text:
Reading, Massachusetts

Reading is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, 16 mi north of central Boston. The population was 25,518 at the 2020 census.

Settlement
Many of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's original settlers arrived from England in the 1630s through the ports of Lynn and Salem.

In 1639, some citizens of Lynn petitioned the government of the colony for a "place for an inland plantation". They were initially granted six square miles, followed by an additional four. The first settlement in this grant was at first called "Lynn Village" and was located on the south shore of the "Great Pond", now known as Lake Quannapowitt. On June 10, 1644, the settlement was incorporated as the town of Reading, taking its name from the town of Reading in England.

The first church was organized soon after the settlement, and the first parish separated and became the town of "South Reading" in 1812, renaming itself as Wakefield in 1868. Thomas Parker was one of the founders of Reading. He also was a founder of the 12th Congregational Church (now the First Parish Congregational Church), and served as deacon there. He was a selectman of Reading and was appointed a judicial commissioner. There is evidence that Parker was "conspicuous in naming the town" and that he was related to the Parker family of Little Norton, England, who owned land by the name of Ryddinge.

A special grant in 1651 added land north of the Ipswich River to the town of Reading. In 1853 this area became the separate town of North Reading. The area which currently comprises the town of Reading was originally known as "Wood End", or "Third Parish".

Reading was initially governed by an open town meeting and a board of selectmen, a situation that persisted until the 1940s. In 1693, the town meeting voted to fund public education in Reading, with grants of four pounds for three months school in the town, two pounds for the west end of the town, and one pound for those north of the Ipswich River. In 1769, the meeting house was constructed, in the area which is now the Common in Reading. A stone marker commemorates the site.

Reading played an active role in the American Revolutionary War. It was prominently involved in the engagements pursuing the retreating British Army after the battles of Lexington and Concord. John Brooks, later to become Governor of Massachusetts, was captain of the "Fourth Company of Minute" and subsequently served at the Battle of White Plains and at Valley Forge. Only one Reading soldier was killed in action during the Revolution; Joshua Eaton died in the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.

In 1791, sixty members started the Federal Library. This was a subscription Library with each member paying $1.00 to join, and annual dues of $.25. The town's public library was created in 1868.

19th century
The Andover-Medford Turnpike was built by a private corporation in 1806-7. This road, now known as Massachusetts Route 28, provided the citizens of Reading with a better means of travel to the Boston area. In 1845, the Boston and Maine Railroad came to Reading and improved the access to Boston, and the southern markets. During the first half of the 19th century, Reading became a manufacturing town. Sylvester Harnden's furniture factory, Daniel Pratt's clock factory, and Samuel Pierce's organ pipe factory were major businesses. By the mid-19th century, Reading had thirteen establishments that manufactured chairs and cabinets. The making of shoes began as a cottage industry and expanded to large factories. Neckties were manufactured here for about ninety years. During and after Civil War the southern markets for Reading's products declined and several of its factories closed. For many years, Reading was an important casket manufacturing center.

During the Civil War, members of the Richardson Light Guard of South Reading fought at the First Battle of Bull Run. A second company was formed as part of the Army of the Potomac, and a third company joined General Bank's expedition in Louisiana. A total of 411 men from Reading fought in the Civil War, of whom 15 died in action and 33 died of wounds and sickness. A memorial exists in the Laurel Hill Cemetery commemorating those who died in the Civil War.

20th century
In the 20th century, Reading became a small, residential community with commuter service to Boston on the Boston and Maine Railroad and the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway. Both commuter services were later taken over by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and for many years, there was discussion of extending the MBTA Orange Line to Reading. Industrial expansion during that time included the Goodall-Sanford Co. off Ash Street, later sold to General Tire & Rubber Company, later known as GenCorp. Additional businesses created after World War I included the Boston Stove Foundry, Roger Reed Waxes, Ace Art, Addison-Wesley Publishing and several other companies. For many years, Wes Parker's Fried Clams was a landmark off state Route 128.

Military installations also came to the town, with two Nike missile sites, one on Bear Hill and the other off Haverhill Street, and the opening of Camp Curtis Guild, a National Guard training facility. The business community currently consists of a number of retail and service businesses in the downtown area, a series of commercial businesses in and around the former town dump on Walker's Brook Road (formerly John Street) as well as the Analytical Sciences Corporation (TASC).

In 1944, Reading adopted the representative town meeting model of local government in place of the open town meeting. This retained the representative town meeting and board of selectmen, but focused policy and decision making in a smaller number of elected boards and committees whilst providing for the employment of a town manager to be responsible for day-to-day operations of the local government.

Basketball player Bill Russell lived in Reading in the 1960s at 1361 Main Street, but later moved to 701 Haverhill Street. Vandals broke into the basketball player's home and damaged his property, leaving racial epithets in their wake as well as defecating in Russell's bed. Russell left Reading after retiring as coach of the Boston Celtics in 1969.

In recent years the town of Reading struggled with the decisions to build a new elementary school, to cope with the influx of new families to the community, and renovate Reading Memorial High School which was opened in 1954 with an addition added in 1971. Both of these projects were approved and in August 2007 the new $57 million renovation at the High School was completed.

Geography
Reading is located at 42.52583°N, -71.10972°W (42.52585, −71.109939). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 9.9 square miles (25.7 km$2$). No significant amount of land is covered permanently by water, although there is a plethora of vernal pools in various areas of conservation land.

Reading borders the towns of Woburn, Stoneham, Wakefield, Lynnfield, North Reading, and Wilmington.

Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 24,747 people, 9,617 households, and 6,437 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,486.1 PD/sqmi. There were 9,617 housing units at an average density of 888.8 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 92.4% White, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 4.2% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.5% of the population.

There were 8,688 households, out of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.5% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.3% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.

As of 2015, according to the Census Bureau, the median income for a household in the town was $107,654 and the median income for a family was $124,485. The per capita income for the town was $47,981. Of the families in Reading, 1.0% were below the poverty line, as opposed to 1.9% of the general population. 2.7% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over were under the poverty line.

Climate
In a typical year, Reading, Massachusetts temperatures fall below 50 F for 195 days per year. Annual precipitation is typically 44.3 inches per year (high in the US) and snow covers the ground 62 days per year, or 17% of the year (high in the US). It may be helpful to understand the yearly precipitation by imagining nine straight days of moderate rain per year. The humidity is below 60% for approximately 25.4 days, or 7% of the year.

Government
Since 1944, the municipal government of the town of Reading comprises a representative town meeting, whose 192 members are elected from eight precincts. Prior to 1944, the town was governed by an open town meeting.

The town elects a five-member select board by general election, who serve for overlapping three-year terms. The select board are responsible for calling the elections for the town meeting, and for calling town meetings. They initiate legislative policy by proposing legislative changes to the town meeting, and then implement the votes subsequently adopted. They also review fiscal guidelines for the annual operating budget and capital improvements program and make recommendations on these to the town meeting. In addition the board serves as the local road commissioners and licensing board, and appoints members to most of the town's other boards, committees, and commissions.

The day-to-day running of the town government is the responsibility of a town manager, appointed by the board of selectmen.

Transportation
Reading is located close to the junction of Interstate 93 and Interstate 95/Massachusetts Route 128 to the north of Boston. I-93 provides a direct route south to central Boston and beyond via the Big Dig, whilst I-95/128 loops around Boston to the west, crosses Interstate 90/Massachusetts Turnpike, and then continues south before meeting up with I-93 again at Canton.

Reading is served by Reading station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Haverhill/Reading commuter rail line, which links the town to Boston's North Station. Plans existed during the 1970s, when this line of track was bought by the MBTA, to extend the Orange Line rapid transit service out as far as Reading. Although new stations were successfully constructed at Malden Center and Oak Grove station, residents just past Oak Grove complained and such plans were put on hold.

Reading is also served by MBTA bus service routes 136 and 137, which run between Reading station and Malden station.

Education
Reading's public school system, managed by Reading Public Schools, comprises:

 * Reading Memorial High School
 * Coolidge Middle School
 * Walter S. Parker Middle School
 * A. M. Barrows Elementary School
 * Birch Meadow Elementary School
 * Joshua Eaton Elementary School
 * JW Killam Elementary School
 * Wood End Elementary School

Austin Preparatory School, is a co-ed, independent school, in the Augustinian Catholic tradition, founded in 1962. It is located on 55 acres of land and has an enrollment of 700 students, providing instruction for students in grades 6–12.

Points of interest

 * The Parker Tavern – The town's oldest remaining 17th century structure, built in 1694. This property, on Washington Street, is currently owned and operated by the non-profit Reading Antiquarian Society.
 * The roof of the St. Athanasius Parish, on Haverhill St., was designed by Louis A. Scibelli and Daniel F. Tulley, and is one of the largest hyperbolic paraboloids in the Western Hemisphere. The roof was a point of great interest. The pouring of the concrete roof had to be done in one day.
 * Burbank Arena skating rink on Haverhill St. as well as private condos on Bear Hill St. both reside over the sites of decommissioned Army National Guard Nike Ajax missile silos.
 * The Stephen Hall House, a building on the National Register of Historic Places.
 * The Capt. Nathaniel Parker Red House, a building on the National Register of Historic Places, known for its Red exterior. It was the original town Tavern, and a meeting place for notable American Revolutionaries.
 * The Walnut Street School, a building on the National Register of Historic Places, and current home to a local community theatre.

Local media

 * The Daily Times Chronicle publishes a Reading edition of the newspaper on weekdays.
 * The Reading Advocate publishes weekly and is delivered by mail.
 * Reading's Community Access Television station is RCTV, which provides trainings and air-time for residents to produce their own programs.

