Medfield, Massachusetts
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| Medfield, Massachusetts | |
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| County | Norfolk County |
| Settled | 1649 |
| Incorporated | 1651 |
| Government | |
| - Type | Open town meeting |
| Area | |
| - Town | 14.6 sq mi (37.8 km²) |
| - Land | 14.5 sq mi (37.6 km²) |
| - Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km²) |
| Elevation | 178 ft (54 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Town | 12,273 |
| - Density | 845.8/sq mi (326.6/km²) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 02052 |
| Area code(s) | 508 / 774 |
| Website: http://www.town.medfield.net/ | |
Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,273 at the 2000 census.
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Medfield, please see the article Medfield (CDP), Massachusetts.
Contents |
[edit] History
Medfield (New Dedham) was first settled in 1649 and was officially incorporated in 1651 as the 43rd town in Massachusetts. The settlers were thirteen families who relocated from Dedham. The Rev. Ralph Wheelock is credited with the founding of Medfield, was the first town school master and now has the 2nd-3rd grade school named after him. The town's boundaries originally extended into present-day Medway and Millis.
Half the town (32 houses, two mills, and many barns) was burned to the ground by Native Americans during King Philip's War in 1675.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 37.8 km²(14.6 mi²). 37.6 km² (14.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.62%) is water. The Charles River passes through Medfield. Medfield is surrouded by the towns Dover, Norfolk, Walpole, Millis, and Sherborn.
[edit] Demographics
See: http://www.mass.gov/mgis/massgis.htm
(2000 census data)
Population/Housing
- 12,273 people, 4,002 households, and 3,269 families
- Population density = 326.6 people/km² (845.8 people/mi²)
- 4,048 housing units
- 96.78% White, 0.51% Black or African American, 0.04% Native American, 1.76% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.90% of the population.
- Of the 4,002 households, 50.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.8% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.3% were non-families. 15.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older
- average household size = 3.02
- average family size = 3.41
Age Distribution
- 33.6% under the age of 18
- 3.5% from 18 to 24
- 28.4% from 25 to 44
- 25.2% from 45 to 64
- 9.3% who were 65 or older
- The median age was 38 years.
- For every 100 females there were 96.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.
Income Data
- Per capita income = $42,891
- Median household income = $97,748
- Median family income = $108,926
- Median male income = $78,699
- Median female income = $44,500
- About 0.8% of families and 1.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.1% of those under age 18 and 1.6% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Education
- Memorial School (grades K-1)
- Wheelock School (grades 2-3)
- Dale Street School (grades 4-5)
- Thomas Amos Blake Middle School (grades 6-8)
- Medfield High School (aka Amos Clark Kingsbury High School)(grades 9-12)
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- MHS mascot: Warrior
- MHS colors: Blue and White
- MHS rival: Dover/Sherborn
- The football team boasts a record of 9-2 and 10-1, respectively during the past two years. They won the Division 3 Super Bowl for the first time in school history in 2006.
- The boys Cross Country team boasts a 28-0 dual meet record over the past 4 years, making them TVL champs 4 years straight.
- MHS Cross Country, Vollyball, Field Hockey, and Football were all champions of the Tri-Valley League in 2006
- The Montrose School, a private Catholic girls' prep. school [1]
[edit] Points of interest
- Rocky Woods is a 491 acre reservation in the northeast part of town. The property has 6.5 miles of nature trails for hiking or biking, a few ponds for fishing, and open space for picnics and barbeques.
