Tisdale's drawing of the Essex South district, turning the area that the district encompassed into a depiction of a dragon-like creature, building upon Richard Alsop's term, "Gerry-mander."
Known as the "Essex South" district.[4] From 1813-1815,[5] the district was shaped in such a way that poet and Federalist Richard Alsop described it as a "Gerry-mander" (a portmanteau of Gerry—the governor at the time—and salamander). Illustrator Elkanah Tisdale subsequently used the term as the basis for a political cartoon, which popularized it and led to "gerrymandering" being used to describe the practice of manipulating electoral district boundaries to gain a political advantage.[6]
After the 2010 census, the shape of the district changed for the elections of 2012. The updated district covered central Massachusetts, including much of Worcester County, and was largely the successor to the old 3rd District. Most of the old 2nd district, including Springfield, was moved into the updated 1st district.
During this decade, the district contained the following municipalities:[11]
In Franklin County: Deerfield, Erving, Gill, Greenfield, Leverett, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Wendell, Warwick, and Whately
In Hampden County: Precinct 1 in Palmer
In Hampshire County: Amherst, Belchertown, Hadley, Hatfield, Northampton, Pelham, and Ware
In Norfolk County: Precincts 4 and 5 in Bellingham
In Worcester County: Athol, Auburn, Barre, Blackstone, Boylston, Douglas, Grafton, Hardwick, Holden, Hubbardston, Leicester, Leominster, Mendon, Millbury, Millville, Northborough, Northbridge, North Brookfield, Oakham, Oxford, Paxton, Petersham, Phillipston, Princeton, Royalston, Rutland, Shrewsbury, Spencer, Sterling, Sutton, Templeton, Upton, Uxbridge, Webster, West Boylston, Westborough, Precinct 1 in Winchendon, and Worcester.
^ abBen. Perley Poore (1869). "Massachusetts". Congressional Directory for the First Session of the Forty-First Congress (2nd ed.). Washington DC: Government Printing Office. hdl:2027/nyp.33433081796686.
^"Massachusetts". Official Congressional Directory: 59th Congress (2nd ed.). Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1905.