Charlton

Understand

While being relatively rural, it's still within 50 mi of major cities like Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Hartford and Providence.

Name

In 1754, the state legislature finally agreed to take part of Oxford and split off from it a portion to form what is now the town of Charlton (though it wouldn't take effect until the beginning of 1755). The legislature, as was their custom, left the name of the town blank in the bill, so that it would be filled in by the governor. However, governor William Shirley was away, so it fell to lieutenant governor Spencer Phips to choose the name. Most likely, he named it after Sir Francis Charlton, who was a relative of his daughter's husband. However, some think that it may have been named after King Charles. (There is no shortage of Charleston and Charlestown places elsewhere named after the king, which sometimes are easy to confuse with Charlton's name.) As a footnote explaining the possible origins of the name in Charlton Historical Sketches by Rev. Anson Titus Jr. in 1877 says, "However the name came, we are not ashamed of it."

History

Charlton, like much of the area around it, was primarily a farming community from when it was formed, through the 1800s and early 1900s. Some streams provided enough water power to operate mills. There are still places in town that do small-scale farming, but land started to be more developed into housing during the latter part of the 1900s and into the 2000s. Much farmland has returned to being forest, leaving lines of stone walls behind that run through the woods. Today, the town still very much has a rural character despite being fairly close to more urban areas.

Get in

By car

• From the west: Take I-90 East to Exit 78 for I-84, then take Exit 6A onto US-20 East into Charlton.
• From the southwest: Take I-84 East to Exit 6A, then take US-20 East into Charlton.
• From the east: Take I-90 West to Exit 90 onto MA-12 South. From MA-12, take US-20 West into Charlton.
• From the northeast and southeast: Take I-290 or I-395 to Exit 11B, then take US-20 West into Charlton.

By train or bus

• Union Station, Worcester, is the closest public transportation hub to Charlton. If coming up the Amtrak Northeast Regional route, it may make sense to get off at the Hartford, Windsor Locks, or Springfield stations and take a car or rideshare from there.
• WRTA Bus Route 29 has a couple of stops in Charlton on its way between Worcester and Southbridge.

By plane

• Worcester Regional Airport in Worcester is a regional airport is about 20 minutes away from Charlton, and while it only has a few flights daily it's much more convenient to drive to than the larger airports that are further away. A rental car is probably the easiest way to get around once in the area, but a cab or rideshare could also get you from the airport into Charlton. Bus service is also available by taking WRTA Bus Route 2 from the airport to Union Station, and then transferring to Route 29 to get into Charlton.
• Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks outside of Hartford, is less than an hour's drive from Charlton.
• Boston Logan International Airport is about an hour's drive away, longer when there's traffic (and you should expect there to be traffic). However, it has the most airlines and destinations of the nearby airports. While again a rental car is probably the easiest way to get around, one can take the MBTA Framingham/Worcester commuter train from Boston into Worcester's Union Station and then take a cab, rideshare, or WRTA Bus Route 29 from there to get into Charlton.

Get around

Charlton is primarily built around car access, with most destinations having plentiful free parking. There are few sidewalks in many parts of town, and no separated bicycle lanes, which makes walking and bicycling challenging, though it's still possible for short distances.

Go next

Neighboring towns

The neighboring towns each have plenty of things to see and do as well.

• Sturbridge to the west
• Spencer to the north
• Southbridge to the southwest
• Dudley to the south
• Oxford to the east

Larger cities

If looking for more populated places instead, you might consider any of these, which are all a half-hour to an hour drive away depending on what part you're going to:

• Worcester, the closest city, has plenty to do.
• Boston, is a large, exciting, and bright city.
• Hartford, Connecticut.
• Springfield in the Pioneer Valley.
• Providence, Rhode Island.

Beyond

For somewhere further away, consider heading to one of these:

• South to the beaches of South County, Rhode Island.
• North to the mountains in New Hampshire.
• West to the Berkshires.
• East to Cape Cod.