Notable people

 * Jess Brallier, award-winning publisher, best-selling author, and web publisher
 * James Cerretani, pro tennis player and ranked No. 50 in the world in doubles play
 * Clarence DeMar, seven-time winner of the Boston Marathon, died in Reading, June 11, 1958
 * John Doherty, Major League Baseball player for parts of two seasons for the California Angels
 * Mark Erelli, folk musician
 * William M. Fowler, U.S. naval historian, professor at Northeastern University and former director of the Massachusetts Historical Society
 * Fred Foy, radio and television announcer for the Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, and Dick Cavett shows
 * John Hart, originally from Ipswich (born October 13, 1751); served as a regimental surgeon during the American Revolution
 * Thomas Junta, hockey dad convicted of involuntary manslaughter
 * Danny McBride, lead guitarist for Sha Na Na, a member of the RMHS class of '63
 * Lennie Merullo, professional baseball player who played for the Chicago Cubs for seven seasons and became a professional baseball scout until the age of 85
 * Moses Nichols, officer during the American Revolutionary War
 * Thomas Parker, founder of Reading
 * Eddie Peabody, banjo player
 * Chris Pizzotti, former Harvard University and New York Jets quarterback
 * Bill Russell, former member of the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1969
 * Matt Siegel, WXKX-FM disc jockey once lived on the West Side
 * Tom Silva, general contractor for This Old House on PBS
 * Cousin Stizz, rapper, made songs with Migos and has his song "Butterfly" in NBA 2k20
 * Charles Stuart, murderer
 * Mollie Sweetser, American politician
 * Jonathan Temple (1796–1866), Los Angeles, California, landowner, cattle rancher and politician, born in Reading
 * William Weston, Vermont politician who served as a member of the Vermont Senate, born in Reading
 * Brad Whitford, guitarist for Aerosmith, a member of the RMHS class of '70

title: Reading, Massachusetts


text:
Stoneham, Massachusetts

Stoneham is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, nine miles (14.5 km) north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offers convenient access to Boston and the North Shore coastal region and beaches of Massachusetts. The town is the birthplace of the Olympic figure-skating medalist Nancy Kerrigan and is the location of the Stone Zoo.

History
The earliest documented mention of the territory now called Stoneham dates to 1632 when, on February 7, Governor Winthrop and his party came upon this area. They found Spot Pond and ate their lunch on a place they called Cheese Rock, now known as Bear Hill. Stoneham is situated on the traditional territory of the Massachusett and Pawtucket peoples.

Stoneham was first settled by colonists in 1634 and was originally a part of Charlestown. In 1678, there were six colonists with their families, all in the northeast part of the town, probably because of its proximity to the settlement in Reading (now Wakefield).

By 1725, the population of the area, called "Charlestown End", had increased until there were 65 male inhabitants paying taxes; however, they were miles away from the settlement in Charlestown and could not conveniently reach its church or school. For this reason, Captain Benjamin Geary and 53 other residents of the area petitioned Charlestown to allow them to be separated. The town refused their petition at first, but on December 17, 1725, the General Court passed an act to establish the new township of Stoneham, separating it from Charlestown, and releasing its residents from the obligation to pay taxes to Charlestown, provided that within two years they would erect a suitable church and hire a minister and a schoolmaster.

The town's first meetinghouse was erected in 1726, as was its Burying Ground (now known as the Old Burying Ground and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984). The first church was organized in 1729, with members being released from the congregations in Reading and Melrose to form it. In the same year, the town voted to raise £9 for the building of a school and chose a committee to hire a schoolmaster. Stoneham remained a small town during the colonial era. Traces of its colonial history are still to be seen in the Spot Pond Archeological District of the Middlesex Fells Reservation. During the Industrial Revolution, Stoneham prospered as a major shoe-manufacturing center.

Government
Stoneham is part of the Massachusetts's 5th congressional district and is represented by Katherine Clark. The United States Senators are Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren. Part of the 31st Middlesex District, Mike Day represents the district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He replaced Jason Lewis who now represents Stoneham in the Massachusetts Senate for the 5th Middlesex Senate district.

Geography
Stoneham is located at 42.48°N, -71.09833°W (42.480145, −71.098352).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.7 square miles (17.4 km2), of which 6.2 square miles (15.9 km2) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.5 km2), or 8.36%, is water.

Stoneham has two exits off Interstate 93, Winchester Highlands and Montvale Avenue and one exit off Interstate 95, Route 28.

Stoneham borders the following cities or towns: Woburn, Winchester, Medford, Melrose, Wakefield, and Reading.

Demographics
American Community Survey estimates, there were 22,992 people and 9,654 households. The population density was 3821.8 PD/sqmi. There were 9,904 housing units at an average density of 1646.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 83.6% White, 7.4% Asian, 1.9% some other race, and 1.6% Black or African American, with 5.5% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 4.7% of the population.

Of the 9,654 households, 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.1% had seniors 65 years or older living with them, 51.2% were married couples living together, 6.3% were couples cohabitating, 14.7% had a male householder with no partner present, and 27.7% had a female householder with no partner present. The median household size was 2.37 and the median family size was 3.01.

The age distribution was 19.7% under 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 or older. The median age was 42.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males.

The median income for a household was $112,935, with family households having a median income of $153,873 and non-family households $61,908. The per capita income was $60,043. Out of the 22,864 people with a determined poverty status, 4.7% were below the poverty line. Further, 3.1% of minors and 8.0% of seniors were below the poverty line.

In the survey, residents self-identified with various ethnic ancestries. People of Italian descent made up 27.5% of the population of the town, followed by Irish at 26.9%, English at 8.7%, German at 3.9%, French at 3.3%, Arab at 3.1%, American at 2.5%, French Canadian at 2.4%, Portuguese at 2.3%, Greek at 2.2%, Polish at 1.9%, Scottish at 1.3%, Ukrainian at 0.9%, Norwegian at 0.8%, Lithuanian at 0.7%, Russian at 0.6%, Swedish at 0.5%, and Scotch-Irish at 0.5%.

Transportation
Stoneham is inside the Route 128 belt that delineates the core of metropolitan Boston. Public transportation is available in or near Stoneham. The Tri-Community Greenway path goes through Stoneham accessible to walkers/bikers. The Oak Grove subway station is 3.8 miles (6.1 km) from Stoneham Center, in Malden, and is the northern terminus of the MBTA's Orange Line. Several commuter rail stations are in bordering communities of Melrose, Winchester, Wakefield, Reading, Medford, Woburn and Malden, each providing transportation to Boston's North Station. The MBTA's 132 bus route travels through Stoneham Center, offering transportation to the Orange Line at Oak Grove and Malden Station. And the MBTA's 325 Express Bus to downtown Boston offers limited service. Interstate 93 passes through Stoneham, and Route 128/Interstate 95 passes just to the north of the town.

Education
Stoneham has one public high school (Stoneham High School) and one public middle school (Stoneham Central Middle School). There are also three public elementary schools (Colonial Park School, Robin Hood School and South School) in the town.

The private Seventh-day Adventist school Greater Boston Academy offers programs for Pre-K to grade 8, and Saint Patrick School, a Catholic school, conducts programs from Pre-K level to grade 8.

Media
Stoneham is served by Boston television and radio stations, the Boston Herald, the Boston Globe and the Stoneham Independent newspaper. Stoneham has a community-access television station, StonehamTV, which broadcasts locally produced content on Comcast, Verizon and RCN cable systems.

Nine O'Clock Horn
The Nine O'clock Horn, or Nine O'clock Bell/Alarm, is a horn that goes off from the Stoneham Fire Station every day at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Originally, the number of blasts of the horn was used to signal different groups to fight fires or alert the town of other emergencies such as a missing child. The 9 a.m and 9 p.m. horns are officially used to test the alert system; however, Stoneham Fire staff have stated that these horns remain primarily as a tradition. The horn system is entirely automated.

Notable people

 * Harland Bartholomew, urban planner, active 1911–1962
 * Frank N. Blanchard (1888–1937), herpetologist, born in Stoneham
 * William Francis Buckley (1927–1985), US Army Officer and CIA Bureau Chief, kidnapped and killed in Lebanon
 * Mario Cantone (born 1959), comedian and actor
 * Mike Colman, ice hockey player for the 1991–1992 San Jose Sharks
 * Elisha S. Converse (1820–1904), inventor, manufacturer, philanthropist
 * Sandro Corsaro, American animator and author, active from 2002
 * Tom Dockrell, ice hockey player and coach for Colgate Raiders, 1950–1951
 * Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. (1920–1956), among the first Americans killed in the Vietnam War
 * Charles Gibbons (1901–1968), Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and 1958 candidate for governor
 * Jonathan Goff, linebacker for the New York Giants, 2008–2011
 * Josh Gondelman (born 1985), comedian, writer for HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
 * George J. Hall (1921–1946), U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II
 * Nathaniel Hayward (1808–1865), inventor and manufacturer
 * Chris J. Johnson (born 1977), actor
 * Nancy Kerrigan, figure skating medalist at the 1992 and 1994 Olympic Games
 * Killer Kowalski, professional wrestler active 1947–1993
 * Jay Larson, comedian, actor
 * John "Pie" McKenzie, National Hockey League player; member of the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup-winning Boston Bruins
 * Joe McLaughlin, American football player 1979–1984, linebacker for the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants
 * Matt Mira (born 1983), comedian and podcaster
 * Mike Ness (born 1962), musician and founder of Social Distortion
 * Carol Sloane (born 1937), jazz singer
 * Buffy Sainte-Marie (born 1941), singer-songwriter, musician, and social activist
 * Joe Vitiello, Major League Baseball player from 1995–2003
 * Taylor von Kriegenbergh (born 1988), professional poker player
 * Steve Yarbrough (born 1956), novelist and professor

Sports
In addition to the high school sports programs at Stoneham High School, Stoneham also has the Stoneham Sabers amateur team in the Yawkey Baseball League of Greater Boston.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Stoneham, Massachusetts


text:
Wakefield, Massachusetts

Wakefield is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, incorporated in 1812 and located about 12.5 mi north-northwest of Downtown Boston. Wakefield's population was 27,090 at the 2020 census. Wakefield offers an assortment of activities around the local lake, Lake Quannapowitt.

History
Wakefield was first settled in 1638 and was originally known as Lynn Village. It officially separated from Lynn and incorporated as Reading in 1644 when the first church (First Parish Congregational Church) and the first mill were established. This first corn mill was built on the Mill River on Water Street, and later small saw mills were built on the Mill River and the Saugus River.

