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Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,056 at the 2000 census, including Hanscom Air Force Base. Without the base, which is largely self-contained, Lincoln is home to 5,152 people according to the 2000 census.
The "two Johns" of the band They Might Be Giants, John Flansburgh and John Linnell, grew up in Lincoln, and named their second album, Lincoln, after the town. Other noteworthy people who grew up in or live in Lincoln include Julia Glass, author of Three Junes, Greg Hawkes (former keyboardist for the Cars), Jasper White, owner of the Summer Shack restaurant line, author Jane Langton, her son Christopher Langton, radio personality Mike Barnicle, Rodney Brooks, founder of iRobot and director MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation.
History
Lincoln was first settled in 1650 as part of neighboring Concord. It was incorporated as a separate town in 1754. Due to their "difficulties and inconveniences by reason of their distance from the places of Public Worship in their respective Towns," local inhabitants petitioned the General Court to be set apart as a separate town. Comprised of parts nipped from three adjacent towns, Concord, Weston and Lexington, it was sometimes referred to as "Niptown." Chambers Russell, the most distinguished citizen of the community and a Representative in the Court in Boston, was influencial in the town's creation. In gratitude, Russell was asked to name the new town. He chose Lincoln, after his family home in Lincolnshire, England. His homestead in Lincoln was the property we now call Codman House, which was occupied after his death by his relatives, the Codman family. Lincoln is reportedly the only town in America named after Lincoln, England.
Lincoln was where Paul Revere was captured by British soldiers on the night of April 18, 1775, before he reached Concord.
One prominent citizen was the Rev. Charles Stearns (1753-1826), a Harvard-trained minister who served the Congregational Church in Lincoln from late 1781 until his death. Only a handful of his sermons were printed, most in the early nineteenth century. In addition, Stearns was principal of the Liberal School, a relatively progressive and coeducational institution that opened in early 1793. While at the school, Stearns wrote and published a number of education-related works, including Dramatic Dialogues for Use in Schools (1798), a collection of thirty original plays that were performed by the students. After the school closed in 1808, Stearns continued to tutor students privately. Among his pupils were Nathan Brooks, a Concord lawyer, and George Russell, a Lincoln physician. Stearns's published works can be accessed via Early American Imprints, a microform and digital collection produced by the American Antiquarian Society. A summary article that looks at Stearns as a producer of children's drama is
Levy, Jonathan. The Dramatic Dialogues of Charles Stearns: An Appreciation. In Spotlight on the Child: Studies in the History of American Children’s Theatre. Ed. Roger L. Bedard and C. John Tolch. New York: Greenwood, 1989. 5-24.
Geography
Lincoln has a total area of 38.9 km² (15.0 mi²), of which 37.2 km² (14.4 mi²) is land and 1.7 km² (0.6 mi²) is water, representing 4.26% of the town's total area. (Source: United States Census Bureau).
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 8,056 people, 2,790 households, and 2,254 families residing in the town. The population density was 216.5/km² (560.7/mi²). There were 2,911 housing units at an average density of 78.2/km² (202.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 87.16% White, 4.84% African American, 0.38% Native American, 4.17% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.33% from other races, and 2.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.97% of the population.
There were 2,790 households out of which 45.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.4% were married couples living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.2% were non-families. 15.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.18.
In the town the population was spread out with 30.7% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $79,003, and the median income for a family was $87,842. Males had a median income of $52,788 versus $31,786 for females. The per capita income for the town was $49,095. About 0.3% of families and 0.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.2% of those under age 18 and 2.4% of those age 65 or over.
Points of interest
- Codman Community Farm
- Codman House
- Drumlin Farm
- DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
- Gropius House
- Hanscom Field and Hanscom Air Force Base
- Walden Pond
External links
"Lincoln, Massachusetts"