Norwood, Massachusetts | |
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— Town — | |
Hartshorn's Market c. 1920. Behind it are the United Church of Norwood and (faintly) St. Catherine's Church, both still standing | |
Location in Norfolk County in Massachusetts | |
Coordinates: | |
Country | United States |
State | Massachusetts |
County | Norfolk |
Settled | 1678 |
Incorporated | 1872 |
Government | |
• Type | Representative town meeting |
Area | |
• Total | 10.6 sq mi (27.3 km2) |
• Land | 10.5 sq mi (27.1 km2) |
• Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2) |
Elevation | 146 ft (45 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 28,602 |
• Density | 2,724.0/sq mi (1,055.4/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 02062 |
Area code(s) | 339 / 781 |
FIPS code | 25-50250 |
GNIS feature ID | 0619460 |
Website | www.ci.norwood.ma.us |
Norwood is a town and census-designated place in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,602. The community was named after Norwood, England. Norwood is on the Neponset River,[1] which runs all the way to Boston Harbor from Foxborough.
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The Town of Norwood, which was officially formed in 1872, was until that time part of Dedham, known as the "mother of towns," as fourteen of the present communities of eastern Massachusetts lay within its original borders. Long used as a hunting ground by Indians, Norwood was first settled by Ezra Morse in 1678. He set up a sawmill in what is now South Norwood, the part of town to which the first concentration of families, almost all of whom were farmers, migrated over the next half-century.
During the American Revolution, there was a Minuteman company organized in the area. Its captain, Aaron Guild, on learning of the British marching on Lexington and Concord, to seize the munitions stored there, rode to join the fight and arrived in time to fire on the British at Concord Bridge and participate in the running battle that chased the Redcoats back to Boston.
Abraham Lincoln passed through the town during his pre-inaugural tour of New England.
The Oak View Mansion, located in Norwood, was built by Francis Olney Winslow. Construction began in 1868 and was completed in 1870. Oak View was the scene of almost constant socializing. Some of the most prominent figures hosted in Oak View were President and future Supreme Court Justice William Howard Taft and President Calvin Coolidge.
The town shares its name with a town in the borough of Croydon, South London, England.
Norwood is home of the Mustangs.
Norwood is located at (42.185974, -71.201661).[1]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.6 square miles (27.3 km²), of which 10.5 square mile (27.1 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km²) (0.66%) is water.
Historical populations | ||
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Year | Pop. | ±% |
1880 | 2,845 | — |
1890 | 3,733 | +31.2% |
1900 | 5,480 | +46.8% |
1910 | 8,014 | +46.2% |
1920 | 12,627 | +57.6% |
1930 | 15,049 | +19.2% |
1940 | 15,383 | +2.2% |
1950 | 16,636 | +8.1% |
1960 | 24,898 | +49.7% |
1970 | 30,815 | +23.8% |
1980 | 29,711 | −3.6% |
1990 | 28,700 | −3.4% |
2000 | 28,587 | −0.4% |
2001* | 28,783 | +0.7% |
2002* | 28,733 | −0.2% |
2003* | 28,534 | −0.7% |
2004* | 28,513 | −0.1% |
2005* | 28,326 | −0.7% |
2006* | 28,243 | −0.3% |
2007* | 28,326 | +0.3% |
2008* | 28,412 | +0.3% |
2009* | 28,442 | +0.1% |
2010 | 28,602 | +0.6% |
* = population estimate. Source: United States Census records and Population Estimates Program data.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] |
As of the census[10] of 2000, there were 28,587 people, 11,623 households, and 7,380 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,727.0 people per square mile (1,053.2/km²). There were 11,945 housing units at an average density of 1,139.5 per square mile (440.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 90.51% White, 2.31% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 5.06% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.77% from other races, and 1.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.65% of the population. 34.7% were of Irish, 14.8% Italian, 5.4% American and 5.0% English ancestry according to Census 2000.
There were 11,623 households out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.8% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $58,421, and the median income for a family was $70,164 (these figures had risen to $66,743 and $80,292 respectively as of a 2007 estimate[11]). Males had a median income of $50,597 versus $34,312 for females. The per capita income for the town was $27,720. About 2.7% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.
The main public education institutions of Norwood are Norwood High School (NHS) [2], which serves grades 9-12, and the Dr. Philip O. Coakley Middle School [3] (formerly Norwood Junior High South), which serves grades 6-8. The original Norwood High School, built in the 1920s, is being replaced by a new building [4] behind the original one, which will open in fall 2011. There are also five elementary schools (Balch, Callahan, Cleveland, Oldham, Prescott). The high school's mascot is a mustang; its colors are blue and yellow. Sports include football, swimming, gymnastics, baseball, basketball, soccer, field hockey, track and field, tennis, ice hockey, volleyball, wrestling, lacrosse, and cross-country. NHS also offers various fine arts programs which include a drama troupe, string orchestra, wind ensemble, marching band, jazz band, various choruses, and a madrigal choir. The music program has been considered to be one of the finest in the country for over forty years. In 2000, the NHS Jazz Ensemble won the national high school championship. The theater department is active and puts on several shows every year.
Built in 2005, Universal Technical Institute is the newest post-secondary education center in Norwood. It is an automotive technical school featuring the Mercedes Benz Elite MSAT and the Ford FACT specialized training programs. The campus is located at 1 Upland Road, less than a mile from the Boston Providence Pike.
ITT Technical Institute is a private school system offering technology-oriented programs at this Norwood school. ITT Tech offers career-focused degree programs available at this location. [5]
The Fine Mortuary College in Norwood includes a one-room museum featuring antique embalming tables and centuries-old wooden coffins[12]
A large cluster of automobile dealerships on Route 1 is known as the Norwood "Automile". The concept of having competing dealerships join together to publicize the "Automile" as an automobile shopping center was largely the work of Ernie Boch, famous in the Boston area for his ads urging people to "Come on down!"
Norwood is the home office of semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc..
Norwood's town square is dominated by its town hall, the Norwood Memorial Municipal Building. It includes a 57-bell carillon tower housing the Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon, one of nine carillons in Massachusetts and the seventh-largest in the United States. Built in 1928, the neo-gothic edifice is made of Weymouth seamed-face granite. Visitors often mistake it for a church or believe it to have been a church, but it never was; its stained-glass windows depict not saints, but local patriot Aaron Guild.
"Guild," whose name appears in local street and building names, is pronounced with a long i, like the second syllable of the word "beguiled."
Guild's significance is explained by an inscription on the Aaron Guild Memorial Stone, dedicated in 1903, which stands outside the Norwood public library. The inscription reads:
Guild and his oxen are featured in the town seal.
Norwood was the long-time home of photographer and publisher Fred Holland Day. As a photographer, Day at one point rivalled Stieglitz in influence. The publishing firm of Copeland and Day was the American publisher of Oscar Wilde's Salome with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley. The Day House is now a museum and the headquarters of the Norwood Historical Society. F. Holland Day Historic House Museum located at 93 Day St.
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