ABINGTON

town (township), Plymouth county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Boston and 4 miles (6 km) east of Brockton. Ames Nowell State Park is nearby (to the west). Known as Manamooskeagin ("Land of Many Beavers") to the Algonquian Indians, it was settled in 1668, incorporated in 1712, and named for Abington, England. An iron foundry was established there in 1769, and about 1815 Jesse Reed invented a machine that mass-produced tacks, thus enabling the footwear industry to thrive. Abington is reputed to have produced half of all the boots worn by the Union Army in the American Civil War. From 1846 to 1865 it was a centre of the Abolitionist movement. The economy is now largely service-oriented, although there is some light manufacturing. Area 10 square miles (26 square km). Pop. (1996 est.) 14,683. urban township, Montgomery county, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S. Abington is a northern suburb of Philadelphia, encompassing the communities of Ardsley, Glenside, McKinley, Noble, North Glenside, and Roslyn. The area was inhabited by Delaware Indians when European settlers began arriving in the late 16th century. Abington was organized in the early 1700s, probably named for a parish in England. Abington became a station on the North Pennsylvania Railroad in 1855. During the U.S. War of Independence, a skirmish between American and British troops took place on December 7, 1777, at nearby Edge Hill. The township's manufactures include pressed steel, chemicals, and metal and plastic products. Penn State Abington (formerly Ogontz School for Girls), a campus of Pennsylvania State University, opened in the township in 1950. Inc. 1906. Pop. (1990) 56,358; (1996 est.) 55,649.