Brighton, a town of Middlesex co., Mass., on the Boston and Albany railroad, 4 m. W. of Boston; pop. in 1870, 4,957. It contains the principal cattle market of New England. There are 34 slaughter houses, employing 122 hands, and slaughtering annually 25,088 cattle, 170,-517 swine, 23,781 sheep, and 1,200 calves. It also contains a planing mill, and manufactories of cordage, candles, oil, varnish, neatsfoot oil, bone, and glue stock.

Brighton #1

Brighton (formerly Brighthelmstone), a watering place and parliamentary borough of England, in the county of Sussex, on the English channel, 51 m. S. of London by the London, Brighton, and South Coast railway; pop. in 1871, 90,013. It extends for more than 3 m. along the coast from Kemptown on the east to Hove on the west. The eastern half of the town stands on the ridge of high chalk cliffs which stretch away to Beachy Head; the western half is seated on a low pebbly beach, and is sheltered by Selsea Bill. The foundation of its prosperity was chiefly laid in the middle of the 18th century, by Dr. Richard Russell, whose work on the use of sea water attracted much public attention. Its celebrity as a fashionable watering place was due to the prince of Wales, afterward George IV., who made it his place of residence, and commenced in 1784 the erection of, the pavilion, which was completed three years afterward. The town subsequently purchased it from the crown for the sum of £53,000, and threw it and the pleasure grounds attached to it open to the public. The chain pier was erected by a joint stock company in 1822-3, at an expense of £30,000. It is 1,134 ft. long, and extends into the sea 1,014 ft.

Another pier 1,115 ft. long was completed in 1867. The east side of Brighton is protected by a sea wall 60 ft. high and 23 ft. thick at the base. In the western quarter is a battery, consisting of six 42-pound-ers, erected in 1793. On the eastern side is the Queen's park, and on the western a chalybeate spring. There are 25 churches and chapels belonging to the established church, and 30 other places of worship. Its institutions of learning are numerous. The Brighton college, founded in 1847 for the sons of the middle classes, has a more modern course of studies than the other great English schools. The benevolent institutions of Brighton are almost as numerous as its schools. Foremost stands the Sussex county hospital, established in 1828, and since thrice enlarged. The town hall is a large building. Fairs are held near the town on Holy Thursday and Sept. 4. There are a theatre, an assembly room, and two club houses. The literary societies are the royal Brighton scientific and literary institution, the Brighton Athenaeum, and the Brighton workingmen's institute. A great marine aquarium was opened in August, 1872. There is every species of bathing establishments, and a good supply of fresh water and gas.

The only manufacture is that of wooden wares.

Brighton.

There are 5 banks and 6 newspapers in the town. The coasting and foreign trade is transacted at Shoreham, 7 m. W. There are about 100 fishing boats, manned by 500 men. Mackerel, herrings, soles, brill, and turbot most abound; mullet and whiting are also met with. Brighthelmstone is mentioned in "Domesday Book." It has frequently suffered from hostile invasion. The French plundered and burnt it in 1513. During the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth fortifications were erected to protect it. In the 17th century it contained 600 families, mostly engaged in fishing.