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 began with the establishment of ironworks in 1656; the plant then opened continued in active operation for about 225 years. Brick-making and shipbuilding were two of the early industries; the latter, formerly very important, has now been abandoned. The manufactures to-day are extensive and varied. The aggregate value of the factory product in 1905 was $13,644,586, an increase of 18·2 per cent. over that of 1900. Of this amount the value of the cotton manufactured was $6,141,598, or 45 per cent. of the whole. Herring fisheries give occupation during a part of the year to a considerable number of workers. Taunton has a prosperous jobbing trade, and large shipping interests, the coast wise trade being particularly important.

Taunton was founded in 1638, when the territory was purchased from Massasoit by settlers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and became the frontier town of Plymouth Colony. Myles Standish was engaged on the original survey. But there had been earlier settlers in the region—at “Tecticutt” (Titicut), which later became part of Taunton. The settlement at Taunton was at first known as Cohannet, but the present name—from Taunton, Somerset, England, the home of many of the settlers—was soon adopted. The town was incorporated in 1639. In 1671 it was the scene of a meeting between Gov. Thomas Prince and King Philip, at which a treaty was drawn up. During King Philip’s War, Taunton was a base of operations for Plymouth Colony troops under Gov. Josiah Winslow. In 1686 Taunton was one of the towns which refused to comply with Sir Edmund Andros’s demands for a tax levy. For some years Thomas Coram, the philanthropist and founder of the London Foundling Hospital, was engaged in the shipbuilding industry here. In 1774, after the passage of the Boston Port Bill, the people of Taunton showed their sympathy for Boston by raising on the Green a red flag on which were inscribed the words “Liberty and Union.” The leader of the patriotic party at this time was Robert Treat Paine, to whose memory a bronze statue has been erected. During Shays’s rebellion the Taunton court-house was twice besieged by insurgents, who were each time dispersed through the resolute action and firmness of Gen. David Cobb, one of the judges. The event is commemorated by a tablet on Taunton Green. In Berkley, which until 1735 was a part of Dighton (Taunton South Purchase, separated from Taunton in 1712), is the famous Dighton Rock, with inscriptions long erroneously supposed to have been made by Norse discoverers of America, but now known to be the work of Indians. Taunton was chartered as a city in 1864. In 1909 a new city charter was adopted, under which the mayor and nine councilmen (elected at large) were the only city officers elected at any city election; candidates for these offices are nominated by petition; the mayor appoints, subject to the approval of the council, a chief of police and a city solicitor.

See S. H. Emery, History of Taunton from its Settlement to the Present Time (Syracuse, N.Y., 1893); D. H. Hurd, History of Bristol County (Philadelphia, 1883); Quarter Millennial Celebration (Taunton, 1889).

TAUNUS, a wooded mountain range of Germany in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau and the grand-duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. It lies between the Rhine and the Main on the S. and the Lahn on the N., and stretches some 55 m. E. and W. Its southern slopes stand 5 to 10 m. back from the Main, but leave only a very narrow strip of low ground alongside the Rhine, and from Bingen downwards they overhang it with precipitous crags, many of which are crowned with picturesque ruins. It has an average elevation of 1500 ft. The loftiest peaks occur in the east, where the imposing cluster of Grosser Feldberg (2887 ft.), Kleiner Feldberg (2714 ft.) and Altkonig (2618 ft.) dominate the Wetterau and the valley of the Main. Above the Rheingau, or the slopes which stretch down to the Rhine between Biebrich and Bingen, the altitude averages 1500 to 1700 ft. The geological core of the system consists of primitive argillaceous schists, capped by quartzite and broken through in places by basalt. On the northern side, which sinks on the whole gently towards the Lahn, the greywacke formation attains a considerable development. The hills are almost everywhere well wooded, the predominant trees being firs and beeches. The lower slopes are, wherever possible, planted with vineyards, orchards and chestnut and almond groves. The vineyards of the Rheingau are specially famous, and yield brands of wine—e.g. Johannisberger, Steinberger, Rüdesheimer, Marcobrunner, Hochheimer, Rauenthaler, Assmannshäuser, and others—which enjoy the highest reputation amongst the vintages of Germany. The Taunus is also famous for the number and efficacy of its mineral springs, which annually attract thousands of visitors to the celebrated spas of Wiesbaden, Homburg, Ems, Schlangenbad, Schwalbach, Soden and Nauheim, while the waters of Selters and other springs are exported in large quantity. The sheltered position and warm climate have led also to the establishment of the health resorts of Falkenstein (1875) and Schmitten, and of tourist centres at Königstein, Cronberg and Ober Ursel.

TAUPO, a township of East Taupo county, New Zealand, in the south-west of the Hot Spring district of North Island. It attracts many visitors both as a health resort and on account of the magnificent scenery and remarkable volcanic phenomena of the surrounding district. It lies on the north-east shore of lake Taupo, the largest lake in the island, having an extreme length of 26 m. and a shore-line, not counting minor indentations, of about 100 m., and lying 1200 ft. above sea-level. The river Waikato, which reaches the west coast not far from Manukau Harbour near Auckland, here leaves the lake. The district abounds in geysers, springs, mud volcanoes and other phenomena; some of the waters have petrifying powers, and some of the springs are vividly coloured. On the road running N.E. to Rotorua (56 m.) are the resorts of Weirakei (7 m.) and Ateamuri (31 m.). Lake Taupo is finely situated, hills rising over 2000 ft. immediately from the shores, while the mountains of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, an active volcano, and Ruapehu, a snow-clad peak, back the view to the south and mark the limit of the great volcanic line which extends 160 m. north-westward