Thomas Parker (1609–1683) was one of the founders of Reading, and his home was in what is now downtown Wakefield (on the east side of Crescent Street where it intersects Princess Street). He also was a founder of the 12th Congregational Church (now the First Parish Congregational Church), and served as deacon there. He was a selectman of Reading and was appointed a judicial commissioner. There is evidence that Parker was "conspicuous in naming the town" and that he was related to the Parker family of Little Norton, England, who owned land by the name of Ryddinge.

The old parish church became known as the Old or South Parish when in 1713 the North Parish was established. This North Parish later became the town of North Reading. In 1769 the West Parish was established. In 1812 the Old or South Parish of Reading separated from Reading and was officially incorporated as South Reading. At the time it was spelled South Redding, not South Reading.

The railroad was chartered and built in 1844 between Wilmington and Boston. This later became the main line of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The Boston and Maine Foundry was built in 1854 and was later reincorporated as the Smith and Anthony Stove Company. The Boston Ice Company cut and shipped ice from Lake Quannapowitt starting in 1851.

The Rattan Works (which made wicker furniture) was established in 1856 by Cyrus Wakefield. This later grew into the Wakefield Rattan Company and at one time had a thousand employees. In 1868 Cyrus Wakefield donated land and money for a new town hall, and in thanks the town voted to change its name from South Reading to Wakefield. The town hall, currently named for William J. Lee, is located at 1 Lafayette Street.

In 1856 the South Reading Public Library was established, which later became the Beebe Town Library. In 1923, the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library was built and established by Junius Beebe, the son of Lucius Beebe (1810–1884).

The first weekly newspaper in Wakefield was established in 1858.

One of the oldest and largest manufacturers of flying model airplane toys in the world, Paul K. Guillow, Inc. is located in Wakefield. The company is particularly notable for its extensive line of balsa wood model airplane kits.

Route 128 was built along the north edge of the town by 1958, and the American Mutual Insurance Company built its headquarters between Lake Quannapowitt and Route 128. American Mutual had over 1000 employees, most of them commuting to work via Route 128. By the late 1980s American Mutual was in liquidation due to the Woburn W. R. Grace litigation. The headquarters building was sold to the Beal Company and was home to Boston Technology Inc. which invented and manufactured corporate voice mail systems that operated on computer systems. Boston Technology merged in 1997 with Comverse Technology, a digital telecommunications equipment manufacturer, which later bought the building; Wakefield became headquarters of its eventual spinoff, Comverse.

The northeastern part of Wakefield was home to an amusement park, Pleasure Island, billed as "The Disneyland of the Northeast," but the park closed in 1969 after only ten years of operation due to unseasonably cold weather that brought diminishing returns among tourists. In April 1971, a fire burned down much of the amusement park. The area now consists of several office buildings and is called "Edgewater Park".

The bicentennial of the incorporation of Wakefield took place in 2012, whereas 2018 was the sesquicentennial of the 1868 town name change from "South Reading" to "Wakefield."

2000 shooting spree
On December 26, 2000, seven workers at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield, Massachusetts were shot and killed by an Edgewater Tech employee. The 42-year-old gunman was an application supporter at Edgewater Technology.

During his trial, he stated that he was born without a soul and that God had allowed him to earn a soul by traveling back in time to kill Nazis. However, the prosecution asserted that the killings were motivated by his employer's garnishing of his wages to the IRS, as he failed to pay back taxes. He was found guilty of seven counts of first degree murder and sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

In 2008 this case was studied on the psychology program Most Evil.

2021 incident on Interstate 95 (I-95)
On July 3, 2021, armed members of the group "Rise of the Moors" were approached by police resulting in a standoff, blocking traffic along a section of I-95 that runs through Wakefield. Eleven individuals were peacefully detained, ending the incident.

Geography
Wakefield is located at 42.50111°N, -71.07111°W (42.501345, −71.071324).

Reading (northwest), Melrose (south), Stoneham (southwest), Lynnfield (northeast) and Saugus (southeast) border Wakefield. Wakefield's borders with Lynnfield and Saugus are coterminous with the Middlesex County–Essex County line.

As the crow flies, Wakefield Lower Common is located approximately 10.3 miles north of Government Center, Boston, while the Wakefield–Melrose line is located about 7.95 miles north.

Route 129 runs through Wakefield as its Main Street. I-95/Route 128 skirt the northwestern border of Wakefield as one road known as the "Yankee Division Highway".

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.9 sqmi, of which 7.5 sqmi is land and 0.4 sqmi, or 5.56%, is water.

Wakefield has two lakes, Crystal Lake and Lake Quannapowitt. Crystal Lake is used as a reservoir for some of the town's drinking water; as such, recreation is prohibited on Crystal Lake. Lake Quannapowitt, meanwhile, is used for a wide variety of recreational activities, including boating, windsurfing, kayaking, and fishing, and is the primary source of the Saugus River.

In 1847, Lake Quannapowitt was named for the Native American James Quannapowitt, one of the signers of the old Indian Deed of 1686. The earliest settlers referred to the lake simply as the "Greate Pond" or "Reading Pond." Lake Quannapowitt is also home to the oldest inland yacht club in the United States, Quannapowitt Yacht Club, which was founded in 1886.

Long regarded as "Wakefield's greatest natural resource," Lake Quannapowitt covers an area of 247 acre. Its outlet is the Saugus River to the Atlantic Ocean. Wakefield Common sits to the south of the lake, and is the site of many recreational activities and events throughout the year. In 1991, a group of local citizens formed "The Friends of Lake Quannapowitt" to advocate for the lake and to educate the public about this natural resource. The group has also raised money for projects that benefit the lake and the surrounding areas.

Wakefield has been recognized as an Arbor Day Foundation Tree City USA annually since 2001.

Climate
Wakefield harbors a climate typical to the Northeastern United States, with cold, snowy winters, cool, rainy springs, cool, sunny autumns, and hot, humid summers. During the summers, many droughts occur, and lakes and other means of water supply often go down a couple of inches.

The town received, along with many other parts of Massachusetts, 2 to 3 ft of snow during a January 2011 Nor'Easter. Wakefield also received 27.5 in or 2.29 ft of snow during the February 2013 Nor'Easter known as Winter Storm Nemo, and snowfall in Wakefield was unofficially reported as 29.0 in or 2.42 ft following the January 2015 Nor'Easter known as Winter Storm Juno.
 * Notable recent storms

In 2020, Wakefield suffered significant impacts from two major storms: firstly, on August 24, 2020, the town took the brunt of an exceptionally severe thunderstorm cell that included a microburst. Downed power lines, snapped trees, and a house fire caused by a lightning strike were reported, with damage being especially heavy in the town's Greenwood section. Then, on October 30, Wakefield was hit by a "Snowtober"—an unseasonable October snowstorm. The storm pelted much of Greater Boston with record setting snowfall for the month of October, exceeding the previous October high snowfall, in October 2011, by approximately two inches.

2010 U.S. Census demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 24,932 people, 9,994 households, 10,500 housing units, and 6,547 families residing in the Town of Wakefield.

Racial makeup, 2010
The racial makeup of the Town in 2010 was: Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.3% (575) of the population.
 * 94.5% (23,573) White
 * 0.9% (229) Black or African American
 * 0.1% (30) Native American and Alaska Native
 * 2.6% (660) Asian (the leading Asian nationalities being Chinese with 1.1% or 267 people and Indian with 0.7% or 174 people)
 * 0.0% (0) Pacific Islander
 * 0.6% (150) from other races
 * 1.2% (290) from two or more races.

Household statistics, 2010
In the town in 2010, there were 9,994 households, out of which:

 * 28.3% (2,825) had children under the age of 18 living with them
 * 52.7% (5,265) were a husband and a wife living together
 * 3.2% (323) had a male householder with no wife present
 * 9.6% (959) had a female householder with no husband present.

The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.07.

Age classifications, 2010
In the town in 2010, the population was spread out agewise with:

The median age was 41.9 years, 40.6 for males and 43.0 for females.
 * 5.6% (1,401) under the age of 5 years
 * 5.9% (1,478) between the ages of 5 and 9
 * 6.2% (1,534) between the ages of 10 and 14
 * 5.5% (1,365) between the ages of 15 and 19
 * 4.7% (1,176) between the ages of 20 and 24
 * 6.1% (1,530) between the ages of 25 and 29
 * 6.2% (1,534) between the ages of 30 and 34
 * 6.8% (1,705) between the ages of 35 and 39
 * 7.9% (1,981) between the ages of 40 and 44
 * 8.6% (2,137) between the ages of 45 and 49
 * 8.3% (2,066) between the ages of 50 and 54
 * 7.3% (1,816) between the ages of 55 and 59
 * 6.2% (1,538) between the ages of 60 and 64
 * 4.2% (1,039) between the ages of 65 and 69
 * 3.3% (811) between the ages of 70 and 74
 * 2.5% (633) between the ages of 75 and 79
 * 2.4% (607) between the ages of 80 and 84
 * 2.3% (581) aged 85 years or older.

2007–2008 demographics
The population of Wakefield was 24,915 as of July 2007. The town's population was composed of 11,814 (47.4%) males and 13,101 (52.6%) females. The median resident age was 38.9 years, higher than the Massachusetts median age of 36.5.

In 2008, the median household income was $85,011, about $20,000 above Massachusetts as a whole. The estimated income per capita was $39,918. The estimated median property value in 2008 was $416,592, up from $240,300 in 2000, representing a $176,292 increase.

Racial makeup, 2007–2008
Racially, Wakefield broke down as:
 * 96.4% White
 * 1.4% Asian
 * 0.8% Hispanic
 * 0.4% African American
 * 0.01% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
 * 0.8% from two or more races.

Ancestry breakdown, 2007–2008
Ancestries in Wakefield broke down thus
 * 33% Irish
 * 28.5% Italian
 * 13.4% English
 * 6.3% French
 * 5.5% German
 * 4.8% French Canadian

The cost of living index was listed as 121.4, 21.4 points above the U.S. average.

