Roxbury and Bridgewater

The histories of Roxbury and Bridgewater are intertwined, as both communities developed from settlement to ecclesiastical society to incorporated town. Both were once part of larger adjoining towns, with Bridgewater originally known as Shepaug Neck and Roxbury first named Shepaug Plantation. Shepaug is a Mohegan word meaning rocky river and was taken from the name of the river that runs through Bridgewater and forms Roxbury's western border. While settlers first plowed the land, they also b...