoln, Jr. becomes mayor.

City hosts Whig State Convention.

1849 – Oread Institute founded.

1850

National Women's Rights Convention held in city.

Population: 17,049.

1851 – Daily Morning Transcript newspaper begins publication.

1852 – Worcester Young Men's Christian Association founded.

1853

Worcester Rhetorical Society incorporated.

Emmanuel Baptist church built.

Agricultural Fairgrounds in operation (approximate date).

1854

Hope Cemetery laid out.

Mission Chapel built.

1856 – Worcester Employment Society and Highland Military School founded.

1857

May 5, first baseball no-hitter by Lee Richmond of Worcester, National League

Mechanics Hall built.

Ladies' Collegiate Institute opens.

1858 – Worcester Music Festival begins; Frohsinn Gesang Verein chorus formed.

1860 – A.H. Word's Select Circulating Library active.

1862 – Free Public Library building constructed on Elm Street.

1864 – Dale Hospital opens.

1865 – Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science founded.

1866 – Worcester County Homoeopathic Medical Society formed.

1868 – Chamberlain's Circulating Library in operation.

1869 – Elwood Adams hardware store in business.

1872 – South End commercial circulating library in operation.

1873 – Home for Aged Women opens.

1874

Worcester Normal School established.

Soldiers' Monument dedicated.

Cathedral of Saint Paul built.

1875

Worcester Society of Antiquity formed.

Train station built.

1876 – Grand Army of the Republic Hall built.

1877 – Irvings base ball team active.

1879 – Worcester Worcesters base ball team formed (approximate date).

1884

Worcester bicentennial.

St. Peters Catholic Church built.

1885 – Frederick Daniels House built.

1886

Worcester Daily Telegram newspaper begins publication.

Hatters' and Furnishers' Association formed.

1887

Clark University founded.

Becker's Business College formed.

Pilgrim Congregational Church built.

Horseshoers' Union organized.

1888 – St. Mark's Episcopal Church built.

1889 – Old South Church built, corner Main and Wellington St.

1891 – Lothrop's Opera House opens.

1892 – New English High School opens.

1894 – St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and South Unitarian Church built.

1895 – Union Congregational Church built.

1897 – Worcester Art Museum School established.

1898

Worcester Art Museum building opens.

Worcester City Hall built.

1899 – Worcester Business Institute established.

20th century

1900

Population: 118,421.

Bancroft School established.

Bancroft Tower in Salisbury Park erected.

1901 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.

1904

Assumption College established.

Shaarai Torah congregation incorporated.

1906

Boulevard Park opens.

Worcester Lunch Car and Carriage Manufacturing Company founded.

Labor News begins publication.

Worcester Domestic Science School established.

1907 – Slater Building constructed.

1910 – Population: 145,986.

1911 – Train station rebuilt.

1912

Bancroft Hotel built.

Burnside Fountain installed.

1913 – Greendale Branch Library, Quinsigamond Branch Library and South Worcester Branch Library built.

1914

Park Building constructed.

September – Fashion Week.

1921 – Temple Emanuel founded.

1923 – Worcester Panthers baseball team active.

1924

Fitton Field stadium opens.

Congregation Beth Israel founded.

1927 –

Foley Stadium built.

Worcester Airport opens.

1931 – Higgins Armory Museum opens.

1938 – Worcester Junior College established.

1950 – Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester established.

1952 – Massachusetts Route 146 highway constructed.

1953 – Tornado.

1954 – Worcester Area Sports Car Club formed.

1955 – Commerce Bank & Trust Company founded.

1962 – University of Massachusetts Medical School established.

1963 – Quinsigamond Community College founded.

1968 – Worcester Consortium of universities founded.

1971

Worcester Center Galleria opens.

Worcester Science Center and Mechanics Tower built.

1974

Worcester Regional Transit Authority established.

Worcester Plaza built.

1975 – Joseph D. Early becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district.

1976 – Worcester Magazine begins publication.

1980 – New England Summer Nationals automotive festival begins.

1982 – Centrum arena opens.

1983 – Interstate 190 highway in operation.

1986 – Telegram & Gazette newspaper formed.

1987

Greater Worcester Land Trust founded.

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts division opens.

Sister city relationship established with Pushkin, Russia.

1988

Jordan Levy becomes mayor.

Worcester Historical Museum opens on Elm Street.

1991 – Sky Mark Tower built.

1994

Raymond Mariano becomes mayor.

Worcester Women's History Project founded.

Worcester IceCats hockey team active.

1996

City website online (approximate date).

Worcester Sharks ice hockey team active.

Music Worcester Inc. formed.

1997 – Jim McGovern becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district.

1999 – Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire.

21st century

2000

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences campus opens.

Union Station renovated.

2001 – Worcester Public Library main branch renovated.

2002 – Tim Murray becomes mayor.

2005 – Worcester Tornadoes baseball team formed.

2007 – Konstantina Lukes becomes mayor.

2010 – Joseph C. O'Brien becomes mayor.

2011 – Worcester Hydra soccer team founded.

2012 – Joseph Petty becomes mayor.