Worcester (pronounced /ˈwʊstər/) is a city in the state of Massachusetts in the United States of America. A 2006 estimate put the population at 175,898, making it the estimated second-largest city in New England by population, after Boston. It is the county seat of Worcester County.

The city marks the western periphery of the Boston-Worcester-Manchester (MA-RI-NH) U.S. Census Combined Statistical Area (CSA). Located in Central Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth." It is also noted for its wealth of fine mill era Victorian architecture. It is named after Worcester, England.

The Pakachoag tribe of the Nipmuc nation of Native Americans were the indigenous settlers of the area. They called it Quinsigamond, meaning "fishing place for pickerel." Lake Quinsigamond provided fine hunting and fishing grounds a short distance from their main village near a spring on Pakachoag Hill in what is now Auburn. Mt.

Wachusett was their sacred place. Worcester was first settled by the English in 1673, but the modest settlement of six or seven houses was burned to the ground during King Philip's War on December 2, 1675, when settlers were either killed or driven off. The town was subsequently resettled and was incorporated in 1684.

On September 10 of that year, Daniel Gookin and others petitioned to have the town's name officially changed from Quinsigamond to Worcester. However, its inhabitants were still vulnerable to attack, and some, such as Samuel Lenorson Jr., were taken hostage by natives during the 1690s. When Queen Anne's War started in 1702, the town was again abandoned by its English inhabitants except for Diggory Sargent.

Sargent was later tomahawked, as was his wife, who was too weak to make the journey on foot to Canada. Their children were taken to Canada and survived.

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