2000 U.S. Census demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 24,804 people, 9,747 households, and 6,608 families residing in the town. The population density was 3,321.6 PD/sqmi. There were 9,937 housing units at an average density of 1,330.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 96.94% White, 0.45% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 1.43% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.82% of the population.

There were 9,747 households, out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.1% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.6% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $66,117, and the median income for a family was $77,834. Males had a median income of $51,591 versus $39,327 for females. The per capita income for the town was $30,369. About 1.7% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.

Government
Wakefield holds yearly major town meetings to discuss the budget. As it is a town, not a city, Wakefield's main decisions are made, in the New England style, by a Board of Selectmen, which works in collaboration with a town administrator. Stephen Maio is the town administrator as of 2024. Administrator Maio hosts a "Town Administrator's Report" monthly on the public-access television cable TV station, WCAT-TV (about which more below).

A number of other matters are handled by different committees in the town, such as the Finance Committee, or FinCom, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the School Board. The Town Hall houses the office of the Town Administrator and the Finance Committee, as well as other town boards and offices. Board of Selectmen/Town Council meetings, formerly held at the Town Hall, have in recent years moved to the studios of WCAT-TV.

Town Council (fmrly. Board of Selectmen)
The Board of Selectmen was the name of Wakefield's primary governing body until it changed its name to the "Town Council" in 2018 in an effort to maintain gender neutrality. Since that time, "Selectmen" have been called "Councilors." A single Councilor term lasts for three years; barring special elections, annual town elections take place each April. The Town Council consisted of, as of April 2024, Chair Jonathan Chines, Vice-Chair Michael J. McLane, Mehreen N. Butt, John F. Carney, Anne P. Danehy, Edward F. Dombroski, Jr., and Robert E. Vincent. with Sherri A. Dalton as clerk to the Town Council, and Thomas Mullen as town counsel.

2012–2016
2012

Brian Falvey replaced Albert Turco, who did not seek re-election, in a Selectmen's seat in town elections of April 24, 2012, and Paul R. DiNocco renewed a term for three years.

2013

In 2013, Selectmen John B. Encarnacao and James E. Good announced that they would not seek reelection. Vice Chair Tiziano Doto was reelected to a three-year term while former Board of Health member Ann Santos won a seat. Former Selectwoman Phyllis Hull returned to the Board with a term lasting through 2016.

2014

In 2014, Selectmen Patrick S. Glynn and Betsy Sheeran ran in a three-way election against one challenger, Roland A. Cote. Both Glynn and Sheeran renewed their terms through 2017.

2016 (April)

Phyllis Hull and Ann Santos both ran for re-election on April 26, 2016, in a field of five. Santos renewed her term; Hull lost out to new Board of Selectmen add-on Anthony J. Longo and Peter J. May.

2016 Special Election (July)

A vacancy on the Board of Selectmen was filled by a Special Town Election held on July 19, 2016. The candidates to fill the vacancy were announced as Daniel L. Benjamin, Jr., Mehreen N. Butt, Christopher J. Callanan, Nathaniel David Gayman, Allyson Gael Houghton, and Phyllis J. Hull. Hull won the election by 31 votes, avenging her defeat of three months prior and filling a vacant seat on the Board of Selectmen. Hull's new term lasted through April 2017.

2017–2020
2017

The 2017 town election was held Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The only incumbent Selectperson on the ballot in this election cycle was Phyllis J. Hull, who was defeated by the two top vote getters, Edward Dombroski Jr. and Mehreen N. Butt.

2018

In the 2018 town election, held on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, two seats were up for election. Paul R. DiNocco renewed his Selectman's seat while a newcomer to the Wakefieldian political scene, Julie Smith-Galvin, defeated incumbent Selectman Brian Falvey.

2019

Three seats for Town Councilors were to be decided in 2019. Ann Santos and Peter J. May, both incumbents, renewed their terms through 2022. However, Anthony Longo was voted off of the Board of Selectmen/Town Council after receiving fewer votes than the only new member to be elected in 2019, Jonathan Chines.

2020

In 2020, Councilors Mehreen N. Butt and Edward F. Dombroski, Jr., held the only open seats. Both cruised to re-election in a race in which each ran virtually unopposed, with no competition except for write-in candidates, and renewed their terms through 2023.

2021–2024
2021

The 2021 race featured a three-way battle between one incumbent, one Finance Committee member, and one newcomer. Town Councillor Julie Smith-Galvin and Finance Committee member Anne P. Danehy received a plurality of votes, knocking hopeful Brandon Flanagan out of the race. The 2021 election also featured a heated ballot question over whether or not to keep the Wakefield Warriors logo and mascot; voters chose to maintain the status quo, 2,851–2,337.

2022

Newcomer Robert E. Vincent was voted onto the Town Council in 2022, and incumbents Jonathan Chines and Michael J. McLane were re-elected, renewing their terms through 2025. Aspirant Katie Dolan, the lone woman in the race, finished fourth.

2023

In 2023, Wakefieldians voted in a three-way race that pitted incumbents Mehreen N. Butt and Edward F. Dombroski, Jr., in a re-election campaign against newcomer Christopher J. Carino. Butt and Dombroski easily defeated Carino—Butt by nearly 600 votes, Dombroski by over 1,100 votes—renewing their terms through 2026.

2024

The 2024 Wakefield Town Elections were held on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Two Town Council seats were made available in a three-way race. Incumbent Douglas S. Butler received the most votes, renewing his Town Council set through 2027. The second open seat, being vacated by Julie Smith-Galvin, was contested between John F. Carney and Allyson Gael Houghton. In receiving the second-most votes behind Butler, Carney was elected to Smith-Galvin's seat, defeating Houghton by just 24 votes.

Finance Committee
The Finance Committee, colloquially abbreviated FinCom, is responsible for matters of finance in the town and for setting a budget for the town and its various departments to follow. The fifteen-member committee is composed of, as of January 2024, Chairman James Sullivan, Vice Chairman Douglas S. Butler, Joseph Bertrand, Tarae Howell, Edward Bean, Brian Cusack, Dennis Hogan, William J. Boodry, Jr., Stefan Chase, Lorri Wheeler, Donald Ravenelle, Evan Kenney, Aimee Forsythe, Daniel W. Sherman, and Ellie Zuccaro.

Board of Appeals
The Wakefield Board of Appeals, alternately known as the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), holds hearings on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month and as of January 2024 consisted of five members, James H. McBain, Joseph Pride, David Hatfield, Charles Tarbell, and Chairman Thomas Lucey, with Michael Feeley, Gregory McIntosh, and Kasumi Humphries as associate members.

Fence Viewers
Although a somewhat antiquated position, the town of Wakefield, in accordance with other towns in the state of Massachusetts, appoints townspeople to positions of fence viewers. Fence viewers serve advisory positions to property owners before a fence is built on or dividing properties. As of June 2023, John Sofia, Paul Torraca, and Holly Lenhardt serve as fence viewers in Wakefield.

World War II Memorial Committee
The Town of Wakefield tasked a fifteen-member committee headed by Selectwoman Phyllis Hull to oversee the construction of a World War II Veterans' Memorial on the Upper Common. The memorial includes the names of 72 Wakefieldians who lost their lives during World War II, as well as names of all other Wakefieldians who served in the war. The creation of the committee overseeing the project was authorized in 2007, and the memorial was completed in 2011 and unveiled on Veterans Day, November 11, 2011.

Health
MelroseWakefield Hospital (formerly Melrose-Wakefield Hospital), a Level II trauma center, is located to the south of Wakefield in nearby Melrose (approximately 3.2 miles south of the Town Center and 1.5 miles south of Greenwood) and serves both the town of Wakefield and city of Melrose.

Board of Health
The Wakefield Board of Health (BOH) legislates health policy within the town. As of June 2023, the three-member board is composed of Chair Laurel Skinder Gourville, Vice-Chair Elaine M. Silva, and Secretary Candace Linehan. The BOH works in concert with the Health Department and Health Director Ruth L. Clay.

Wakefield and COVID-19
As of March 10, 2022, Wakefield had reported 5,795 cases of COVID-19 over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. These numbers were indicative of a winter surge exacerbated by the Omicron variant. 1,205 student cases were reported since Wakefield Public Schools reopened in September 2021. Likely as a result of some individuals getting tested multiple times, the number of tests administered in the town was at last count more than double the population (26,399 est.) of the town itself.
 * Cases

As of March 10, 2022, 21,425 Wakefieldians, or about 79% of the town population, had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. An additional 2,044 townspeople had received one dose of a two-dose vaccine. In total, as of March 10, 2022, 23,469 Wakefieldians had been at least partially inoculated against COVID-19.
 * Vaccinations

Like much of Massachusetts, Wakefield conducted largely successful public health and safety campaigns regarding quarantining and mask wearing, and achieved a high percentage of immunity once vaccines were rolled out beginning in 2021. In February 2022, the Wakefield Board of Health voted to rescind the town's mask mandate for public indoor spaces and municipal buildings effective February 18, 2022. Shortly thereafter, the town announced it would no longer be updating COVID-19 case counts due to the rise of at-home antigen testing, which was making the town's reports less accurate.
 * Town government response

Education

Wakefield is home to two high schools: one public school (Wakefield High School), and one regional vocational school (Northeast Vocational). Wakefield contains one middle school, Galvin Middle School, and four elementary schools, Greenwood, Walton, Woodville, and Dolbeare. Doyle School serves as the town's public preschool.

The Little Red School House, also known as the West Ward School, is a former one-room school house building that was last used by kindergarten students on the West Side until the 1990s. It has been preserved and now houses the Wakefield Historical Society.

School Committee
The Wakefield School Committee oversees Wakefield Public Schools, which is currently headed by superintendent Doug Lyons as of June 2023. Lyons' Assistant Superintendent is Kara Mauro. The School Committee, as of January 2024, is composed of the following elected members: Chairman Amy Leeman (2025), Vice-Chair Stephen Ingalls (2024), Kevin Piskadio (2024), Thomas Markham (2025), Peter Davis (2026), Eileen Colleran (2025), and Kevin Fontanella (2025). The School Committee controls the majority of municipal spending.

