Before European settlers arrived in the Boston area, Abington was better known as Manamooskeagin to the local Wampanoag and Algonquin Native Americans, which means “great green place of shaking grass.” It was later changed to Abington by Governor Joseph Dudley as thanks to the Countess of Abingdon, England, who had helped secure his spot on the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
In the late 1700s, an iron factory was established. For several years, this foundry was an integral part of Abington’s economy. In 1815, a local inventor named Jesse Reed built a machine that mass-produced tacks, which forced the town’s primary industry to evolve into shoe-making for the next century and a half. This was so successful that these factories provided nearly half of the footwear for the Union Army in the Civil War.
Today, Abington remains a small coastal town on Massachusetts Bay that also has the Shumatuscacant River and Beaver Brook running through its corners. Unfortunately, in wooded and coastal areas like these, residents and business owners alike can expect their fair share of unwanted pests like termites around their properties.