Barre is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,530 at the 2020 census. Located on the ancestral homeland of the Nipmuc, the area was first settled by Europeans in 1720 and referred to as the Northwest District of Rutland. The town was incorporated as Hutchinson on June 17, 1774, after Thomas Hutchin…Barre is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,530 at the 2020 census. Located on the ancestral homeland of the Nipmuc, the area was first settled by Europeans in 1720 and referred to as the Northwest District of Rutland. The town was incorporated as Hutchinson on June 17, 1774, after Thomas Hutchinson, colonial governor of Massachusetts. The town was incorporated on August 23, 1775, along with 41 other districts in the state, by the Massachusetts Court. The next year on November 7, 1776, it was renamed Barre in honor of Colonel Isaac Barré, an Irish-born MP who was a champion of American Independence. "This township was originally known as Rutland, West District; but prior to 1770 its name was changed to "Hutchinson", in honor of the Hon. Thomas Hutchinson who was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1765, became acting Governor in 1769, and Governor in 1770. When, in 1774, on account of his Tory proclivities, Governor Hutchinson resigned his office and went to England, his name and memory were so execrated by the patriots of the township of Hutchinson that, in 1776, the General Assembly of Massachusetts changed the name of the township to "Barré."
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