Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Worcester (3.)

WORCESTER, a city and the county seat of Worcester county,, , is situated in a region of Glacial hills, lakes, and ponds, which form varied and pleasing landscapes, 39 miles west of. Besides the closely-built portion, the city includes a large suburban district, which contains fourteen villages of various sizes. The closely-built portion is very irregularly laid out, conforming in some degree to the slope of the ground. There are 197 miles of streets, very little of which is paved. The public parks have an aggregate area of 35 acres. The population in 1885 was 68,389 (20,182, or 29.51 per cent. of foreign birth). The proportion of coloured people was very small. The manufacturing industries are very large and varied; prominent among them are the manufactures of iron and steel, foundry and machine shop products and tools, and second to these the manufacture of boots and shoes.