Sharon, Massachusetts For geographic and demographic knowledge on the census-designated place Sharon, please see the article Sharon (CDP), Massachusetts.
Sharon, Massachusetts Official seal of Sharon, Massachusetts Sharon is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States.
Sharon is part of Greater Boston, about 17 miles (27 km) southwest of downtown Boston.
Sharon, first settled as part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637, was deemed the 2nd precinct of Stoughton in 1740.
It was established as the precinct of Stoughtonham on June 21, 1765, incorporated as the Town of Stoughtonham on August 23, 1775 and was titled Sharon on February 25, 1783 after Israel's Sharon plain, due to its high level of forestation.
During the American Revolution, the townspeople of Sharon made cannonballs and cannons for the Continental Army at a small-town foundry.
In front of the Sharon Public Library stands a statue of Deborah Sampson, Sharon's town heroine.
She married Benjamin Gannett, a farmer, after she fought in the war and lived in Sharon until the end of her life.
A street in Sharon is titled Deborah Sampson Street in her honor.
The Unitarian and Congregational churches in the center of Sharon both have church bells produced by Paul Revere.
The recipient of letters from athwart the United States in Stanley Milgram's small-world experiment lived in Sharon.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town has a total region of 24.2 square miles (62.6 km ), of which, 23.3 square miles (60.4 km ) is territory and 0.9 square miles (2.2 km ) (3.56%) is water.
Sharon is drained by the Canoe River to the south, and Massapoag Brook to the north.
Sharon is positioned in a continental climate, like most of New England and most of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States.
Sharon receives about 50 inches of rain every year on average.
Climate data for Sharon, MA Sharon is positioned in easterly Massachusetts, bordered by the following towns: Sharon has a large number of scenic trails due to the high percentage of conservation territory inside the town's borders.
Trails found in Sharon include the Massapoag Trail, the Warner Trail, the Bay Circuit Trail (otherwise known as the Beaver Brook Trail), and the King Philip's Rock Trail.
Source: United States Enumeration records and Population Estimates Program data. As of 2010, the ethnic makeup of the town was 82.3% White, 4.2% African American, 0.1% Native American, 10.9% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other competitions and 1.8% from two or more competitions.
According to the American Community Survey administered in 2014, the ethnic makeup of the town was 76.0% White, 4.2% African American, 0.1% Native American, 16.6% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other competitions and 2.7% from two or more competitions, with Hispanic or Latino of any race at 2.5% of the population.
22.5% of the populace speaks a language other than English at home, and 19.2% of the populace was born outside of the United States. Sharon has the state's highest proportion of Russian immigrants, estimated at 14.4% in 2010. About 1.1% of families and 2.7% of the populace were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.
According to the 2014 American Community Survey, 97.6% of grownups in Sharon are high school graduates, and 72.8% have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Sharon is home to 7 Jewish churchs, 9 churches, and one of the biggest mosques in New England. Sharon presently has an Open Town Meeting form of government, with three Selectmen.
There was a debate, whether the town has outgrown Open Town Meeting, where decisions are made only by those attending (they must be present to vote) or whether direct-vote government works well because inhabitants who choose to attend are especially interested in and informed on the issues.
In November 2009, the charter commission recommended a "hybrid" legislative branch consisting of a Legislative Committee (Representative Town Meeting of 17 members) and an Open Town Meeting (which could be called to review the Legislative Committee's decisions if 3% of voters signed a "review petition").
As of February 2016, there are 12,383 registered voters in Sharon.
In the 2012 presidential election, Barack Obama carried Sharon with 63% of the vote, while Mitt Romney received 35%. The same year, Democrat Elizabeth Warren won Sharon with 57% of the vote, defeating incumbent Republican senator Scott Brown, who received 43% of the vote in the town.
Sharon is in Massachusetts' 4th congressional district, and is presently represented in the U.S.
The Sharon Public Schools fitness has five schools.
Grades 6-8 attend Sharon Middle School, and grades 9-12 attend Sharon High School.
Sharon Middle School (SMS) and Sharon High School (SHS) both have athletic fields including baseball, football, and soccer fields, as well as tennis courts.
In 2011, Sharon High School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon Schools award by the U.S.
It was one of two schools in Massachusetts to receive the award. In the 2013-2014 school year, the AP participation rate at Sharon High School was 60%, and the participant passing rate was 97%. Commuter rail service from Boston's South Station is provided by the MBTA with a stop in Sharon on its Providence/Stoughton Line.
There are no enhance bus or subway lines in Sharon.
In addition, Massachusetts Route 27 runs through the center of the town.
In Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth, Hema's family in the story "Once in a Lifetime" lives in Sharon.
The well-known 1973 film "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" starring Robert Mitchum includes a scene filmed in Sharon.
The following NYT film criticism excerpt shows the Sharon commuter rail station about 1973.
Sharon has repeatedly been encompassed on CNN Money's annual list of best places to live in the United States.
In 2011, Sharon was titled by CNN Money as the eleventh best place to live in the United States. In 2013, it was number one on the list. In 2015, it ranked third on the list. Sharon Historic District Town site: About the Town of Sharon "Monthly Averages for Sharon, MA (02067)".
"TOTAL POPULATION (P1), 2010 Enumeration Summary File 1".
"Massachusetts by Place and County Subdivision - GCT-T1.
"1990 Enumeration of Population, General Population Characteristics: Massachusetts" (PDF).
"1980 Enumeration of the Population, Number of Inhabitants: Massachusetts" (PDF).
"1950 Enumeration of Population" (PDF).
"1920 Enumeration of Population" (PDF).
"1890 Enumeration of the Population" (PDF).
"1870 Enumeration of the Population" (PDF).
"1860 Census" (PDF).
Populations of Cities, Towns, &c.
"1850 Census" (PDF).
Populations of Cities, Towns, &c.
"The Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Enrollment Breakdown as of 02/10/2016" (PDF).
"National Honor Pinned on Sharon High School".
Sharon Patch.
"How Does Sharon High Perform on Tests?".
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sharon, Massachusetts.
Town of Sharon Sharon Public Library Sharon Historical Society Sharon Community Website Municipalities and communities of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States
Categories:
Towns in Norfolk County, Massachusetts - Sharon, Massachusetts - Towns in Massachusetts - 1650 establishments in Massachusetts - Populated places established in 1650
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