Bridgewater is a town to the west of Plymouth, near Duxbury; established as a part of Duxbury in 1645 by purchase from the Native Americans by 54 proprietors, most of whom did not settle there Bridgewater was created on 3 June 1656 from Duxbury in The Plymouth Colony. The town was placed in The Plymouth County when counties were formed in 1685. For a brief time, the town was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689 The town is still in Plymouth County, though it was in limbo until the "Colony" was merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 [ source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater,_Massachusetts ]