Warwick lies on the northern and eastern edge of Franklin County, Massachusetts. The town’s land was first granted in 1735 to survivors of an abortive 1690 expedition to Canada in a company led by Andrew Gardner of Roxbury, Massachusetts; the grant was called “Gardner’s Canada” or “Roxbury’s Canada” township, names that held until the town was incorporated in 1763. Early settlement was slow until the persistent conflict on the northern border of Massachusetts ended, first in 1748 with King George’s War and then in 1759 with the fall of French Canada. When the township petitioned to have full town status, the General Court renamed it Warwick. The town participated in the Revolution, sending men and supplies, and emerged with a healthy economy and steady growth. But two unrelated disasters in the early 1800s gave it severe setbacks. A glass factory was attempted from 1813 to 1815 and its failure bankrupted several leading citizens. Then, in 1821, a tornado ripped through the town. Although only two people died, the town’s economic life was badly hurt. The town’s population reached its peak in 1820 with 1,256 inhabitants. Small industries would continue operating in the town until after the Civil War, but soon after what had been a steady decline would become much steeper, as residents poured westward. By 1890, only 565 lived in town. There was a small revival in the 1890s due to a lumbering boom, which was accompanied by a flood of new immigrants into the town, particularly from Sweden. The town’s last industry, a box manufactory, closed in 1918. The town today is lightly populated and more than half the town is state forest.