MIDDLEBORO  , a township of

Plymouth county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., in the S.E. part of the state, bounded on the N.W. by the Taunton river . Pop . (1890), 6065; (1900), 6885—of whom 920 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 8214 . Area,about 70 sq. m . The principal village also is named Middleboro; it is 35 M . S. of Boston, is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad and by electric lines connecting with Taunton, Boston, New Bedford and Cape Cod, and has a town-house, a soldiers' monument, and a public library housed in a building erected from a fund (part of which is used as a permanent. endowment) bequeathed by Thomas Sprout Peirce (1823-1901), a merchant of the township, who, in addition, bequeathed about $500,000 as a special trust-fund for the use and benefit of the town of Middleboro; the income has been spent largely in the construction of macadam roads, the erection of an almshouse and the installation of special courses in the high school . The village, a place of considerable natural beauty, is a summer resort, and has various manufactures . Other villages in the township are North, East and South Middleboro, and Rock . The township had important herring fisheries in early times and manufactured straw hats (from 1828) and ladies' dress goods . Middleboro was settled about 1662 under the Indian name Nemasket; became a part of the township of Plymouth in 1663; and in 1669 was incorporated as a separate township, taking its name probably from Middlesbrough, North Riding, York . See Thomas Weston, History of the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts (Boston, 1906) .