Bridgewater

Town in Plymouth County, southeastern Massachusetts, 43 km/27 mi south of Boston; population (1998 est) 24,500. Iron foundries were established here in the 18th century, and shoemaking and nailmaking were influential in the 19th century. Bridgewater still has metal industries but is now principally a Boston commuter settlement.

Bridgewater was originally called Titicut. A number of historical properties can be found in the centre of the town, around the central common. Bridgewater State College was founded here in 1840.

Frederick Wiseman's controversial 1967 documentary Titicut Follies was filmed here in the state prison for the criminally insane.

Bridgewater

Township in central New Jersey, 43 km/27 mi southwest of Newark; population (1990) 32,500. It is a growing residential, commercial, and industrial suburb at the outer edge of the New York metropolitan area.

Bridgewater

Town in southern Nova Scotia, Canada, on the La Have River, 80 km/50 mi southwest of Halifax; population (1991) 7,200. An agricultural and service centre, it grows Christmas trees and has a tyre plant. The river is noted for its salmon fishing.

Bridgewater

Town in northwestern Virginia, on the North River, 11 km/7 mi southwest of Harrisonburg, in the Shenandoah Valley; population (1990) 3,900. It produces furniture, clothing, and textiles, and is the seat of Bridgewater College (1880).