STURBRIDGE

town (township), Worcester county, south-central Massachusetts, U.S. It lies along the Quinebaug River, 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Worcester city. The town includes the villages of Fiskdale and Sturbridge. Settled about 1729, it was incorporated in 1738 and named for Sturbridge, England. It developed as an agricultural centre, but the economy now depends on tourism, trade, and light manufacturing (scientific instruments, optical fibre, and cable). Old Sturbridge Village is a full-scale reconstruction of a 19th-century New England village with transplanted shops, mills, houses, and a meetinghouse. Inc. 1738. Area 39 square miles (101 square km). Pop. (1990) 7,775; (1996 est.) 7,911.