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Littleton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,184 at the 2000 census. For geographic and demographic information on the neighborhood of Littleton Common, please see the article Littleton Common, Massachusetts.
History Originally supposed to be called "Lyttleton," the town's name gained its current spelling due to a misspelling in the newspaper. Littleton was first settled in 1686 and was officially incorporated in 1715. The town was also the location of a Praying Indian village, one of many throughout the Massachusetts colony, called Nashoba Plantation, on the shores of Nagog Pond, and settled mostly by the local Nipmuc tribe. During King Phillip's War the Indians were rounded up and sent to Deer Island, where most subsequently perished. Local legend suggests that the town was to be named for a Lord Lyttleton, who was to provide the town with a town bell. When he learned of the misspelling of the town name, he refused to provide the bell. Author John Hanson Mitchell wrote a book titled Ceremonial Time which details a history of fifteen thousand years over one square mile located within the town. The arrival of Digital Equipment Corp. (now part of Hewlett-Packard) in the 1970s made the city part of the Boston-area high-tech corridor. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 45.5 km² (17.5 mi²). 43.0 km² (16.6 mi²) of it is land and 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²) of it (5.30%) is water. Demographics As of the census2 of 2000, there were 8,184 people, 2,960 households, and 2,217 families residing in the town. The population density was 190.1/km² (492.5/mi²). There were 3,055 housing units at an average density of 71.0/km² (183.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.49% White, 0.34% African American, 0.07% Native American, 1.71% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.33% from other races, and 1.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.97% of the population. There were 2,960 households out of which 37.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.6% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.1% were non-families. 19.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.16. In the town the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $71,384, and the median income for a family was $83,365. Males had a median income of $54,097 versus $43,966 for females. The per capita income for the town was $31,070. About 2.4% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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