Being the new girl in town, finding little facts seemed like a fun challenge. Here are a few fun facts about this lovely little town. 1. Did you know that The Town of Hopkinton was incorporated on the 13th of December, 1715. Hopkinton was named for Edward Hopkins, who left a large sum of money to be invested in land in New England, the proceeds of which were to be used for the benefit of Harvard University. The trustees of Harvard purchased land from the Native American residents with money from the fund and incorporated the area, naming it in honor of its benefactor. 2. This was a cool fact…

Vietnam veteran Eugene Roberts, who lost both legs in combat, started the Boston Marathon at the Hopkinton Town Common in 1970. Roberts started after the runners and finished in 6:07 with a huge entourage he had gathered along the way. In 1975, race director Will Cloney told 23-year-old Rob Hall, a Belmont native, that he would be issued an official finisher's certificate if he finished in under three hours. Hall's time was 2:58.

The Third U.S. Congressional District, which includes Hopkinton, is shaped like Florida. The last hearing by the Special Joint Legislative Committee on Redistricting, for which Ashland's Karen Spilka, whose district includes Hopkinton, is a Senate member, is Monday, July 11, at 3 p.m. in the Gardener Auditorium in the State House. The committee is charged with redrawing the state's U.S. Congress, state representative and senate districts to conform to the 2010 U.S. Census. Because Massachusetts' population grew slowly compared to other states, it will have one less congressional district. …

At dinner Thursday night for a visiting delegation from Xiamen, China, Hopkinton's 26.2 Foundation presented each of the visitors with a foot-tall replica of the statue on the Town Common that shows Hopkinton's George Brown firing the Boston Marathon starting gun. The statues were presented by George Brown's grandson, Tom Burke, four-time Boston winner and marathon ambassador Bill Rodgers, who has won a marathon on every continent (Antartica excepted), and sculptor Michael Alfano. The recipients from China were Mr. Wei Gang, Mr. Yu Zhenjie, Mr. Zhu Weige, Ms. Lan Ping, Ms. Wu Libing and Mr. …

In 1763, John Young, the father of Brigham Young, was born in Hopkinton. Brigham Young was born in 1801 in Whitingham, VT. Brigham, who started life as a carpenter and blacksmith, became a western explorer known as "the American Moses" for leading Mormon pioneers through the desert. He was president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded Salt Lake City, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and was the first governor of Utah Territory. Brigham Young married 55 wives,  and died in 1877. SOURCE: A Short Picture View of Hopkinton: Then and Now,

It is against the law to sell or use Silly String in Hopkinton. The bylaw was adopted at annual Town Meeting on June 11, 1990, Article 26, No. 154.1. "No person shall sell or expose for sale, use or cause or permit to be used any product designed to project a string or streamer of plastic material." The interesting question is, what happened in 1989?

In 1969, Exit 11A was built on The Mass. Turnpike in Hopkinton as an interchange for Rte. 495. Exit 11A  provided a connection to the newly constructed I-495, also known as the Outer Circumferential Highway, and furnished a connection for long-distance travelers to northern New England and Cape Cod. SOURCE: Massachusetts Turnpike Historic Overview