n.
City (pop., 2000: 172,648), central Massachusetts, U.S. On the Blackstone River , the original settlement (1673) of Worcester was disbanded during King Philip's War (167576) and a later settlement was established in 1713.
Textile manufacturing began in 1789; the first corduroy cloth in the U.S. was produced there. Industrial development occurred after the opening (1828) of the Blackstone Canal. An early abolitionist centre, Worcester became an important stop on the Underground Railroad . It is a commercial and industrial centre and the state's second largest city. Among its institutions of higher education are College of the Holy Cross and Clark University (1887).