During the seventeenth century, the Hockomock Swamp was used as a fortress by the Wampanoag, the predominating tribe of natives in the area, against invasion by early English settlers.
[2] During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Euro-American settlers deemed the swamp to be worthless, barren land, and attempted to drain it and convert it into profitable farmland.
"[2][5] Excavation of the Hockomock and its immediate surrounding areas on the Taunton River have produced very important archaeological findings dating back to the Early Archaic Period of North America.
From 1946 to 1951 the Warren K. Moorehead Chapter of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society worked under Director Dr. Maurice Robbins to unearth the Titicut site.
The Titicut Site, located along the Taunton River in Bridgewater produced thousands of artifacts dating from the Early Archaic to the Contact Period (8600 to 400 B.P.)
including hearths and pits, post molds, red paint ceremonial deposits and a rectangular lodge floor.
[10] Most of the swamp remains untouched by development, in large part due to many years of pushing for environmental protection legislation.
In 1971, approximately one year after the United States Environmental Protection Agency was established, Massachusetts House of Representatives member John Ames presented findings from several intellectual leaders in the field.