The land that is now known as East Bridgewater was first settled by Europeans in 1630 as an outgrowth of the Plymouth and Duxbury plantations.

The town was located on the northern portion of the Taunton River, and had an economy primarily based on agriculture, though industrial development followed.

Iron works in the town provided muskets and cannon for the Colonial armies during the American Revolution.

The famous bank robber Jack Turner had a brother who owned a home in East Bridgewater during the mid-19th century.

It is widely believed that Turner had left his fortune there before he was mistakenly shot by Union agents outside of Richmond, Virginia in 1864.

East Bridgewater's town center is located twenty-seven miles southeast of Boston.

East Bridgewater is a typical community of southeastern Massachusetts, with ponds, woods and rivers around the town.

The Beaver Brook Beagle Club, a large woodlands area, is located in the northwestern corner of town.

On the national level, East Bridgewater is a part of Massachusetts's 9th congressional district, and has been represented since 2001 by Stephen Lynch.

The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of two districts: by Michael Brady in the Second Plymouth and Bristol district, which includes Brockton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Whitman and portions of Easton; and by Walter F. Timilty in the Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth district, which includes all or parts of Avon, Braintree, Canton, Easton, Milton, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, and West Bridgewater.

[15] The town is patrolled by the Fourth (Middleborough) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police.

[citation needed] East Bridgewater has its own school system for the town's approximately 2,500 students.

The Gordon W. Mitchell School, located to the east of the town center, serves third through sixth grade students.

A short stretch of the Middleborough-Lakeville line of the MBTA's commuter rail passes through the western section of town.