Shirley, Massachusetts | |
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![]() Old Shirley Municipal Building in 2008. | |
![]() Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts | |
Coordinates: 42°33′31″N 71°38′47″W / 42.55861°N 71.64639°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Massachusetts |
County | Middlesex |
Settled | 1720 |
Incorporated | 1753 |
Government | |
• Type | Open town meeting |
Area | |
• Total | 15.9 sq mi (41.2 km2) |
• Land | 15.8 sq mi (41.0 km2) |
• Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2) |
Elevation | 279 ft (85 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 7,431[1] |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (Eastern) |
ZIP code | 01464 |
Area code | 351 / 978 |
FIPS code | 25-61590 |
GNIS feature ID | 0618234 |
Website | http://www.shirley-ma.gov/ |
Shirley is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately thirty miles west-northwest of Boston. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The town has a well-preserved historic New England town center.
It is home to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Shirley, a medium-security state prison. (The neighboring maximum-security Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center lies just outside the town limits in the town of Lancaster.) The remains of a Shaker village have been preserved within the grounds of the prison.