Neighborhoods
Wakefield is roughly composed of the following neighborhoods:
 * Greenwood consists of nearly all of Southern Wakefield, bordering the Melrose Highlands neighborhood of Melrose to the south and southwest, the Horace Mann neighborhood of Melrose to the south and southeast, the Golden Hills neighborhood of Saugus to the southeast, and Stoneham to the west. Although a part of Wakefield, Greenwood is often labeled as a town separate from Wakefield on maps and in atlases, and a satellite U.S. Post Office exists on Main Street in southern Greenwood.
 * Woodville consists of much of central-eastern Wakefield.
 * The Downtown/Wakefield Square area extends from just north of the immediate north shore of Crystal Lake (an area known as Wakefield Junction, where North Avenue merges into Main Street) to the southern shores of Lake Quannapowitt.
 * The West Side encompasses nearly all of Wakefield which is west of Lake Quannapowitt and Crystal Lake.
 * The East Side, in spite of the name, is not in extreme Eastern Wakefield. Rather, the East Side is about the geographical center of the town, bordering the northeastern shore of Crystal Lake. Woodville is in fact to the east of the "East Side".
 * Lakeside encompasses northern-central Wakefield and borders the entire eastern shore of Lake Quannapowitt. Lakeside borders Reading to the north.
 * Montrose consists of much of northeastern Wakefield, bordering Lynnfield. Aside from Lake Quannapowitt and Crystal Lake, many of Wakefield's smaller ponds and lakes, such as Heron Pond, can be found in the Montrose region.

Points of interest

 * Lake Quannapowitt is a popular recreation area for walkers, joggers, bikers, and rollerbladers.
 * Lucius Beebe Memorial Library.
 * The town common is the central park of Wakefield, on the southern edge of Lake Quannapowitt. Events such as summer concerts, Fourth of July festivities, Festival by the Lake, and Festival Italia take place there.
 * Breakheart Reservation, located in Saugus, is also accessible from Wakefield.
 * Wakefield History Museum, located on Prospect Street.

Places of worship
Wakefield has a wide variety of places of worship serving numerous faiths and denominations. Many townspeople are regular attendees at one of the following:
 * First Parish Congregational Church (Downtown/Wakefield Square; adjacent to Wakefield Lower Common)
 * Emmanuel Episcopal Church (Downtown/Wakefield Square)
 * Unitarian Universalist Church of Wakefield (Main Street)
 * Most Blessed Sacrament Church (southern Greenwood, on Main Street near the Melrose line)
 * Restoration Road Church (formerly Greenwood Union Church) (Greenwood)
 * Romanian Orthodox Church (East Side)
 * St. Florence Parish (Montrose)
 * St. Joseph Parish (West Side)
 * Temple Emmanuel (West Side)
 * Wakefield–Lynnfield United Methodist Church (Montrose)
 * Christ the King North Shore, a branch of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (Wakefield Junction)
 * Mun Su Sa Buddhist Temple (Montrose)

First Baptist Church fire
The First Baptist Church of Wakefield (Downtown/Wakefield Square, constructed 1872) served Wakefield for nearly 150 years before being destroyed by a lightning strike and subsequent fire around 7:10 PM EDT, Tuesday, October 23, 2018. It took the rest of the night for firefighters and first responders to extinguish the blaze. As of October 25, the remains of the church were in a pile waiting cleanup. In the aftermath, First Baptist worship services have continued at the nearby First Parish Congregational Church as well as on the site of the Baptist Church building. Reconstruction of the church began in spring of 2023, with a projected opening in 2024.

Transportation
An MBTA Commuter Rail station on the Haverhill/Reading Line is located near the center of town as well as a second station in the Greenwood section. A former Boston and Maine Railroad station located east of this line is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Several MBTA buses on Route 137 run to surrounding communities, including the nearby Oak Grove stop as well as Malden Center, both rapid transit stations on the Orange Line. Rt. 128/I-95 runs through Wakefield with exits at Albion Street, North Avenue, Water Street, Vernon Street, New Salem Street, and Salem Street. State Route 129 also passes through Wakefield. US Route 1 runs through nearby Saugus and Lynnfield, while I-93 runs through neighboring Stoneham.

Media
The town is served by two daily newspapers, the locally owned Daily Item, an edition of the Daily Times Chronicle; and a weekly, the Wakefield Observer. The Wakefield Memorial High School has a newspaper, written by the students, recently renamed "WHS exPRESS". The town operates a Public Access cable channel, WCAT Wakefield.

In addition, Wakefield Nation provides election coverage and supports local charitable causes.

Sports
Wakefield has a strong local sports fan base and a robust youth sports culture. Wakefield High School has popular football, baseball, softball, hockey and basketball programs. Wakefield High's football team earned a Division II "Super Bowl" title in 1999, and a Division III "Super Bowl" title in 2022, which followed an undefeated season. Wakefield High's men's and women's basketball teams won Division II state championships in 1997. Baseball is a popular spring and summer sport in the town, with two men's semiprofessional teams: the Wakefield Merchants, a member of Boston's Intercity Baseball League (and champions of that league in 1978 and 1994),  and a team representing the local American Legion post.

Wakefield has many active youth sports leagues. Young athletes in Wakefield can choose to play baseball, basketball, lacrosse, football, soccer, hockey, dance, cheerleading, and softball, among other team sports.

Annual events

 * Town Day
 * Independence Day Parade / Home Town March (July 4)
 * Festival Italia (typically 3rd Saturday in August)
 * Homecoming Celebration in Autumn
 * Concerts on the Common / Wakefield Summer Band Concert Series (July–September)
 * Festival By The Lake (2nd Saturday in June)
 * Tis the Season Holiday Stroll (1st Saturday in December)

Photo gallery

 * See the top of the page for additional photos.

Notable people

 * Russell Banks (1940–2023), author, poet, novelist, spent part of his childhood in Wakefield, graduating from Wakefield Memorial High School in 1958.
 * Lucius Morris Beebe, author, gourmand, photographer, railroad historian, journalist, and syndicated columnist born December 9, 1902, in Wakefield (died 1966)
 * Elizabeth Boit, textile manufacturer
 * William Brewster, ornithologist, born in Wakefield in 1851.
 * Bruce Brown, born in Dorchester but moved to Wakefield to attend Wakefield Memorial High School, where he starred in basketball for two seasons. He was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the 2018 NBA draft following a successful college basketball career with the Miami (FL) Hurricanes. Brown currently plays for the Toronto Raptors, having previously played with the Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, and Indiana Pacers. On June 12, 2023, Brown became an NBA champion when the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games in the 2023 NBA Finals. In the 2023–24 season, Brown played briefly for the Pacers before being traded to the Raptors.
 * Scott Brown, Massachusetts State and US Senator (2010–2013) preceded by Ted Kennedy; defeated in 2012 reelection bid by Elizabeth Warren and in 2014 bid in New Hampshire by Jeanne Shaheen
 * Joe Cannata, Merrimack College Warriors goalie and 2009 Vancouver Canucks draftee, has appeared in the American Hockey League and in the Swedish Elite League; currently a member of Löwen Frankfurt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
 * Rich Ceisler (1956–2014), stand-up comedian, author and director.
 * Carleton S. Coon, anthropologist
 * David Dellinger, radical pacifist and member of the Chicago Seven, born in Wakefield and graduated from Wakefield Memorial High School in 1932
 * Anthony Fabiano, retired NFL center for the Cleveland Browns; currently a scouting assistant for the same team. Attended Wakefield Memorial High School and Harvard University prior to entering the NFL
 * Ernie Gahan (1926–2009), stock car racing driver
 * John Galvin, US Army general and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander
 * Kayla Harrison, judoka, two-time Olympic gold medalist (2012 and 2016) and world champion in judo. Kayla was the first American (man or woman) to win an Olympic medal in the sport.
 * Israel Horovitz, playwright and screenwriter born March 31, 1939, in Wakefield. His oeuvre includes several plays about Wakefield, collected in a book known as The Wakefield Plays. Horovitz died on November 9, 2020, at the age of 81. Beastie Boy Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz is the son of Israel Horovitz
 * Mark Kumpel, member of the 1984 US Olympic ice hockey team and former NHL player with the Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques, and the Detroit Red Wings

 * Dave Lapham, former NFL player with the Cincinnati Bengals, former USFL player with the New Jersey Generals, current member of the Cincinnati Bengal radio broadcast team
 * Rachel Levine, pediatrician who served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2017 to 2021, and who is currently Assistant Secretary for Health in the Biden administration. Levine is the first openly transgender four-star officer in the nation's eight uniformed services
 * John Lilley, member of the 1994 US Olympic ice hockey team and former NHL player with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
 * Buffy (Beverly) Sainte Marie, folksinger and composer, born in Canada but raised in Wakefield, graduating from Wakefield Memorial High School in 1958
 * James Massone, former contestant on season 2 of the NBC program The Voice
 * A. David Mazzone, Judge for the U.S. District Court in Boston from 1978 until 2004. He is best known for the 1985 court decision mandating the cleanup of Boston Harbor, which ultimately cost $3.8 billion and resulted in the construction of the Deer Island wastewater treatment plant. Mazzone lived in Wakefield from 1959 until his death in 2004
 * Charlie Moore, host of NESN's Charlie Moore Outdoors
 * Marcia Pankratz, member of the 1988 and 1996 Olympic field hockey team and former head coach of field hockey at the University of Michigan
 * Jimmy Pedro, multiple Olympic medalist in judo and former world champion
 * C. F. Russell (1897–1987), American occultist and writer associated with Aleister Crowley
 * Louis Sullivan, architect considered the father of modernism, born in Boston but lived in Wakefield with his grandparents during his school years
 * Richard Tisei, former Massachusetts State Senate Minority Leader and former candidate for Lt. Governor
 * Ernest Tyzzer (1875–1965), pathologist
 * John Anthony Volpe, three-time Republican governor of Massachusetts, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and Ambassador to Italy; born in Wakefield in 1908
 * Burrage Yale (1781–1860), tin ware manufacturer, largest employer of Wakefield during the early 19th century

title: Wakefield, Massachusetts


text:
Wilmington, Massachusetts

Wilmington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 23,349 at the 2020 United States census.

