Mattapoisett
Mattapoisett is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. The population was 6,508 at the 2020 census. Mattapoisett Center is located in the town. Mattapoisett is a part of the South Coast region of Massachusetts which encompasses the cities and towns that surround Buzzards Bay (excluding the Elizabeth Islands, Bourne and Falmouth), Mount Hope Bay and the Sakonnet River. History Governor William Brenton purchased Mattapoisett in 1664 from Wampanoag chief Metacomet, also referred to as King Philip. Brenton left it to his son Ebenezer, who sold it. The town of Mattapoisett was settled in 1750 and officially incorporated in 1857, originally a part of Rochester. There is evidence of prior Wampanoag Indian settlements throughout the town, including burial grounds. The name Mattapoisett is Wampanoag for "a place of resting". Early industry included logging and farming, but Mattapoisett became best known for its role in the history of whaling. Some 400 ships were built in the town's shipyards from 1740 until the 1870s, including the Acushnet, the ship that Moby-Dick author Herman Melville sailed on and later deserted. The town supplied many of the whalers used on the East Coast in the first half of the nineteenth century. The last one was