Abington

Abington

Abington, town (township), Plymouth county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Boston and 4 miles (6 km) east of Brockton. Ames Nowell State Park is nearby (to the west).

The area now occupied by the town was purchased in 1649 from Massasoit, chief of the Massachusett (Wampanoag) Indians, who knew it as Manamooskeagin. (Although supposed translations of that name exist, its meaning is unrecoverable.) It was settled in 1668, incorporated in 1712, and named for Abington, England. An iron foundry was established there in 1769, and about 1815 Jesse Reed invented a machine that mass-produced tacks, thus enabling the footwear industry to thrive. Abington is reputed to have produced half of all the boots worn by the Union army in the American Civil War. From 1846 to 1865 it was a centre of the abolition movement.

The economy is now largely service-oriented, although there is some light manufacturing. Area 10 square miles (26 square km). Pop. (2000) 14,605; (2010) 15,985.