Leominster ( ) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-most populous city in Worcester County, with a population of 44,209 at the 2024 census estimate. Leominster is located north of Worcester and northwest of Boston. Both Route 2 and Route 12 pass through Leominster. Interstate 190, Route 13, and Route 117 all have starting/ending points in Leominster. Leominster is bounded by Fitchburg and Lunenburg to the north, Lancaster to the east, Sterling and Princeton to the south, and Westminster to the west.

History

thumb|left|[[Lithograph of Leominster from 1886 by L. R. Burleigh with list of landmarks and depictions of town square and Commons areas]]

The region was originally inhabited by various divisions of the Pennacook or Nipmuc Native Americans, who lived along the Nashua River. The river provided fertile soil for the cultivation of corn, beans, squash and tobacco.

European settlers began arriving in the mid-17th century and in 1653, the area of Leominster—which takes it name from the Herefordshire town of Leominster in England, was first founded as part of the town of Lancaster.

The European settlers and native people lived peacefully for a number of years, until the start of King Philip's War in 1675.

In Leominster's early existence, the town was primarily a small farming community, but towards the beginning of the 19th century, the economy quickly shifted into manufacturing. However, manufacturing in Leominster was truly made possible by the opening of the Fitchburg Railroad that ran through North Leominster and into Boston, and the Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad that ran through the center of town. On November 2, 1915, Leominster was officially chartered as a city.

While many different industries established themselves in Leominster, it was the comb industry that particularly flourished. Construction of combs was a time-consuming and painstaking process, involving preparation of the natural materials such as animal horn, roughing out of a basic form, and finally, individual cutting of the teeth. invented in Germany in the early 1920s.

Leominster also boasted large manufactures Standard Tool Company, Selig Manufacturing Co. Inc, C.E. Buckley, Inc. (manufacturer of religious articles) and the Whitney Carriage Company, which was once the largest manufacturer of baby carriages in the world.

Although the Great Depression slowed the plastic industry in Leominster, it was not until the late 20th century that there was a full-scale decline in plastic manufacturing. Following the national trend, manufactures were moving out of the cities to cheaper alternatives across the country and overseas.

In recent decades, Route 2 and the building of I-190 have further transformed the city into a more commercial and suburban landscape.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="165px">

File:Monument Square, Leominster - undivided back postcard.jpg|Monument Square in 1907

File:1915 postcard of North Leominster station.JPG|North Leominster train depot in 1915

File:Whitney Carriage Co.jpg|The former Whitney Carriage Company complex

File:Twin City Shopping Center.JPG|Twin City Plaza mall on Route 2

</gallery>

Geography

left|thumb|View of Downtown Leominster

thumb|left|View across [[Monument Square Historic District (Leominster, Massachusetts)|Monument Square in downtown Leominster, the site of the city's traditional New England common]]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.96%, is water.

Leominster is primarily located on a plateau above the Nashua River. Northern and Western Leominster have a more rugged terrain defined by scattered hills. The most prominent hills are both the North and South Monoosnoc Hills in the western part of the city. The South Monoosnoc Hill is the highest point in the town at 1,020 feet.

|footnote=* = population estimate.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Leominster had a population of 43,782. The median age was 40.9 years. 20.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.6 males age 18 and over.

97.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 2.5% lived in rural areas.

There were 17,873 households in Leominster, of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 42.6% were married-couple households, 18.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 41,303 people, 16,491 households, and 10,900 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 16,976 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 81.50% White, 3.70% African American, 0.15% Native American, 2.44% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 4.32% from other races, and 2.21% from two or more races.

There were 16,491 households, out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. Of all households 27.9% were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 32.4% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $44,893, and the median income for a family was $54,660. Males had a median income of $41,013 versus $30,201 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,769. About 7.2% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

As of 2000, the management and professional fields were the city's largest sector, and employed over 32% of Leominster's workforce. 26.8% of the workforce is employed in sales and office occupations, and 20.2% are employed in education, health and social services. Composed of orchestra professional, community volunteers, and student musicians, Thayer Symphony Orchestra's popularity forced them to move to the Stratos Dukakis Performing Arts Center at Montachusett Regional Vocational School in Fitchburg in 2000. Every spring, the Association holds a three-day exhibition of local art downtown at St. Leo's Church. At the exhibition, a high school senior from Central Massachusetts is award a $500 scholarship annually to continue their art education

Recreation

thumbnail|left|Crow Hill Pond at [[Leominster State Forest]]

The Leominster Recreation Department maintains 103 acres of property in Leominster, including numerous parks and playgrounds. Notable parks include Monument Square, Arthur A. Fournier Sr. Memorial Park, Evelyn Hachey Park, Justin DeSantis Field, Bachand Field and Barrett Park, which houses the Recreation Department's main offices. Doyle Field, located downtown on Priest Street, is the city's main athletic complex, including eight tennis courts, a soccer field and track, baseball field, playground, combination football-soccer stadium, and clubhouse. In 2005, the field went under a huge renovation project to be completed in 2020. The project was broken up into three phases and phases 1 and 2 have been mostly completed through 2012. The reservation includes the Doyle Conservation center which houses the trustees Central Massachusetts headquarters, conference meeting rooms, and serves as an event venue. Within the state forest are Crow Hill Pond and Paradise Pond, both popular summer picnic and swimming getaways. During the winter season the forest is open to cross country skiing, snow shoeing and snowmobiling. The Leominster Blue Devils main rival is the Red Raiders of Fitchburg High School. The two football programs have played every year since 1894, and have played 112 consecutive Thanksgiving Day Games, and is second to only Needham and Wellesley for oldest high school football rivalry in the state. They also have an ice hockey team that plays at the Wallace Civic Center.

