Stow, Massachusetts

Stow, Massachusetts
Town
Town center of Stow
Seal
Motto(s):  "A place for growing up in and a place for coming back to"
Location of Stow in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°26′13″N 71°30′22″W / 42.43694°N 71.50611°W / 42.43694; -71.50611
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Middlesex
Settled	c. 1660
Established	1669
Incorporated	May 16, 1683
Government
• Type	Open town meeting
• Town    Administrator	Denise Dembkowski
Area
• Total	18.1 sq mi (46.9 km2)
• Land	17.6 sq mi (45.6 km2)
• Water	0.5 sq mi (1.2 km2)
Elevation	231 ft (70 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	7,174
• Density	407.6/sq mi (157.4/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern)
ZIP Code	01775
Area code	351 / 978
FIPS code	25-68050
GNIS feature ID	0618236
Website	www.stow-ma.gov

Stow is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is located 21 miles (34 km) west of Boston, in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts. The population was 7,174 at the 2020 census.^[1] Stow was officially incorporated in 1683 with an area of approximately 40 square miles (100 km²).

Over centuries it gave up land as newer, smaller towns were created, ceding land to Harvard (1732), Shirley (1765), Boxborough (1783), Hudson (1866) and Maynard (1871). Stow now has an area of 18.1 square miles (47 km²). With the exception of factories at Assabet Village and Rock Bottom (later Maynard and Gleasondale), Stow was primarily sparsely settled farm and orchard land until the 1950s.