Exterior House Painter Rockland MA

Rockland, Massachusetts
Town
Union Street, Rockland
Seal
Location in Plymouth County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°07′50″N 70°55′00″W / 42.13056°N 70.91667°W / 42.13056; -70.91667Coordinates: 42°07′50″N 70°55′00″W / 42.13056°N 70.91667°W / 42.13056; -70.91667
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Plymouth
Settled	1673
Incorporated	1874
Government
• Type	Open town meeting
Area
• Total	10.1 sq mi (26.2 km)
• Land	10.0 sq mi (26.0 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km)
Elevation	140 ft (43 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	17,803
• Density	1,780.3/sq mi (684.7/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern)
ZIP Code	02370
Area code	339/781
FIPS code	25-57775
GNIS feature ID	0618351
Website	www.rockland-ma.gov

Rockland is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,803 at the 2020 census. As of December 31, 2009, there were 11,809 registered voters in the community.

History

Rockland was a part of territory given to one Timothy Hatherly in a land grant, later known as the Hatherly Grant, in 1654. It was then populated by European settlers as a northeastern region of the neighboring town Abington in 1673. The town separated and incorporated as Rockland on March 9, 1874. It is named for the town’s rocky nature, which was better suited for mills and industry than for farming. During King Philip’s War, the town was the site of an encampment during his raids on the town of Scituate.

Before the Civil War, Rockland was known as a major lumber producer for the shipyards in Hanover and Scituate. The town industry boomed during the 19th century and during the civil war due to its shoe factories, its timber export, and its sawmills but production declined after the Great Depression. Rockland experienced new business growth in the decades after World War II with suburban development along the Routes 123 & 139.

During the twentieth century, the town was the site of a portion of the landing strips of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station. The airstrip closed in 1996 as a part of the fourth round of closures under the Base Realignment and Closure Act.

In recent years, a growing number of artists have moved into the community, attracted by former factory buildings as a place to work and meet. These buildings are not designated for artist use as they are just commercial and storage spaces but they are popularly used by creatives. Buildings include the E.T. Wright Building and the Sandpaper Factory. There was once a third artist community known as the Codman Building, formerly the Emerson Shoe Company, but it was rezoned as residential in 2007 allowing developers to displace 30 to 40 artists in the community and build the luxury apartment building known as the Emerson Shoe Lofts. The building is the largest wood structure in Rockland and is on the national register of historic places.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.1 square miles (26 km), of which 10.0 square miles (26 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km), or 0.79%, is water. Rockland ranks 307th out of 351 communities in the Commonwealth. Rockland is bordered by Weymouth to the northwest, Hingham to the northeast, Norwell to the northeast, Hanover to the east, Hanson to the south, Whitman to the southwest, and Abington to the west. Rockland is 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Brockton and 22 miles (35 km) south of Boston.^{[citation needed]}

Rockland, as its name suggests, is dominated by rocky lands. There are several ponds throughout the town, including Accord Pond at the junction with Hingham and Norwell, and Studleys Pond (known to local residents as Reeds Pond) just south of Rockland Center, can be seen along Market Street. There are several brooks throughout town, one of which is sourced at the Abington-Rockland Reservoir near the northwest corner of town. Beech Hill lies at the south of town, and Wyman Fields lies to the north of it. There are several parks throughout the town, as well as a small town forest just south of the Naval Air Station.

A short stretch (2/3 of a mile long) of Massachusetts Route 3 crosses the northeast corner of town, granting access to Route 228, which terminates just south of the highway. Route 123 and Route 139 pass from west to east just south of the center of town, running coextensively for roughly 2/3 of a mile.

A spur of the Old Colony rail line formerly ran through the town; that line is now abandoned. The Old Colony Line does, however, pass through neighboring Weymouth, Abington and Whitman, as part of the Kingston-Route 3 line of the MBTA’s commuter rail. There are stops in South Weymouth (alongside the Naval Air Station) and Abington (just south of Route 123), not far from the town line. There is no commercial air service in town; nearby national and international flights are available at Logan International Airport in Boston, or T. F. Green Airport in Rhode Island.