The chocolate chip cookie was invented in Whitman by Ruth Graves Wakefield at the Toll House Inn.

[1] In the late 1930s, Ruth Graves Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies in Whitman at the Toll House Inn on Bedford Street.

The site is marked with a historical marker, and that land is now home to a Wendy's restaurant and Walgreens pharmacy, with the Toll House sign still in existence.

[citation needed] From 1968 to 1994, Whitman was also home to King's Castle Land, a children's amusement park owned by the Whitney family and located near the intersection of Routes 18 and 14.

[8] In the 1970s, Whitman was home to a then-secret National Security Agency classified materials disposal facility built on Essex Street by American Thermogen Inc.

Reaching temperatures up to 3,400 degrees, the three-story incinerator did not work up to expectations—only operating a limited number of hours and not always fully destroying the material—and after spending $1.2 million to build the unit it was abandoned.

Statistically, the town is the 327th of 351 communities in the Commonwealth by land area, and is the second smallest (above only Hull) in Plymouth County.

Whitman is bordered by Abington to the north, Rockland to the northeast, Hanson to the southeast, East Bridgewater to the south, and the city of Brockton to the west.

Whitman is served by the Kingston/Plymouth Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail, the town's station is located off route 27.

On the national level, Whitman is a part of Massachusetts's 8th congressional district (as of the 2013 redistricting), and has been represented since 2001 by Stephen Lynch.

Markey was elected in 2013 to finish out the remainder of the term vacated by John Kerry when he became Secretary of State.

The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Second Plymouth and Bristol district, which includes Brockton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson and portions of East Bridgewater and Easton and the seat is currently held by Michael Brady.

The Whitman Public Library is located a block south of Route 27, having moved into its first stand-alone branch in 1982 after seventy-five years in the town hall.

The Whitman Middle School, located south of Route 27 in the western part of town, serves students from sixth to eighth grades.

One of their chief rivals is nearby Abington, against whom they have played 112 annual Thanksgiving Day football games through 2023.

[23] In addition to Whitman-Hanson, students may choose to attend South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School in Hanover free of charge.

In his introduction to the award-winning essay collection Hobby Games: The 100 Best, editor James Lowder mentions "Playing Dungeons & Dragons in a house behind the now-defunct King's Castle Land kiddie amusement park in Whitman, Massachusetts.