What is it like to live in Taunton?

William Hanna’s family came to Taunton in the 1850s, and Hanna, 69, has lived here his entire life.

People cross the street in downtown Taunton. Debee Tlumacki for the Boston Globe

February 14, 2017

3 minutes to read

There’s no doubt William Hanna knows his Taunton history — it’s practically in his blood.

Hanna’s family came to the city in the 1850s, and Hanna, 69, has lived in Taunton his entire life. He spent 37 years teaching history in the Taunton Public Schools. He retired in 2006, but has continued to instruct part time at Bridgewater State University. He is president of Taunton’s Old Colony History Museum. Oh, and he is also author of the book “A History of Taunton, Massachusetts.’’

“I’ve always loved its history,’’ said Hanna, who raised two sons in the city with his wife, Carol, and lives on Duffy Drive, not far from the high school.

One of the city’s defining characteristics is its multiculturalism. “Taunton has a great immigration history,’’ Hanna said. The English first settled here in the 17th century, but beginning in the 1840s, “there were successive waves of Irish, French-Canadian, Italian, and Polish immigrants,’’ he said. The city’s Portuguese population is also significant, owing in part to 19th-century mariners, many of them Cape Verdeans. “Really, if you wanted to look at Taunton as a melting pot, you could do that,’’ he said.

Hanna grew up in a neighborhood within a five-minute walk of downtown, “with a small-town atmosphere where it seemed like everyone knew everyone.’’ He said the biggest change in his lifetime is that many downtown businesses have moved out to the highways crisscrossing the city. But those highways are also one of Taunton’s biggest assets, he said, because they mean Boston, Cape Cod, and Providence are not far away.

All is not perfect in Taunton, Hanna acknowledges. “There is no question Taunton suffers from the opioid crisis, as do other places,’’ he said. Moreover, the city has a rich manufacturing history, but “well-paying middle-class jobs are less available now than when Taunton was a manufacturing center,’’ he said.

But he praises the city for what it does well, voicing special appreciation for the fire, police, and school departments. “I feel well served here,’’ he said.

BY THE NUMBERS

1638-39

The years when Taunton was settled as a town in Plymouth Colony, according to historian William Hanna. “It remained as such until Plymouth merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. Plymouth Colony is sometimes called the ‘Old Colony’ because it was settled 10 years before Massachusetts Bay Colony.’’ Taunton was a town until Jan. 1, 1865, when a city charter went into effect. Prior to the arrival of European settlers, Native Americans called the region Cohannet, Tetiquet, and Titicut.

The number of years since the National Weather Service’s forecast operations moved from Boston to a new facility in Myles Standish Industrial Park in Taunton. Co-located with the Northeast River Forecast Center, the office provides “a full slate of public, aviation, marine, and hydrologic warning and forecast services for most of Southern New England and the adjacent ocean areas.’’

64,500

Number of bulbs this year in the annual Taunton Green Christmas display, which won’t come down until a few days after New Year’s. Last month, OnlyInYourState.com named Taunton the most enchanting, magical Christmas community in Massachusetts.

46.7

The square mileage of Taunton, according to the US Census Bureau, making it the third-largest city in Massachusetts by land area, trailing only Barnstable (which has a city form of government but wishes to be known as the “Town of Barnstable’’) and Boston.

PROS & CONS

Pro

City takes the holiday season seriously

The community is unofficially known as the “Christmas City’’ thanks to its annual holiday light display on historic Taunton Green, which has attracted visitors from throughout the area since 1914. There’s even a webcam so online visitors can partake in the merriment.

Con

Ongoing litigation, uncertainty over casino proposal

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has long sought to build a casino in Taunton. After a group of property owners sued the federal government, a judge ruled against the casino this past summer, leaving the $1 billion project in limbo. The tribe had broken ground in April.