History
Wilmington was first settled in 1665 and was officially incorporated in 1730, from parts of Woburn, Reading, and Billerica. The first settlers are believed to have been Will Butter, Richard Harnden or Abraham Jaquith. Butter, a Scottish Covenanter who fought against Cromwell in the English Civil Wars, was brought to Woburn as an indentured captive. He achieved his freedom, as did all indentured service, after nine years, then relocated to the opposite side of a large swamp (“the boggy part of Wooburne” “across the river") in what is now Wilmington. Harnden settled in Reading, in an area that is now part of Wilmington. Jaquith settled in an area of Billerica that became part of Wilmington in 1740.

Minutemen from Wilmington responded to the alarm on April 19, 1775, and fought at Merriam's Corner in Concord.

The Middlesex Canal passed through Wilmington. Chartered in 1792, opened in 1803, it provided freight and passenger transport between the Merrimack River and Boston. One important cargo on the canal was hops. From the middle of the 18th century until the early 19th century, Massachusetts was the acknowledged leader in hop production in North America. Middlesex County in particular was famous for its hop yards, and Wilmington was the first place where the culture grew to a fever pitch.

When Lowell was built in the 1820s, the canal became a primary means of transporting cotton to and from the mills. It was abandoned in 1852 after the construction of the Boston and Lowell Railroad.

The Boston and Lowell Railroad was built in 1835. The line is now the oldest operating rail line in the U.S. Wilmington is also served by the Haverhill Division (the old B&M Portland Division). A spur track known as the Wildcat connects the Haverhill and Lowell divisions, following the path of the old Wilmington & Andover Railroad, the corporate ancestor of the Boston & Maine.

Wilmington is where the Baldwin apple was discovered.

Wilmington is also home to the Col. Joshua Harnden Tavern, which probably served as a stop on the Underground Railroad and now houses the Wilmington Town Museum.

Since World War II, Wilmington's population has quadrupled. Interstate 93, Route 62, Route 129 and Route 38 run through town, and Route 128 is about a mile south of Wilmington.

Geography
Wilmington is located at 42.55°N, -71.16667°W (42.560, −71.170).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 17.2 sqmi, of which 17.1 sqmi is land and 0.1 sqmi, or 0.46%, is water.

Wilmington borders the towns of Andover, North Reading, Reading, Woburn, Burlington, Billerica, and Tewksbury. The town is frequently divided into distinct areas, including Silver Lake and North Wilmington.

Much of Wilmington was built on or still is wetlands. The Ipswich River starts in Wilmington, and the Shawsheen River forms part of Wilmington's border with Billerica.

There is one lake in the town, Silver Lake, a kettle lake formed in the retreat of the Pleistocene glaciers at the end of the last ice age. It is open for swimming during the summer.

Climate
In a typical year, Wilmington, Massachusetts temperatures fall below 50 F for 195 days per year. Annual precipitation is typically 44.4 inches per year (high in the US) and snow covers the ground 62 days per year, or 17% of the year (high in the US). It may be helpful to understand the yearly precipitation by imagining nine straight days of moderate rain per year. The humidity is below 60% for approximately 25.4 days, or 7% of the year.

Demographics
The Census Bureau has defined Wilmington as a census-designated place that is equivalent to the town

As of the census of 2000, there were 21,363 people, 7,027 households, and 5,776 families residing in the town. The population density was 1247.0 PD/sqmi. There were 7,158 housing units at an average density of 417.8 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 96.31% White, 0.41% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 2.03% Asian, 0.42% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.95% of the population.

There were 7,027 households, out of which 41.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.6% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.8% were non-families. Of all households 14.0% were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.33.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.6% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $70,652, and the median income for a family was $76,760. Males had a median income of $50,446 versus $36,729 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,835. About 1.8% of families and 1.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 2.7% of those age 65 or over. It is the 134th richest place in Massachusetts. See Massachusetts locations by per capita income.

Education
Wilmington has its own schools. Kindergarten students attend the Wildwood Street and Boutwell Street Schools. Grades 1–3 attend the Woburn Street School and the Shawsheen School. Grades 4 and 5 attend the North Intermediate School and the West Intermediate School. Grades 6–8 attend Wilmington Middle School. High School Students attend Wilmington High School. Wilmington High's mascot is the wildcat and its athletic teams participate in the Essex League, which the town recently changed to. The Wildcats' colors are Navy Blue, Columbia Blue and White and the primary rivals are the Tewksbury Redmen of the Merrimack Valley Conference. Wilmington is also home to Abundant Life Christian School a Pre-K to 8 private religious school. Wilmington students also have the option of attending Shawsheen Technical High School.

Economy
Companies based in Wilmington include Analog Devices, Charles River Laboratories, Onto Innovation and UniFirst.

Government
Wilmington has an open town meeting, a board of selectmen and a town manager. The current town manager is Eric Slagle. Five of the town's six districts are represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by David Robertson, the last is represented by Ken Gordon. The town's state senator is Barry Finegold. Wilmington is in the Massachusetts 6th Congressional District and is represented in the United States House of Representatives by Seth Moulton.

Points of interest

 * The Wilmington Town Common and Rotary Park are in the center of town. There are several parks and public recreation facilities throughout town with walking paths, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, and other athletic facilities.
 * Shriners Auditorium: a 2,650-seat indoor arena, home of Boston Roller Derby women's flat track roller derby league.
 * Silver Lake: The shore of Silver Lake contains the Town Beach, a playground, Fullerton Park, and Landry Park.
 * Ristuccia Ice Arena: the former practice rink of the Boston Bruins, it also offers lessons.
 * The Baldwin Apple Monument on Chestnut St., southwest of town, marks site of original Baldwin apple tree.
 * The Wilmington Memorial library.
 * Yentile Farm Recreational Facility: A large public recreational facility located near the center of town.

Transportation
The MBTA Commuter Rail serves the town of Wilmington with two train stations on two of the system's branches – one station per branch. The Lowell Commuter Rail Line stops at Wilmington Station in the center of town, while the Haverhill Commuter Rail Line serves North Wilmington Station located two miles further east. Both stations are located adjacent to Massachusetts State Route 62; inbound travel time on delay-free trips to Boston's North Station is approximately 28 minutes from Wilmington Station along the Lowell Line and 41 minutes from North Wilmington Station along the Haverhill Line.

Additionally, the northernmost bus stop for MBTA Bus Route 134 is located near Wilmington's southern town line at the intersection of Massachusetts State Route 38, Old Main Street and Border Avenue; the neighboring city of Woburn is 400 feet to the south of this bus stop. Although the bus route does in fact enter Wilmington, outbound trips always refer to its terminus point as "North Woburn"; the route's northern terminus also happens to be the only MBTA bus stop within the entire town of Wilmington. Inbound service on MBTA Bus Route 134 travels from Wilmington's southernmost extremities to Wellington Station in Medford to connect with Orange Line subway trains.

Lowell Regional Transit Authority Bus Route 12 provides weekday and Saturday service from the Lowell Commuter Rail Line’s Wilmington Station via Massachusetts State Route 38 and the neighboring town of Tewksbury to the Charles A. Gallagher Transit Terminal in the city of Lowell.

Notable people

 * Jason Bere, former MLB pitcher, who played for five MLB teams, and American League All-Star in 1994
 * Ryland Blackinton, guitarist of Cobra Starship, attended his freshman year at Wilmington High School
 * Dudley Allen Buck, inventor of the cryotron, content-addressable memory, and ferroelectric memory
 * Sean Collier, Police officer at MIT, killed by perpetrators of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing
 * Harriet Thayer Durgin (born 1848), painter and educator
 * Lyle Durgin (born 1850), painter
 * Mike Esposito, running back and kick returner for the Atlanta Falcons in the late 1970s. He also set a number of rushing records for Boston College Eagles
 * Keith Gill, retail investor notable for his involvement in the GameStop short squeeze
 * Gen. Henry Harnden, Civil War officer, tracked down Confederate President Jefferson Davis and confirmed his identity
 * David G. Hartwell (1941-2016), science-fiction editor
 * Thomas Holmes, executive with W. R. Grace and Ingersoll Rand
 * Ezra Otis Kendall, LL.D., 1818–1899 prof. of mathematics and astronomy at University of Pennsylvania. Author of Uranography, a guide to the heavens, with atlas, Philadelphia, 1844. Half-brother to Timothy Walker and Sears Cook Walker
 * Benjamin Thompson, Jr., Count Rumford, taught school in Wilmington 1768–1769
 * Sears Cook Walker, 19th-century astronomer, brother of Timothy Walker, half-brother of E.O. Kendall
 * Timothy Walker, noted 19th-century jurist, author of Introduction to American Law, founder of Cincinnati Law School
 * Phillis Wheatley, first published African-American poet

title: Wilmington, Massachusetts


text:
Winchester, Massachusetts

Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the wealthiest municipalities in Massachusetts. The population was 22,970 at the 2020 United States Census.

History
Native Americans inhabited the area that would become Winchester for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas. At the time of contact, the area was inhabited by the Naumkeag people, from whom the land that would become Winchester was purchased for the settlement of Charlestown in 1639.

From the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century, parts of Arlington, Medford, Cambridge, and Woburn comprised what is now Winchester. In the early years of the settlement, the area was known informally as Waterfield, a reference to its many ponds and to the river which bisected the central village. In its second century, the area was referred to as Black Horse Village, after the busy tavern and hostelry in its center.The movement toward incorporation of what, by this time, was called South Woburn was likely precipitated by the rise of the Whig Party in Massachusetts (History of Winchester, Massachusetts by H. S. Chapman and Bruce W. Stone, 1936, 1975).

19th and 20th centuries
The town's early growth paralleled improvements in transportation. Prior to incorporation, the Middlesex Canal, linking the Merrimack River to Boston, was completed through then Waterfield. It flourished from 1803 to 1836, until the Boston and Lowell Railroad completed a line which neatly bisected the town and provided it with two stations. Able to deliver passengers as well as goods, the railroad soon bankrupted the canal and spurred more people to move to the area. The first church was built in 1840, the Post Office followed in 1841, and soon after incorporation town schools were started. Industries small and large followed, including the Beggs and Cobb tannery and the Winn Watch Hand factory which would operate well into the 20th century.

