The City of Brockton is a major urban community south of Boston with a rich industrial history. Brockton was the shoe manufacturing center of the region from the late 18th century through the 1950's. In the Civil War, it was claimed that half of the Union Army wore boots made in Brockton and at the height of the shoe industry in 1929, more than 30,000 people were employed by shoe manufacturers in a city which dominated the world footwear market until after World War II.

The city was the site of pioneering in electrical power in 1883 when the third electric power station in the country was opened under the supervision of Thomas Edison, and in 1884 when Edison returned to witness the opening of the City Theater, the first in the world to be lighted from a central power station. The city was also the site of the first fire station to be electrically operated.

The community prides itself on its diversity; of populations, of interests and of facilities. Brockton hosts the Fuller Museum of Art, felt by residents to be one of the finest small museums in the country, as well as the Brockton Historical Society Complex with museums devoted to shoes, fire fighting artifacts and Thomas Edison.

Residents take special pride in their sports heroes, who include world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano and middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler. William H. McGunnigle, less well-known but of great importance, was a Brockton resident credited with inventing the first baseball glove.