Bristol County, Massachusetts facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids

Bristol County

County

The Old Bristol County Courthouse in Taunton

Seal

Location within the U.S. state of Massachusetts

Massachusetts's location within the U.S.

Country

United States

State

Massachusetts

Founded

June 2, 1685 (from Plymouth Colony)

Named for

Bristol, Rhode Island

Seat

Taunton

Largest city

New Bedford

Area

• Total

691 sq mi (1,790 km²)

• Land

553 sq mi (1,430 km²)

• Water

138 sq mi (360 km²) 20%%

Population

(2020)

• Total

579,200

• Density

1,047.2/sq mi (404.3/km²)

Time zone

UTC−5 (Eastern)

• Summer (DST)

UTC−4 (EDT)

Congressional districts

4th, 8th, 9th

Bristol County is a county in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 579,200. The shire town is Taunton. Some governmental functions are performed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, others by the county, and others by local towns and cities. See administrative divisions of Massachusetts. The property deed records are kept in Taunton, Attleboro, Fall River, and New Bedford.

Bristol County is part of the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area. The county is adjacent to the state of Rhode Island.

The adjacent counties are Plymouth County, Norfolk County, Bristol County, Rhode Island (RI), Newport County, Rhode Island, Providence County, Rhode Island, and Dukes County.

History
Geography
- Adjacent counties
- National protected area
Demographics
- 2010 census
- Demographic breakdown by town
  - Income
Transportation
- Major Highways
Communities
See also

History

Bristol County was created by the Plymouth Colony on June 2, 1685, and named after its "shire town" (county seat), Bristol. The Plymouth Colony merged into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.

The towns of Bristol, Barrington, and Warren were awarded to Rhode Island in 1746 as part of a long-running boundary dispute (see History of Massachusetts), forming Bristol County, Rhode Island. At the same time, Cumberland, Rhode Island was carved out of Attleborough, Massachusetts and annexed to Providence County, Rhode Island; Tiverton and Little Compton were transferred to Newport County, Rhode Island. East Freetown was officially purchased by Freetown, Massachusetts, from Tiverton in 1747, and so remained on the Massachusetts side.

After the departure of Bristol, Taunton was made the shire town of the county. A second county courthouse was constructed in 1828 in the growing town of New Bedford (designed a "half-shire town"). In 1862, part of Seekonk (now East Providence, Rhode Island) and the entirety of East Pawtucket were transferred to Providence County, Rhode Island. At the same time, land ceded from Rhode Island was added to Fall River and Westport. The growing Fall River became the site of the third county courthouse in 1877.

For more details, see History of Massachusetts

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 691 square miles (1,790 km²), of which 553 square miles (1,430 km²) is land and 138 square miles (360 km²) (20%) is water. The highest point in Bristol County is Sunrise Hill (Watery Hill) at 390 feet (120 m) above sea level located in World War I Memorial Park in North Attleborough. It is also to note that Bristol, Plymouth and Taunton are all places in South West England. Their Massachusetts cousins were named after the originals as South West England was the focal point for sailing and discovery at the time of America's discovery. John Cabot set sail from Bristol and sailed down the Severn on which lies Newport over in Wales. He then stumbled across mainland U.S.A.

Adjacent counties

Norfolk County, Massachusetts — north
Plymouth County, Massachusetts — east
Newport County, Rhode Island — southwest
Bristol County, Rhode Island — west
Providence County, Rhode Island — northwest

To the south, Dukes County, Massachusetts is opposite Buzzards Bay from Bristol County.

Bristol County in Massachusetts and Bristol County in Rhode Island are two of twenty-two counties or parishes in the United States with the same name to border each other across state lines. The others are Union Parish, Louisiana and Union County, Arkansas, Big Horn County, Montana and Big Horn County, Wyoming, Sabine County, Texas and Sabine Parish, Louisiana, Kent County, Maryland and Kent County, Delaware, Escambia County, Alabama and Escambia County, Florida, Pike County, Illinois and Pike County, Missouri, Teton County, Idaho and Teton County, Wyoming, Park County, Montana and Park County, Wyoming, San Juan County, New Mexico and San Juan County, Utah, and Vermilion County, Illinois and Vermillion County, Indiana. respectively. (Note, despite the different spellings, the source of the name is the same for Vermilion County, Illinois and Vermillion County, Indiana—the Vermillion River which flows through both counties.)

National protected area

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

Demographics

Largest self-reported ancestry groups in New England. Americans of Portuguese descent plurality shown in grey.

