Holliston is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States in the Greater Boston area.

At the time of the earliest European settlements, where Holliston exists now was part of the territory of the Awassamog family of Natick (the first Nipmuc Praying Town), who also held authority over land near Waushakum Pond at Framingham and land near Annamasset at Mendon.

The Morses, Sheffields, Marshalls and Bullards and many others followed Pout Lane (an old Native American foot-path, now partly modern day Rte 16 and Highland St., respectively) out to the new territory and settled along the path, thus forming a cluster of farms that would eventually become Holliston.

The first town meeting was held at the house of Timothy Leland on December 23, 1724, "at which five selectmen and all other required officers were chosen."

A visit to such places stirs the blood, quickens the pulse and produces an enthusiastic desire to have a share in the developing good times.

Massachusetts may be Whittier's land, and the region from Marblehead to Amesbury may be full of legendary and spectral armies, and witchdom, and Buddha knows what, but the imaginative and the poetical must submit to the rights of the commonplace.

The commonplace is honeycombed with the uncommon heroisms of the patient, everyday existence that make up the life of such plucky towns as Holliston.

Average life is but a portfolio of views of struggles with the commonplaces of everyday existence" (Holliston 1997).

[citation needed] Holliston's Mudville neighborhood claims to be the location of the 1888 Ernest Lawrence Thayer poem, "Casey at the Bat", and maintains an ongoing rivalry with Stockton, California, which makes the same claim regarding the poem's setting.

It is said that the General himself, quite amused at the spectacle, added his muscle in an attempt to push the rock off its natural pedestal.

With a history spanning nearly three centuries, Holliston has many smaller divisions within its borders with names tied to a host of historic and cultural origins.

Although the town is only served by one post-office today, several of its historic villages originated from previous post offices as well as train stops on the Boston and Albany Railroad's Milford line.

Holliston is located in eastern Massachusetts, bordered by: As of the census[18] of 2000, there were 13,801 people, 4,795 households, and 3,842 families residing in the town.

Ancestries of Holliston residents are reported to be Irish (29.4%), Italian (18.3%), English (17.8%), German (9.7%), French (5.6%), and Polish (5.6%).

The Town of Holliston has a public school system which serves students from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

[20] The Holliston public school system also maintains a Montessori and French Immersion program that students can enroll in upon entering kindergarten.

Three of these sites are still monitored by CERCLIS (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System).

According to locals, "Axton-Cross polluted the property it owned and the land surrounding it and the wildlife with toxic chemicals.

Through the late 1960s to early 1980s the mined areas were filled with building debris and commercial solid waste.

[27] Since then the Mass DEP and EPA have ordered remedial activities which included the removal of: potential contaminants, solid waste, construction debris, tires, and over 70 tons of impacted soils.

[28] Founded in 1968, Photofabrication Engineering, Inc. (PEI) manufactures precision metal parts for computers and semiconductors.