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() is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 37,258 at the 2000 census. Woburn is located 11 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts, and just south of the intersection of I-93 and I-95.
as many believe it to be. With a Boston accent, many people, especially those who live in Woburn, pronounce it "woo-bin."
Woburn was first settled in 1640 near Horn Pond, a primary source of the Mystic River, and was officially incorporated in 1642. At that time the area included present day towns of Woburn, Winchester, Burlington, and parts of Stoneham and Wilmington. In 1730 Wilmington separated from Woburn. In 1799 Burlington separated from Woburn; in 1850 Winchester did so, too.
Woburn got its name from Woburn, Bedfordshire. Woburn played host to the first religious ordination in the Americas on Nov. 22, 1642. Rev. Thomas Carter was sworn in by many of the most prominent men of New England including John Cotton, minister of the First Church of Boston, Richard Mather minister of the First Church of Dorchester, and Capt. Edward Johnson co-founder of the church and town of Woburn. The establishment of the church preceded the incorporation of the town, as was customary in those days.
Gershom Flagg's tannery was built in 1668. The Middlesex Canal was opened in 1803. Thompson established a tannery at Cummingsville in 1823. The Boston and Lowell Railroad started operating through Woburn in 1835 and the
newspaper began in 1839. In 1840 the first membership library opened. The telegraph started operating in Woburn in 1867; the public library opened in 1879. The telephone was introduced in Woburn in 1882 and electric lights in 1885. In 1951 Route 128 opened; in 1960 Route 93 was built through town; and in 1962 the rail depot closed.
"America's oldest active gun club," the Massachusetts Rifle Association, was founded in 1875 and moved to Woburn in 1876. It is still open today.