Wilmington, Massachusetts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Settled: 1639 – Incorporated: 1730 | |
| Zip Code(s): 01887 – Area Code(s): 351 / 978 | |
| Official website: http://www.town.wilmington.ma.us/ | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
 Location in Massachusetts |
|
| Government | |
| County | Middlesex County |
| Form of Government | Open town meeting |
| Executive office | Town Manager |
| Geography | |
| Area | |
| Total | 17.2 mi² / 44.6 km² |
| Land | 17.1 mi² / 44.4 km² |
| Water | 0.1 mi² / 0.2 km² |
| Coordinates | |
| Elevation | 96 ft / 29 m |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| Population | |
| Total (2000) | 21363 |
| Density | 1247.0/mi² / 481.5/km² |
For other towns and places named Wilmington, see Wilmington.
Wilmington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,363 at the 2000 census.
Contents |
[edit] History
Wilmington was first settled in 1639 and was officially incorporated in 1730. Before being officially incorporated, it was a part of Woburn. Wilmington is host to the practice rink of the Boston Bruins. It is also where the Baldwin apple was discovered.
Wilmington is also home to the Col. Joshua Harnden Tavern, which served as a stop on the underground railroad and now houses the Wilmington Town Museum.
Wilmington is considered a cancer cluster, due to the chemicals in the water that were dumped there by W.R. Grace and Beatrice Co.. The movie and book A Civil Action discusses circumstances similar to those found in Wilmington, although the events of both the book and the movie focus primarily on nearby Woburn.
Since the completion of Route 128, Wilmington's population has quadrupled. Route 93, Route 62 and Route 3A also help to make Wilmington an easy place to commute from to Boston.
[edit] Geography
Wilmington is located at (42.558576, -71.170317)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 44.6 km² (17.2 mi²). 44.4 km² (17.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.46%) is water.
Much of Wilmington was built on or still is wetlands.
There is one lake in the town, Silver Lake. It is open for swimming during the summer.
[edit] Demographics
The Census Bureau has defined Wilmington as a census-designated place that is equivalent to the town. As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 21,363 people, 7,027 households, and 5,776 families residing in the town. The population density was 481.5/km² (1,247.0/mi²). There were 7,158 housing units at an average density of 161.3/km² (417.8/mi²). 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. In fact the scarcity of minorities in the town forced the local high school to put on an all-white version of the Tony Award winning musical The Wiz. Despite its drawbacks it was actually quite a success.
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. 14.0% of all households 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 181st richest place in Massachusetts. See Massachusetts locations by per capita income.
[edit] Education
Wilmington has its own schools. Kindergarten students attend the Wildwood Street School. 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 Cape Ann League or CAL. The Wildcats' primary rival is the Tewksbury Redmen. The rivalry reaches it's highest point every Thanksgiving when the two towns square off in a football game.
[edit] Government
Wilmington has an open town meeting, a board of selectmen and a town manager. The current town manager is Michael Caira. The towns representative at the Massachusetts State House is James R. Micelli
[edit] Points of interest
- Monument to the Baldwin apple
- Charles River Laboratories, Inc., medical company
- Harnden Tavern, Stop on Underground Railroad
[edit] Notable People
- Jason Bere, former MLB pitcher and American League All-Star in 1994.
- Timothy Walker, noted 19th century jurist.
- Sears Cook Walker, 19th century astronomer, brother of Timothy.
- Yuan Cheng, Physicist
- Henry Harnden, Civil War Officer
[edit] External links
- Wilmington official website
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
