Foreclosure Homes in Dudley, MA

Dudley is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,390 at the 2010 census.

History

Dudley was first settled in 1714 and was officially incorporated in 1732. The town was named for landholders Paul and William Dudley.

In April 1776, on his way to New York City from Boston after his victory in the Siege of Boston, General George Washington camped in the town of Dudley with the Continental Army along what is now a portion of Route 31 near the Connecticut border. During the trip, it is rumored that a "large cache" of captured and recovered British weaponry and supplies was ordered "concealed in the grounds" in the rural area along the route. The cache, hidden to resupply reinforcements from Massachusetts or to cover a retreat from the south, was never used or recorded as having been recovered.

Union soldiers from Dudley, the 15th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, suffered heavy casualties inflicted by the Confederacy during the Battle of Gettysburg. Dudley was the primary manufacturer of "Brogan boots" worn by the Union Army and produced the majority of the standard issue Union uniforms worn during the Civil War.

Cemetery controversy

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 22.1 square miles (57 km²), of which 21.0 square miles (54 km²) is land and 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²), or 4.58%, is water. Dudley is bounded on the northeast by Oxford, on the north by Charlton, on the west by Southbridge, on the south by Woodstock and Thompson, Connecticut, and on the east by Webster, with which it traditionally had the closest cultural and political relations.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 10,036 people, 3,737 households, and 2,668 families residing in the town. The population density was 476.7 inhabitants per square mile (184.1/km²).