Stoughton, town, Norfolk County, eastern Massachusetts, near Boston; incorporated 1726. It is a residential and industrial center. Major manufactures include footwear, textiles, electrical equipment, and stone and metal products. The community, settled around 1713 as part of Dorchester, became a separate town in 1726 and was named for William Stoughton, a lieutenant governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Population 26,710 (1980); 26,777 (1990).
