Gunite Pool Opening Service Seekonk MA

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Seekonk, Massachusetts
Town
Seekonk Town Hall
Flag Seal
Location in Bristol County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 41°48′30″N 71°20′15″W / 41.80833°N 71.33750°W / 41.80833; -71.33750
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Bristol
Settled	1636
Incorporated	1812
Government
• Type	Open town meeting
• Administrator	Shawn E. Cadime
Area
• Total	18.4 sq mi (47.7 km)
• Land	18.3 sq mi (47.4 km)
• Water	0.12 sq mi (0.3 km)
Elevation	49 ft (15 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	15,531
• Density	849/sq mi (328/km)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern)
ZIP Code	02771
Area code	508 / 774
FIPS code	25-60645
GNIS feature ID	0618286
Website	www.seekonk-ma.gov

Seekonk is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Massachusetts border with Rhode Island. It was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth. The population was 15,531 at the 2020 census. It contains the census-designated place of North Seekonk. In 1862, under a U.S. Supreme Court decision resolving a longstanding border dispute between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, a portion of Tiverton, Rhode Island was awarded to Massachusetts to become part of Fall River, while two-thirds of Seekonk (now eastern Pawtucket and East Providence) was awarded to Rhode Island.

The earliest known inhabitants of Seekonk were Native Americans from the Wampanoag Tribe. The name Wampanoag means People of the Morning Light. This name refers to the geographical area of the tribe. Living in the East they would be the first people to greet the sun each morning. The area now known as Seekonk and Rehoboth provided agricultural and water resources with abundant food supplies. During the warm summer months the Natives spent time near the rivers and oceans in what is now Southeastern Massachusetts. In the winter months the Natives lived inland, including several locations in Seekonk. At one time there were three Native American villages in the area we now call Seekonk.

There have been many spellings of the name Seekonk. Some of the various spellings include Seconch, Sink Hunk, Secquncke, Seaconke, and Squannakonk. The symbol of the goose in flight is used on the Town Seal.

The chief of the Wampanoags at the time the colonists settled in Southeastern Massachusetts was known as Massasoit Ossamequin and had been seriously affected by a plague just prior to the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. A large number of Wampanoag Indians had been killed by this illness. Most historians believe this plague to have been yellow fever.

Massasoit decided to make a peace treaty with the new immigrants for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most important factor was that the Wampanoags were fearful of being overtaken by the Narragansett Indians who lived nearby. Ossamequin believed an alliance with the English would help to secure the safety of his people.

In 1641, the local Native Americans had granted a large part of modern-day Seekonk to purchasers from Hingham, including Edward Gilman Sr., Joseph Peck, John Leavitt and others. In 1653 Ossamequin and his son Wamsetto, also known as Alexander to the English, signed a deed granting the land that is now Seekonk and the surrounding communities to Thomas Willitt, Myles Standish and Josiah Winslow.

The Wampanoags were paid 35 pounds sterling by the English settlers, for instance, for the sale to Willitt, Standish and Winslow.

Three of the earliest English men to settle in the area now known as Seekonk and Providence were William Blackstone, Roger Williams and Samuel Newman. These men and their followers proved it was possible to provide a living away from the coastal areas. This allowed groups of individuals to separate themselves from Puritan control. In turn this led to a greater diversity of culture and religious and philosophical freedom. It was only by forming alliances with the Native Americans in both the Wampanoag and Narragansett tribes that these early settlements were able to flourish.

Massasoit lived until he was 80 years old. While he lived, his people and the settlers lived in relative peace. He was followed in power by his son Wamsetto, also known as Alexander. This chief died shortly after his father and was replaced by his brother Metacomet, also known as King Philip.

In 1675, King Philip’s War began and both sides saw this as an opportunity to claim the land for their people and their way of life. Metacomet and his people ultimately lost the war, and the chief was killed by a mixed group of English and Indian fighters led by Benjamin Church. He was beheaded and his head stayed on public display on a pole in Plymouth for 25 years.

For the next 200 years, the area now known as Seekonk was primarily a farming community. Accounts of Town Meetings during these years communicate just how contentious deciding what was best for this area could be. Boundary disputes were common and the land that is now Rehoboth, East Providence, Pawtucket and Seekonk was claimed by both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In 1812, the border disputes were settled by the Massachusetts courts and the present town of Seekonk was incorporated. Two industrial villages developed to supplement the agricultural economy, with such businesses as the Rumford Chemical Works. But what had become the industrial area of Seekonk in the late-18th and early-19th century was lost when East Providence was incorporated in 1862, taking half of the town’s territory, two-thirds of its valuation and more than two-thirds of its population. The town remained basically agricultural into the 20th century, although the Kent Manufacturing Company did make tennis racquets and croquet sets on the upper reaches of the Tenmile River. With the opening of the Providence and Taunton street railway in 1891, Seekonk became an increasingly residential suburb of Providence.