- Zullo Gallery: An art gallery run by a Medfield inhabitant. Displays several pieces of fine art that can be purchased. [2]
- Noon Hill is the highest point in Medfield at 370 feet with a trail to its peak. There are a total of 4.5 miles of trails around the hill and offer views of the hills of Walpole and Norfolk.[3]
[edit] Art
[edit] Photos
 Medfield (1877) by George Inness |
 Old Elm at Medfield (1869) by George Inness |
 Evening in Medfield, Massachusetts (1869) by George Inness |
 The Pool (1889) by Dennis Miller Bunker, painted in Medfield |
[edit] Annual events
- Medfield Day, a community event sponsored by Medfield Employers & Merchants Organization (MEMO), happens on a Saturday each September. The outdoor event features local businesses, merchants, and civic organizations, who rent spaces around Meetinghouse Pond and set up booths for public display. It is considered the social event of the year. [4]
[edit] Places of worship
- St. Edward the Confessor Parish, 133 Spring Street, Catholic. [5]
- Church of the Advent, 28 Pleasant Street, Episcopal. [6]
- First Baptist Church of Medfield, Main Street, Baptist. [7]
- United Church of Christ in Medfield, 496 Main Street, Protestant. [8]
- First Parish Medfield, 26 North Street, Unitarian Universalist. [9]
[edit] Notable residents
- Hannah Adams (1755-1831), Medfield native and Christian author; the first female professional writer in America.
- George Inness, artist, some of whose paintings are of Medfield in the Nineteenth century.
- Lowell Mason, (1792-1872), a composer of hymns and pioneer of music education in American public schools. A street in town bears his name.
- Charles Martin Loeffler, a German-born American composer.
- Curt Schilling, of the Boston Red Sox. His family lives on Woodbridge Road in a 26-acre estate formerly occupied by another athlete, Drew Bledsoe. Schilling bought the home in 2003 for $4,500,000.[10]
- John Preston, author of gay erotica.
- "Hurricane" Peter McNeeley, a retired boxer. In 1995, McNeeley fought former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson after Tyson's release from prison.
- Pete Carroll, coach of USC and former coach of the New England Patriots also lived in Medfield. He donated money to keep the high school weight room open all season long during the summer for the football players. Carroll also help start the Middle School football program by getting a $30,000 grant from the NFL. He also volunteered to be a referee when the hired one failed to appear.
- Drew Bledsoe, quarterback on the Dallas Cowboys, formerly quarterback of the New England Patriots, resided in Medfield when he was the quarterback of the Patriots. He bought the entire Medfield football team cleats before he moved out of Medfield. His house was later purchased by Curt Schilling when he came to play for the Boston Red Sox.
- John Hannah (NFL player), former New England Patriots guard and Hall of Famer.
- Bubblegum Bob, a resident of Medfield, has been giving out gum to kids for years and the Medfield High School yearbook was dedicated to him in 2000.
[edit] Trivia
- The Dwight-Derby House at 7 Frairy Street is one of the ten oldest homes in the United States.
- Fall is the only season and East is the only direction that are not street names in town.
- There is only one town named Medfield in the entire world. There is a subdivision in Wake County, North Carolina, as well as a section of the city of Baltimore, and a street in Boston, all with the name Medfield.[1] In addition, a small village in England named Metfield exists and is actually pronounced exactly the same way. The Church of the Advent in Medfield has a sister church in Metfield, St. John the Baptist.
- An episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was filmed here in 2005. In the show, celebrity Mia Hamm was shown playing soccer at Wheelock Elementary School.
- Walt Disney used to vacation in Medfield to visit a friend. He flew into town on a private plane and landed in what is now the Wheelock soccer fields. Two Disney movies, The Absent-Minded Professor and Flubber, mention a fictitious "Medfield College".
- Neo-Nazi scam-artist Davis Wolfgang Hawke may have buried around $500,000 in gold and platinum on his parents' property in Medfield.[11]
- Hunting is not allowed in Medfield.
- There is a legend that ghosts, specters of the dead former residents of Medfield's historical Peak House, reside in the building's basement.
- The Medfield State Hospital located at 45 Hospital Road opened in 1896 but at at its peak housed 1,500 patients. The hospital was closed on April 3, 2003.
- Medfield has a very strong Destination ImagiNation program. Many of their teams end up going to states, and once one team placed 5th at Worlds.
[edit] References
- ^ DeSorgher, Richard. "This Old Town." Medfield Hometown Weekly 05 Apr 2007: Page 2.
