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Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2000 Census, the town population was about 17,000. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.
HistoryConcord was first settled in 1635 and was officially incorporated in that same year.
Concord has a remarkably rich literary history centered in the mid-nineteenth century. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), whose father Rev. William Emerson (1769–1811) grew up in Concord before becoming an eminent Boston minister, moved to the town in 1835 and became one of its leading citizens. Emerson, a successful lecturer and philosopher, lured many like-minded Transcendentalists to Concord. Among them were the authors Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) and the philosopher Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), the father of Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). A native Concordian, Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), was another notable member of Emerson's circle. This substantial collection of literary talent in one small town led Henry James to dub Concord "the biggest little place in America."[3] Emerson's many essays, including Self-Reliance (1841), Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women (1868), and Hawthorne's story collection Mosses from an Old Manse (1846) were among the products of this intellectually stimulating environment. Thoreau famously lived in a small cabin on nearby Walden Pond, where he wrote Walden (1854); after being imprisoned in the Concord jail for refusing to pay taxes in political protest, Thoreau penned the influential essay Civil Disobedience (1849). Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne and Alcott are buried on Authors' Ridge in Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The Wayside house, which was occupied by scientist John Winthrop (1714–1779) when Harvard College was temporarily moved to Concord during the Revolutionary War, was later the home of Bronson and Louisa May Alcott (when it was called Hillside), who sold it to Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1852 and named it The Wayside. Nathaniel Hawthorne had previously lived in The Old Manse. The Alcotts moved into The Orchard House in 1858. Today, The Wayside and The Orchard House are both museums.
GeographyAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 67.1 km² (25.9 mi²). 64.5 km² (24.9 mi²) of it is land and 2.5 km² (1.0 mi²) of it (3.75%) is water. DemographicsImage:Concord, MA.jpg Main Street from Monument Square, Concord, MA. As of the census2 of 2000, there were 16,993 people, 5,948 households, and 4,437 families residing in the town. The population density was 263.3/km² (682.0/mi²). There were 6,153 housing units at an average density of 95.3/km² (246.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 91.64% White, 2.24% African American, 0.09% Native American, 2.90% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.12% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.80% of the population. There were 13,090 households out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.08. In the town the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $95,897, and the median income for a family was $115,839. Males had a median income of $82,374 versus $47,739 for females. The per capita income for the town was $51,477. About 2.1% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 3.3% of those age 65 or over. PronunciationMany people mispronounce the name Concord, including tourists and the children on the Welch's fruit juice commercials. The most common mispronunciation is "kon-kord," with the second syllable pronounced like the word "chord." The town name is correctly pronounced as the word "conquered," with the "ord" in the name of the town pronounced as if it were "erd" as in "nerd." Points of interest
Education
Notable residents
References
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