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	31,696	—
1800	33,880	6.9%
1810	37,168	9.7%
1820	40,908	10.1%
1830	49,592	21.2%
1840	60,164	21.3%
1850	76,192	26.6%
1860	93,794	23.1%
1870	102,886	9.7%
1880	139,040	35.1%
1890	186,465	34.1%
1900	252,029	35.2%
1910	318,573	26.4%
1920	359,005	12.7%
1930	364,590	1.6%
1940	364,637	0.0%
1950	381,569	4.6%
1960	398,488	4.4%
1970	444,301	11.5%
1980	474,641	6.8%
1990	506,325	6.7%
2000	534,678	5.6%
2010	548,285	2.5%
2020	579,200	5.6%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010–2020

2010 census

At the 2010 census, there were 548,285 people, 213,010 households, and 141,338 families in the county. The population density was 991.3 inhabitants per square mile (382.7/km²). There were 230,535 housing units at an average density of 416.8 per square mile (160.9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 88.4% white, 3.3% black, 1.9% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 3.4% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 6.0% of the population. The largest ancestry groups were:

30.1% Portuguese
19.2% Irish
13.1% French
12.5% English
9.3% Italian
5.7% French Canadian
5.0% German
4.5% Polish
3.4% Puerto Rican
3.3% Sub-Saharan African
2.5% American
2.0% Scottish
1.4% Swedish
1.3% Scotch-Irish
1.0% Arab

Of the 213,010 households, 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.6% were non-families, and 27.4% of households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.06. The median age was 39.8 years.

The median household income was $54,955 and the median family income was $70,161. Males had a median income of $51,785 versus $39,714 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,736. About 8.8% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.

Demographic breakdown by town

Income

The ranking of unincorporated communities that are included on the list are reflective if the census designated locations and villages were included as cities or towns. Data is from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.

Rank	Town		Per capita income	Median household income	Median family income	Population	Number of households
1	Mansfield	Town	$39,792	$98,182	$112,788	23,094	8,161
2	Easton	Town	$39,751	$89,714	$111,045	23,061	7,852
3	Rehoboth	Town	$38,415	$87,563	$97,711	11,470	4,093
4	Westport	Town	$35,337	$73,736	$83,289	15,396	5,867
	Massachusetts	State	$35,051	$65,981	$83,371	6,512,227	2,522,409
5	Raynham	Town	$34,904	$82,855	$96,190	13,208	4,739
6	North Attleborough	Town	$34,374	$80,757	$94,469	28,593	10,426
7	Dighton	Town	$34,258	$85,284	$94,044	7,003	2,386
8	Swansea	Town	$33,910	$71,716	$79,486	15,886	6,173
	North Westport	CDP	$33,858	$67,614	$82,827	4,188	1,700
9	Seekonk	Town	$33,136	$78,032	$89,833	13,700	4,752
10	Freetown	Town	$32,437	$82,208	$93,773	8,828	3,150
11	Dartmouth	Town	$32,138	$73,007	$86,650	33,759	12,119
	Raynham Center	CDP	$32,034	$84,028	$91,154	4,619	1,563
	Mansfield Center	CDP	$31,762	$71,685	$98,902	7,946	3,022
12	Somerset	Town	$31,718	$69,449	$80,795	18,172	6,983
13	Norton	Town	$30,772	$75,538	$91,636	18,970	6,297
	North Seekonk	CDP	$30,705	$65,804	$81,111	2,552	941
14	Attleboro	City	$30,398	$65,298	$76,563	43,459	16,393
	Smith Mills	CDP	$30,207	$67,907	$79,123	5,030	1,965
15	Acushnet	Town	$30,084	$64,695	$81,643	10,299	3,818
	Bliss Corner	CDP	$29,569	$52,285	$63,554	6,063	2,534
	Bristol County	County	$28,682	$55,813	$71,416	547,305	210,536
16	Fairhaven	Town	$28,658	$60,179	$77,089	15,915	6,444
17	Berkley	Town	$28,206	$81,094	$83,228	6,336	1,970
	United States	Country	$27,915	$52,762	$64,293	306,603,772	114,761,359
18	Taunton	City	$26,309	$53,401	$67,447	55,930	21,799
	Acushnet Center	CDP	$26,295	$51,782	$64,750	2,737	1,159
	Ocean Grove	CDP	$25,058	$60,267	$72,594	3,098	1,230
19	New Bedford	City	$21,558	$37,493	$46,881	95,006	38,869
20	Fall River	City	$21,118	$34,789	$44,635	89,220	38,245
	Norton Center	CDP	$16,578	$83,465	$84,781	2,977	446

Transportation

Transportation authorities providing public bus service include the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority; and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority serving the Fall River and New Bedford areas.

Airports include the Mansfield Municipal Airport, Myricks Airport, New Bedford Municipal Airport and Taunton Municipal Airport; of these, the New Bedford airport is a commercial airport, with flights serving the Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard area.

The Providence/Stoughton Line of the MBTA commuter rail has stops in Mansfield, Attleboro, and South Attleboro. The line provides connections to Providence and Boston (at Back Bay Station and South Station), as well as intermediate stops. An extension has been completed that connects to T. F. Green Airport.