Taunton is located south-west of the city of Gilead. It has a population of about 4,000 people and its main export is steel.
Originally the ranch town specialized in milk and beef but drastically changed when the Kingdom of All-World was founded. Large deposits of lime were found within its vicinity two years after Arthur was crowned and the famous smithies and metallurgist there were made to forge swords and shields for Arthur's Knights so they could rid their lands of mutants and harriers; later this was changed to gun production. To fuel their furnaces they imported most of their iron ore from Hendrickson.
Even after Arthur's death Taunton was of main import to Gilead and remained that way. The Good Man realized this, and so asked Hax the Cook to poison the meat the population there. They knew this would cause the furnaces to grind to a halt and stop the supply of guns and ammunition to The Affiliation. Hax was hanged on Gallows Hill, which ironically was on the road to Taunton when his crime was uncovered.