The New Student's Reference Work/Worcester, Mass.

Worcester, Mass., one of the county-seats of Worcester County, 40 miles southwest of Boston. It ranks next to Boston in population and is a beautiful city, with wide, shaded streets, public parks and fine buildings. The city expends the sum of $646,262 on its public schools, which have a force of 628 day-teachers and 117 night-teachers and an enrollment of 26,360 pupils. Among the higher educational institutions are Clark University, founded in 1888, for strictly graduate work; Clark College, founded in 1902, its trustees being those of Clark University; Worcester Academy; the Free Institute of Industrial Science; the College of the Holy Cross (R. C.); and Polytechnic Institute. The public library; the American Antiquarian Society, with a fine library; the state insane asylum, one of the finest buildings in the country; and the soldiers' monument by Rogers are other noticeable features. The city is extensively engaged in manufactures, as boots and shoes, machinery and machinists' tools, stoneware, jewelry, carpets, machine-needles, awls, wirework, cotton-thread, blankets, felt, water-meters, horse-collars and nails. Worcester was settled in 1713. Population 145,986.