Legendary Leominster football players and coaches include Lou Little, Ronnie Cahill and Frank Novak.

Government

thumb|right|City Hall in downtown Leominster

Leominster operates under a mayor–council form of government in which the mayor holds sole executive power. The city is divided into five wards and voters select a mayor, a council member representing their ward and four at-large council members. Mazzarella was sworn in on January 3, 1994, and is serving his sixteenth (17th) term as mayor. He is the longest running mayor in Leominster history.

The Leominster Public library is the city's main public library. Established in 1856, the public library moved from different locations until a permanent structure opened in 1910. In order to secure finances for the new structure, a library trustee applied for aid from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie donated $27,500, citing only if the town would appropriate 10 percent of that amount annually for the support of the library. In 2018, the school district controversially paid $10,000 in ransom money to hackers in order to recover its computer systems after they were infected with the WannaCry ransomware and adequate backups were not available.

Media

Newspapers

The Sentinel & Enterprise, a daily paper based in Fitchburg, is the main source of printed media in Leominster. The paper formed in 1973 by the merger of the Fitchburg Sentinel and the Leominster Enterprise, which dated back to 1873. The paper maintains a satellite news bureau in Leominster. Worcester County is also served by the daily Worcester Telegram & Gazette out of Worcester. Locally, the Leominster Champion serves as a weekly community paper. On the Scene Magazine serves greater Leominster as a monthly entertainment publication.

Television

Leominster Access Television (LTV) is the city's public access television station providing residents with local programs and meetings. The station broadcasts the annual Leominster-Fitchburg Thanksgiving football game every year.

Radio

Leominster is home to two radio stations. WCMX/1000 is a daytime-only religious radio station with Leominster as its community of license (it is based at the Twin City Baptist Temple in Lunenberg, however). On FM, there is a community radio station: WLPZ-LP/95.1, which was founded in 2017 and is managed by city resident Sonny Levine, with an all-volunteer staff.

Transportation

thumb|right|The MBTA station in North Leominster

Commuter rail service from Boston's North Station is provided by the MBTA with a stop in North Leominster on its Fitchburg Line.

Local bus transportation is provided by the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority, also known as the Montachusett Area Regional Transit or MART. This service operates in Leominster, Fitchburg, and Gardner.

Fitchburg Municipal Airport, a public airport in neighboring Fitchburg, serves as the air-hub of the area. However no major airlines have used the airport as a scheduled location in approximately half a century.

Freight train service is provided by CSX via the Fitchburg Secondary. This service moves rail cars to and from local businesses, such as Teknor Apex, a plastics plant, and WIN Waste Innovations, a garbage collection service.

Notable people

thumb|right|upright|Johnny Appleseed, Harper's Magazine, 1871

<!-- People who are not sufficiently notable to have WP pages will be removed. -->

  • Rob Blanchflower, drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft
  • John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, American pioneer nurseryman
  • Robert Cormier, author of I Am the Cheese and The Chocolate War
  • Mark Daigneault, professional basketball coach
  • Paul DiGiovanni, musician; former guitarist of popular rock band Boys Like Girls (2005–2022)
  • Dominik Dijakovic, WWE NXT wrestler
  • Diego Fagúndez, professional soccer player for the LA Galaxy
  • Rob Font, UFC mixed martial artist
  • Paul Fusco, internationally known photojournalist
  • Noah Gray, professional football player with the Kansas City Chiefs
  • S. Wesley Haynes, architect
  • KC Johnson, history professor best known for his role in disseminating the facts about the Duke University lacrosse rape case
  • Kathy Ann Kelly, Irish-American singer, songwriter and musician born there, The Kelly Family member
  • Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the Bronx
  • Benjamin LaGuer, convicted felon
  • Lou Little, football player and coach in the 1940s and 1950s
  • Milt Morin, former NFL tight end for the Cleveland Browns
  • Steve Moses, professional ice-hockey player for Jokerit Helsinki and Nashville Predators
  • James Nachtwey, award-winning war photographer
  • Mark Osowski, former NBA assistant coach for the New Orleans Hornets, the Golden State Warriors, and the Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Naudline Pierre, visual artist
  • Laurel Ptak, curator of contemporary art
  • R. A. Salvatore, fantasy/science-fiction author
  • Scott Spinelli, college basketball coach
  • John J. Taylor, former US Congressman
  • Oskari Tokoi, Finnish-American socialist politician and newspaper editor
  • David I. Walsh, former Governor of Massachusetts and U.S. Senator
  • Matt Kelly, drummer for Dropkick Murphys
  • Michael Devin bassist for Whitesnake and The Dead Daisies

Explanatory notes

References

  • Leominster official website
  • Leominster History
  • FitchburgLeominster.net
  • Leominster city profile