Whitman is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,882 at the 2000 census.

The village of Auburnville is located at the southwest edge of Whitman.

History

Whitman was first settled by Europeans in 1670 and was officially incorporated in 1875. Prior to becoming Whitman, it was formally the southern parish of the town of Abington. The new name, Whitman, was taken from a wealthy family who grew up in South Abington, and was adopted in 1886. Though before adopting the name Whitman, the small town was known as Little Comfort.

Whitman has a rich history that is deeply rooted in the shoemaking industry. Regal Shoe and Bostonian Shoe are perhaps the most notable. At one time there were over 20 shoe factories and related factories making metal shanks in town. There are a few abandoned factories left, and some have been turned into condominiums.

In the late 1930s, Ruth Graves Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies in Whitman at the Toll House Inn on Bedford Street. The Toll House burned completely on New Year's Eve 1984, in a fire that originated in the kitchen. The inn was not rebuilt. The site is marked with a historical marker, and that land is now home to a Wendy's restaurant and Walgreens Pharmacy. The former Whitman Savings Bank was also the first in the country to offer Savings Bank Life Insurance (SBLI). Home of the famous Peaceful Meadows Ice Cream house. In 1964 The Venus Cafe was founded by former professional Wrestler Peter Drosos, who fought under the name Pete "The Golden Greek", the Venus is widely reguarded as the best pizza in the area. Also home of Saftler's Inc, one of the oldest and largest independently owned fabric stores in the country.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.0 square miles (18.1 km²), of which, 7.0 square miles (18.0 km²) of it is land and 0.14% is water. Statistically, the town is the 327th of 351 communities in the Commonwealth by land area, and is the second smallest (above only Hull) in Plymouth County. Whitman is bordered by Abington to the north, Rockland to the northeast, Hanson to the southeast, East Bridgewater to the south, and the city of Brockton to the west. Whitman's town center is approximately 4-1/2 miles east of the center of Brockton, and is approximately twenty-four miles south of Boston.

The small town today is mostly residential, with a small town forest in the northeast corner of town. The eastern half of the town is divided by the Shumatuscacant River, which is dammed near the town center at the site of the town's mills. The eastern half of town is also dominated by two meadows, the Hobart Meadow to the north and the Bear Meadow to the south, both along the banks of the river.

Transportation

The intersection of Route 18 and Route 27 is at the center of town. Route 14 also intersects with Route 27, about three quarters of a mile south of the town center. Route 58 also crosses through the eastern corner of town. There are no interstates or divided highways in town; the nearest highway is Route 24 which passes through Brockton.

Whitman has a stop, located on Route 27, along the Kingston-Route 3 route of the MBTA's commuter rail. The rail, formerly the Old Colony Line, passes through the eastern half of town, east of the mill ponds and meadows. There is no air service to the town; the nearest national and international air service can be reached at Logan International Airport in Boston.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,882 people, 4,999 households, and 3,604 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,995.7 people per square mile (770.1/km²). There were 5,104 housing units at an average density of 733.8/sq mi (283.1/km²).

There were 4,999 households out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.30.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $55,303, and the median income for a family was $63,706. Males had a median income of $41,950 versus $30,629 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,002. About 2.0% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Statistically, Whitman is the 133rd largest community by population and 52nd most densely populated in the state. On average, Whitman's population is below the average but above the median, and its population density is well above the state average.

Government

On the national level, Whitman is a part of Massachusetts's 9th congressional district, and has been represented since 2001 by Stephen Lynch. The state's senior (Class I) member of the United States Senate, re-elected in 2006, is Ted Kennedy. The junior (Class II) Senator, up for re-election in 2008, is John Kerry.

On the state level, Whitman is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of the Seventh Plymouth district, which includes the towns of Abington and East Bridgewater. The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Second Plymouth and Bristol district, which includes Brockton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson and portions of East Bridgewater and Easton. The town is patrolled by the First (Norwell) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police.

Whitman is governed by the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a town manager and a board of selectmen. The town's police department is located in the rear of the town hall at the center of town. The town's fire department is located further west along Route 27. It has its own ambulance service, and patients needing emergency care are brought to Brockton Hospital. The town's post office is located just east of the town hall. The Whitman Public Library is located a block south of Route 27, having moved into its first stand-alone branch in 1982 after seventy-five years in the town hall. Between the library and the fire department is a National Guard armory. The town also operates a playground and pool at the town park, just north of the town hall.

Education

Since the mid-1960s, Whitman has been paired with Hanson as a part of what was the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School School District but later joined as Whitman-Hanson Regional School District with the addition of the elementary and middle schools. There are two elementary schools in town; the Park Avenue School serves pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students, and the Duval and Conley Schools (in the east and west parts of town, respectively) serve students from kindergarten through fifth grade. The Whitman Middle School, located south of Route 27 in the western part of town, serves students from sixth to eighth grades. Students from both Whitman and Hanson towns attend Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, along Route 27 on the Hanson side of the road. Students moved into the new, more technologically advanced school building in 2005 from the previous school, which was closer to the road. Whitman-Hanson's teams are known as the Panthers, and their colors are crimson and black. One of their chief rivals is nearby Abington, whom they play in the annual Thanksgiving Day football game. (The former Whitman High School, by the way, is still standing; it is located just north of the Town Park.)

In addition to Whitman-Hanson, students may choose to attend South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School in Hanover free of charge. There are no private schools in the town, but both Hanson and Brockton have private schools. The nearest college is Massasoit Community College in neighboring Brockton.

Notable residents

• Lennie Baker, of the doo wop band Sha Na Na.
• Sean Conover, defensive end for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League.
• Jeff Gagné, technology author.
• Shirley Jump, women's fiction and romance novels.
• James Lowder, editor and fantasy/horror author.
• Reverend Robert Reed, director of the Catholic TV cable network, was formerly the pastor of Whitman's Holy Ghost Church.
• John Shanahan, playwright.
• Michael "Big Dude Box" Sharp, Harvard '12, legendary rugby forward.
• Steve Smith, drummer of the rock band Journey.
• Francis Cardinal Spellman, ninth Bishop and sixth Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
• Roy Vallancourt (Archer), 1964 Winner of the World Archery Championship; Nationally ranked #1 senior archer when he died in 2004 at the age of 93.
• Ruth Wakefield, creator of the Toll House Cookie.