By the time of the Civil War, to which Winchester lent many citizens, the need for a municipal water supply became apparent. Engineers convinced a skeptical public to fund a dam in the highlands to the east of town. The structure blocked the creek which flowed from the Middlesex Fells and produced the first of three reservoirs which continue to provide clear water today.

In the early 20th century, growth continued apace as Winchester evolved from its agri-industrial roots into the bedroom community it is today. A rich mix of immigrants—the Irish in the northern and eastern neighborhoods, a smattering of African-Americans who flocked to the New Hope Baptist Church in the highlands, and finally Italians who came to work in the westside farms and live in the "Plains" to the east—complemented Winchester's Yankee forebears.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.3 square miles (16.3 km$2$), of which 6.0 square miles (15.6 km$2$) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km$2$) is water. The total area is 3.97% water.

The town is roughly bisected by a central valley which is the remnant of the original course of the Merrimack River. After glacial debris effectively rerouted the Merrimack north to its current location, all that remained of its original course through present day Winchester is the Aberjona River and the several ponds it feeds en route to the Mystic Lakes on Winchester's southern border.

On its eastern third, the valley rises steeply into the wooded hills of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, in which lie the North, Middle, and South Reservoirs. The western edge of the valley yields to Arlington and Lexington heights, and the boundaries with those two towns. To the north, the town's longest border is shared with Woburn.

Winchester has several major bodies of water, including the Mystic Lakes, Wedge Pond, Winter Pond, and the Aberjona River, as well as several minor bodies of water such as Sucker Brook and Sachem Swamp.

Winchester borders the towns of Woburn, Stoneham, Medford, Arlington, and Lexington.

Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 21,382 people, 7,647 households, and 5,785 families residing in the town. The population density was 3,394.6 PD/sqmi. There were 7,988 housing units at an average density of 1,267.9 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 87.1% White, 9.3% Asian, 1.0% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.9% of the population.

There were 7,647 households, of which 40.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.3% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.7% under the age of 18 and 16.2% over the age of 65. The median age was 42.7 years. The population was 52.3% female and 47.7% male.

According to a 2008 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $125,952, and the median income for a family was $200,000+. Males had a median income of $100,000+ versus $70,847 for females. The per capita income for the town was $68,479. The median home value was $838,420, compared to a U.S. average of $180,000. About 1.3% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under the age of 18 and 2.3% ages 65 or older.

The crime rate in Winchester is below the U.S. average. The most common crime is property crime, with 62 burglaries reported in 2010. Violent crimes are rare, with five murders and five rapes reported in 10 years.

Winchester was ranked number 86 on the Bloomberg list of America's 100 Richest Places with an average household income of $204,878 in 2016.

Public schools
Winchester has five elementary schools (Ambrose, Lincoln, Lynch, Muraco, and Vinson-Owen) and one middle school, McCall Middle School. Considered one of Boston's elite public high schools, Winchester High School was founded in 1850, at the time was part of present-day Lincoln elementary. Winchester High was rebuilt in a different area in 1972, then renovated in 2017. Winchester public schools have achieved superior performances on the MCAS exams since their inception, and the district is consistently ranked by editorial reviews such as Boston Magazine as one of the best in Massachusetts. The Winchester High School sports teams were known as the "Sachems", a term that refers to people who have been appointed to represent a (native) nation in a meeting of a confederacy council. However, the mascot was removed in the year 2020 due to its offensive and stereotypical nature. For the 2018–2019 school year, Winchester public schools and Winchester Recreation developed the WRAP-AROUND program. A program designed to provide supervision for students who are dropped at school a bit early or who need to stay at school later on some days and was created to assist families with the school start time change for next fall. Wrap-around care is offered at all five elementary schools for students in grades K–5, both before and after school. The teams practice and host home games at Knowlton Field. The Winchester Sports Foundation raises money through donations to maintain sports programs in the town and to give financial support, make sports programs accessible to all classes, meet costs of program expenses and preserve and promote the level of WHS sports programs.

Private schools
Founded in the 1942, the Children's Own School is among the earlier surviving Montessori schools in the United States. The building it occupies, a former farmhouse, is considered locally historic. The school's founder, Ms. Dorothy Gove, was an acquaintance of Maria Montessori, giving her a firsthand opportunity to learn the Montessori concept of learning. Today the school operates as a private, non-religious, Montessori school for children of ages two to six, with classes of up to 20 children. Children's Own School is located at 86 Main Street in Winchester.

Winchester has two parent-led cooperative nursery schools: Neighborhood Cooperative Nursery School and Winchester Cooperative Nursery School. In addition, the Methodist church, Winchester Recreation Department, and Creative Corner all offer preschool classes.

St. Mary's School is a parochial school of St. Mary's Parish. The school opened in 1914 and has over 200 students in grades Pre-K through 5. The school building also serves as the Sunday school for the parish during Sunday services. The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Acera School is a small private school founded in 2010 in Melrose which moved to Winchester in 2013. It offers K–8 education in small multi-age classrooms.

Established in 2004, the Winchester School of Chinese Culture is a non-profit organization whose mission is to teach the language and traditional culture of China through classroom instructions, the arts, and cultural events. The school offers a K–8 weekend program at Lynch elementary school, after-school programs at Winchester Unitarian Church and Winchester First Congregational Church, and a summer program.

Transportation

Winchester has two "Zone 1" stops on the MBTA Commuter Rail Lowell Line: Wedgemere and Winchester Center. The stops are within easy walking distance of one another. The Lowell Line runs from Lowell to Boston's North Station, where one can connect with the "T", Boston's subway system. Nearby Anderson Regional Transportation Center off I-93 (Commerce Way exit) holds a stop for Amtrak's Downeaster train, going through New Hampshire, and terminating in Brunswick, Maine. While this train runs through Winchester, it does not stop at either of the town's two train stations.

There are bus lines going through Winchester to nearby communities such as Medford, Arlington, and Cambridge. Bus route No. 134 runs between North Woburn and Wellington Station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) Orange Line in Medford. Bus route No. 350 runs from the Burlington Mall to Alewife station in Cambridge on the MBTA's Red Line. A commuter express bus runs from Cummings Park in Woburn to Boston during rush hours. Anderson Regional Transportation Center also has the Logan Express shuttle bus service to Boston's Logan Airport every 30 minutes, and a paid shuttle service to Manchester New Hampshire Airport (reservations required in advance)

Winchester today
In December 2010 Winchester was among 18 Massachusetts communities to earn the "Green Community" designation by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (bringing the total number of green communities in the state up to 53). In 2011 Winchester was selected as one of four communities to participate in the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) Solarize MASS pilot program. The program provided incentives to home owners to install rooftop solar electric systems. During that year, 35 residents contracted to have solar systems installed, resulting in 165 kW of solar installations. Most recently, in July 2014, Winchester received a $250,000 Green Communities Grant which helped to offset the cost of installing 1668 cobra-head LED street lights. It is estimated that the LED streetlight conversion may potentially reduce the town's electricity costs by $50,000 each year.

Across the Main Street bypass from the high school sits the Jenks Community Center, which offers programs for seniors and other age groups. Wedge Pond, home to Borggaard Beach and Splash Park, is a popular swimming spot which is continually monitored to ensure safe water quality levels. And every year, as for over a century, thousands of fans attend the annual Thanksgiving Day football contest between Winchester High School and its long-time traditional rival, Woburn.

Several private entities provide recreational opportunities for local townsfolk. Founded in 1900 as a canoe club, the Winchester Boat Club serves locals wishing to sail casually or competitively on the Mystic Lakes. In the summer, it is a popular meeting place for local families and their children. The Winchester Country Club—located in the Myopia Hill neighborhood—offers an 18-hole course open to member and named after the Myopia Club based there in the late 19th century.

Government and politics
In the 1840s, the Whigs sought to split a new jurisdiction away from heavily Democratic Woburn and found enough supporters in the burgeoning village to organize a movement toward incorporation. Representatives of the planned new town selected the name Winchester in recognition of Colonel William P. Winchester of nearby Watertown, who pledged $3,000 toward the construction of the first town hall. Upon the signature of then Governor Briggs, the town of Winchester was officially incorporated on April 30, 1850. Colonel Winchester did not live to visit the town that had honored his family name. He succumbed to typhoid fever within months of its incorporation.

Winchester's town government of Selectmen and Town Meeting members has remained essentially unchanged for most of its existence, until the renaming of the Board of Selectmen to the Select Board in 2018. A 1970s survey listed Winchester as "one of the top fifteen suburbs" in the nation (Ladies Home Journal, August 1975).

The town is part of the Massachusetts Senate's 2nd Middlesex district.

In recent years, Winchester has become an increasing stronghold for the Democratic Party, especially for presidential elections.

 * In 2008, Winchester voted 59% for Democrat Barack Obama and 39% for Republican John McCain.
 * In 2012, Winchester voted 55% for Democrat Barack Obama and 44% for Republican former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
 * In 2016, Winchester voted 68% for Democrat Hillary Clinton and 32% for Republican Donald Trump.
 * In 2020, Winchester voted 71% for Democrat Joe Biden and 27.5% for Republican Donald Trump.

Below the presidential level, some moderate Republicans have been able to carry Winchester:

 * In the 2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Winchester voted 51% for Republican Scott Brown and 48% for Democrat Martha Coakley.
 * In the 2012 United States Senate election, Winchester voted 52% for Republican Scott Brown and 48% for Democrat Elizabeth Warren.
 * In the 2018 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Winchester voted 71% for incumbent Republican Charlie Baker and 29% for Democrat Jay Gonzalez.

Town services
Town services include full-time police and fire departments, the Winchester Board of Health, the Town Clerk, the Post Office, Water and Sewer Department, and the Public Works Department.

Winchester does not offer curbside trash collection. Residents must get an annual permit and use the "Transfer Station" to dispose off their trash and for recycling.

