Leominster,
Massachusetts was purchased from the
Nashua Indians and originally was called '
Lancaster
New'.
In the first century of its existence a local named Obadia Hills started manufacturing combs in his kitchen, and the city has been associated with celluloid and then later plastic ever since.
In fact, there's a sign proudly proclaiming Leominster to be "Pioneer Plastic CIty" - apparently nobody ever
told the city council that this might NOT be something to be glowingly proud of.
For most of its history the city was oddly split between being a small farming town with apple orchards dotting the wooded landscape and until recently a thriving plastics industry which at one time employed many of the locals. In modern times however Leominster has become an attractive place to buy a house for people who need to still be commuting distance away from Boston without paying full Boston real estate prices.
This new money has given the city a new look. These days Leominster's down town area resembles any other small New England town/city and it's almost hard to tell that at one point it was a post industrial mill town showing signs of serious decay.
Leominster claims to be the birth place of Johnny Appleseed, legendary planter of apple trees all across New England.
To be fair though, other towns claim the same thing.
Leominster is located about 20 miles north from Worcester, 40 miles west of Boston and borders Fitchburg, Sterling, Lancaster, and Bolton among others.