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Leicester ( LEST-ər) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The population was 11,087 at the 2020 United States Census.

Leicester Academy was founded on March 23, 1784, when the Act of Incorporation for Leicester Academy was passed by the Massachusetts General Court as a private, state chartered institution. The charter issued to the Academy bears the bold signature of John Hancock, Governor of Massachusetts; and Samuel Adams, President of the Senate. The Academy opened on June 7, 1784 on land donated by Jewish merchant Aaron Lopez in Leicester, Massachusetts. Early trustees of the academy included Rufus Putnam (who was also one of its principal benefactors), Moses Gill, Levi Lincoln Sr., Joseph Allen, Seth Washburn, Samuel Baker, and several clergymen of the area. The purpose of Leicester Academy was to promote piety and virtue; and for the education of youth in the English, Latin, Greek, and French languages, together with writing, arithmetic and the art of speaking. The first faculty consisted of two teachers—a principal and an English preceptor. When the school opened, there were three students, two from Sturbridge and one from Leicester. By the end of the school year, the number increased to twenty, and within two years, there were seventy-five students. Shortly after it was founded, Leicester Academy became coeducational, a very unusual situation during those times. Prior to his entering law school and election to Congress, William Whitney Rice served as an English preceptor at the Academy. Because of its excellent academics, Leicester Academy attracted students from all over Massachusetts and from several other states as well. Many of its early graduates became nationally known. Among them were Samuel Crafts, who was a Congressman and Governor of Vermont; Eli Whitney, the famous inventor; Navy Secretary David Henshaw, and others representing every walk of life.In 1856, a compulsory education law was passed in Massachusetts, which caused Leicester and other surrounding towns to establish a public high school. This caused such a decrease in the academy's enrollment such that, in 1867, the town's high school was combined with Leicester Academy and town funds were used to support the institution. At the fourth Constitutional Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1917, an anti-aid amendment prohibited public funding of any privately owned school or college. After this amendment was ratified by vote of the people, the trustees of Leicester Academy gave up the academy and leased a building to the Town of Leicester for the high school. In 1921, the Leicester Academy became the Leicester High School because of increased costs requiring financial assistance from the town of Leicester, thus making it a full public secondary school.

The Washburn Square–Leicester Common Historic District encompasses the historic civic heart of Leicester, Massachusetts. It includes Washburn Square, as the town common is called; the buildings along its perimeter; and the properties along Main Street extending east along Main Street to its junction with Henshaw Street. It includes the 1939 Leicester Town Hall, Becker College's 1962 Swan Library, a Victorian Gothic Revival First Congregational Church (a rarity due to its comparatively late construction date, 1901) and the 1834 Leicester Unitarian Church (originally known as the Second Congregational Church). The south side of Washburn Square (named for Leicester native son Governor Emory Washburn) is lined with stately homes that now are almost all owned by Becker College.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

The Quaker Cemetery is a privately owned cemetery in Leicester, Massachusetts. It lies on land donated to the local Quakers that is positioned between the Worcester Regional Airport and Worcester Reservoir. The actual name is the Friends Cemetery but it is more commonly known as the Spider Gates Cemetery.

The Sugden Reservoir is a Massachusetts reservoir located in Spencer, Massachusetts. It forms the headwaters of Shaw Brook, which is a tributary to Turkey Hill Creek, a major tributary to the Seven Mile River. This water body is part of the Chicopee River Watershed.

David Prouty High School is a public high school located in Spencer, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2015 rankings of U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools, David Prouty High School was left unranked. The school serves grades 9–12 with a student-to-teacher ratio of 13:1.The school is currently undergoing a process of demolishing and rebuilding parts of the building, starting with the gym in preparation for building an entirely new school.

The Thomas Lumb Three-Decker is a historic triple decker house in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is a well-preserved example of the style in Worcester's Piedmont section with Queen Anne styling. The building follows the typical side hall plan, and features porches on the front with turned posts and spindle friezes. Other details, including decorative brackets in the extended roof overhang and elements of the window surrounds, have been lost since the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

The Quinsigamond Branch Library, now part of the Quinsigamond Elementary School. is an historic school building and former library at 14 Blackstone River Road in Worcester, Massachusetts. The building was originally built as a Carnegie Library in 1913 with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie, who was present to lay the cornerstone that year. It as since been converted into part of the Quingisamond Elementary School. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Spencer Airport (ICAO: K60M, FAA LID: 60M) in Spencer, Massachusetts, United States, is a public airport which was once owned by Gregg E. Andrews. It has one runway, averages 125 flights per week, and has approximately 26 aircraft based on its field.Andrews Aviation, based at the airport, provides flight instruction in a vintage Piper J-3 Cub.

WWFX (100.1 FM; "100 FM The Pike") is a classic rock radio station serving the Worcester vicinity. It is under ownership of Cumulus Media. WWFX is also an affiliate of the New England Patriots Radio Network.

The First Congregational Church was a historic church building in Spencer, Massachusetts. The church designed by architect Elbridge Boyden was destroyed by a fire in 1862 but was rebuilt a year later. On June 2, 2023, a lightning strike caused another fire which completely destroyed the church. The congregation dates to 1743.

The Grove Street School is a historic school building at 23 Grove Street in Spencer, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story brick building was built in two phases: in the first phase in 1876, a single story was built. It was full to overflowing by 1878, and in 1883 the second story was built, designed by Fuller & Delano. It is a T-shaped building, whose main body is a horizontal rectangle, with a projecting central pavilion. The three roof gable ends are jerkin-headed, and are decorated with bargeboard and heavy brackets.The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996, and was included in the 2003 expansion of the Spencer Town Center Historic District.