Winchester also has a Chamber of Commerce located on the platform of the Winchester Center station of the MBTA Commuter Rail.

Points of interest

 * Middlesex Fells Reservation
 * Wright-Locke Farm
 * John Mason House
 * Sanborn House
 * Griffin Museum of Photography

Sister city
Winchester is the sister city of St. Germain-en-Laye, France.

Notable people

 * Lars Ahlfors, mathematician and Fields Medalist
 * Joe Bellino, Heisman Trophy winning football player at the United States Naval Academy
 * Bob Bigelow, retired NBA basketball player
 * Robert A. Brown, president of Boston University
 * Fischer Black, mathematician and economist
 * Anthony Carrigan, actor most recently known for his role as North Hollywood Henry in the HBO series Barry
 * John Cazale, actor, played Fredo in The Godfather
 * Allan McLeod Cormack, one of the recipients of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
 * Kieran Corr, All-American football player at Harvard University
 * John M. Corse, general; hero of Southern campaigns in the Civil War
 * Glen Doherty, former United States Navy SEAL and CIA contractor killed during the 2012 Benghazi attack of the US Embassy. Portrayed by Toby Stephens in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
 * Janet Doub Erickson, co-founder of the Blockhouse of Boston, artist, and author. Her grandfather William McIntosh was Winchester's first chief of police
 * Edward Everett, president of Harvard University, governor of Massachusetts, and ambassador to Britain
 * Jon Favreau, speechwriter for President Barack Obama
 * Vic Fazio, member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1979 to 1999, chair of the House Democratic Caucus from 1995 to 1999
 * Vic Firth, musician, creator of Vic Firth drumsticks
 * Edward Gelsthorpe, (1923–2009), marketing executive known as "Cranapple Ed" for his best-known product launch
 * Edwin Ginn (until 1914), founder of Ginn and Company and Athenaeum Press, and World Peace Foundation.
 * Arthur Griffin (1903–2001) photographer and founder of Griffin Museum of Photography.
 * Brian A. Joyce, politician and lawyer
 * Brian Keefe, American professional basketball coach
 * Kim Khazei, anchorwoman, WHDH-TV
 * Kofi Kingston, ring name of Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah, professional wrestler
 * Corey Kluber, Major League Baseball pitcher
 * Louise Le Baron (née Shepherd), contralto
 * Ed Leslie, former WWF wrestler, and some-time tag team partner of fellow wrestler Hulk Hogan
 * Jason Lewis, legislator serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives
 * Julia Marino, an American-raised Paraguayan freestyle skiing athlete and the first Winter Olympian to represent Paraguay
 * Stephanie McCaffrey, professional soccer player for the Boston Breakers and the United States Women's National Team
 * Samuel W. McCall, ten-time United States congressman and three-time governor of Massachusetts
 * Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
 * Glen Murray, NHL player for the Boston Bruins
 * Laurence Owen, national skating champion whose career was cut short by the plane crash that wiped out the national team in 1961
 * Mike Pagliarulo, ex-pro baseball player for the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees
 * Jay Pandolfo, NHL player
 * Harry Parker, Olympic rower/coach and current coach of Harvard crew
 * Rand Pecknold, Quinnipiac men's ice hockey coach and 500-game winner in NCAA ice hockey
 * Richard Phillips, American merchant mariner who served as captain of the MV Maersk Alabama during its hijacking by Somali pirates in April 2009. Portrayed by Tom Hanks in the 2013 film Captain Phillips
 * Bjorn Poonen, mathematician
 * John Quinlan, champion bodybuilder and professional wrestler
 * Paul Reid, journalist and author, co-author of The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill
 * Hartley Rogers, Jr., mathematician
 * Alicia Sacramone, ten-time Gymnastics World Championships medalist and 2008 Olympic silver medalist
 * Ed Sandford, forward for the Boston Bruins, and briefly captain of the team
 * Richard R. Schrock, one of the recipients of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
 * Claude Shannon, mathematician, electrical engineer, and "father of information theory"
 * Conor Sheary, professional ice hockey player
 * Harry Sinden, former GM and coach of the Boston Bruins
 * Whitney Smith, founder of the North American Vexillological Association and designer of the flag of Guyana
 * Pitirim Sorokin, Russian-American sociologist and an academic and political activist in Russia
 * Dan Spang, professional ice hockey defenseman
 * Richard Stoltzman, clarinetist
 * Max Tegmark, cosmologist
 * Maribel Vinson, 9-time national champion figure skater
 * Brad Whitford, guitarist with Aerosmith
 * Brian Wilson, baseball relief pitcher

title: Winchester, Massachusetts


text:
Holbrook, Massachusetts

Holbrook is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. , the town's population was 12,284.

History
Holbrook was first settled by Europeans (mostly British colonists) in 1710 as the southern part of Old Braintree, and was officially incorporated on February 29, 1872, the last town created from the former lands of Braintree. It used to be known as East Randolph, being divided from Randolph by track from the Old Colony Railroad line.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, farming and cottage trades, particularly shoe production, dominated the economy. Slowly, the town evolved into a primarily residential community, with many residents commuting to work in Boston proper and the primary employment within the town being in service industries.

Some residents served during the Civil War, and members of the famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry are buried in Union Cemetery. The impact of the War came not only from the residents' direct participation in the conflict, but was also from the need for production of boots for soldiers. It was during the Civil War that shoe production became a significant component of the town's economic life, and production moved decidedly from the home and into factories.

The story of Holbrook's split from Randolph begins in 1871, when pressure had been building in East Randolph for an independent town. After a little "misunderstanding" (according to Randolph brethren, the Eastern group used rather stronger language) about the placement of a cupola on top of Stetson Hall as a vent for the gas lighting, the pot boiled over, and East Randolph petitioned to be incorporated as a separate town.

The town was named for benefactor Elisha N. Holbrook, who provided the town with the funds for the town hall and library upon incorporation.

Holbrook's residents again took up arms in the First and Second World Wars. The latter had a great impact on the life of the community. After 1945, demobilization created a building boom and altered the economy and lifestyle across the United States. Holbrook experienced a housing boom and became a largely residential community, in which some service industry provides local jobs, but from which most residents commute to work in Greater Boston.

Holbrook once held the Baird and McGuire chemical plant, which in 1982 was added to the EPA National Priorities list. The site was the nation's 14th worst Superfund site when it was listed in 1982, and thus cleanup work began immediately. As of June 17, 1997, the EPA concluded primary cleanup operations at the site. Efforts included the incineration of 248,000 tons of soil, including sediment dredged from the Cochato River. Total cost was approximately $133 million, including the construction of a water treatment plant that is still in operation.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.4 square miles (19.2 km2), of which 7.3 square miles (19.0 km2) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.1 km2)  (0.69%) is water.

Holbrook borders Braintree to the north, Weymouth to the east, Abington to the southeast, Brockton to the southwest, Randolph and Avon to the west.

Demographics
At the 2020 census, the total population of Holbrook was 11,405 people. The population density was 1,563.6 PD/sqmi. There were 4,879 housing units at an average density of 564.8 /sqmi.

There were 4,712 households, and 2.4 people per household. 57.3% of households included married couples. Another 8.5% were a sole male resident, and 18.7% a solo female resident.

Race and nationality
The racial makeup of the town was 75% White alone, 11.5% Black or African American, 1.30% Asian and Pacific Islander, 1.11% from other races, and 10.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.2% of the population. 12.6% of the population was born outside the United States.

Age
The population in 2020 was 19.3% under 18 (of which, 4.9% were under age 5), and 17.5% over the age of 65. The remaining 63.2% of Holbrook residents were between 18-64, which is similar to other areas in the region.

Income and education
The median household income was $89,763 The per capita income for the town was $41,324. About 7% of the population was below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those age 65 or over, and 0.9% of children under 18.

93.2% of Holbrook's residents graduated from high school. Another 30.6% attained a higher education: 23.4% have a Bachelor's, and 7.2% have a post-graduate degree. Only 6.9% of the population in Holbrook had no degree at all, compared to the state's 8.8% of people with no degree.

Government
Holbrook was governed by an open town meeting from its incorporation until 1974, when citizens voted to adopt a representative town meeting, dividing the town into four precincts with 60 representatives each. In 2021, representatives rejected a petition to revert to an open town meeting.

Education
Holbrook has two schools, both located within the same complex. They were formally opened in 2017. The new schools are:

 * John F. Kennedy Elementary School (PreK–5)
 * Holbrook Middle-High School (6–12)

These replaced the town's three schools, including the John F. Kennedy Elementary School (PreK–3) and the South Elementary School (4–6). The new school is on the same lot that the Holbrook Junior-Senior High School (7–12) once stood.

Transportation
The principal highways are Routes 37 and 139, which intersect at the center of the town.

Commuter rail service to South Station, Boston, is available on the Middleboro line from the Holbrook/Randolph Rail Station.

Holbrook is a member of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which provides fixed bus route service to Quincy Center, Braintree Station, and Montello Commuter Rail Station in Brockton. Holbrook is served by the 230 Bus from Quincy Center Station. The MBTA also provides THE RIDE, a paratransit service for the elderly and disabled. The 238 and 240 buses operate from Holbrook-Randolph Station on the town line, which provides access to Quincy Center MBTA Station, Avon, and Ashmont MBTA station.

Notable people

 * Elihu Adams, Brother of President John Adams and a Minuteman in the Continental Army
 * Andrew Card, Former White House Chief of Staff under George W. Bush (January 20, 2001 – April 14, 2006)
 * George Mason Lovering, Recipient of the Medal of Honor
 * Jim Mann, professional baseball pitcher in parts of four seasons
 * Joe Pernice, Indie rock singer/songwriter, leader of Pernice Brothers and Scud Mountain Boys
 * Michael Sullivan, Former United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
 * Tony McGaughey, hockey player for Team USA in the Deaflympics. Five-time Medalist; Gold in Rovaniemi 1995, Silver in Davos 1999, Bronze in Sundsvall 2003 and Gold in Salt Lake 2007. As coach, Gold in Chiavenna 2019

title: Holbrook, Massachusetts