| Wellesley, Massachusetts | |||
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| — Town — | |||
| Wellesley Square | |||
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Wellesley
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | Massachusetts | ||
| County | Norfolk | ||
| Settled | 1660 | ||
| Incorporated | 1881 | ||
| Government[1] | |||
| • Type | Representative town meeting | ||
| • Board of Selectmen |
List of Selectmen
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| Area[2] | |||
| • Total | 10.49 sq mi (27.2 km2) | ||
| • Land | 10.18 sq mi (26.4 km2) | ||
| • Water | 0.31 sq mi (0.8 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 141 ft (43 m) | ||
| Population (2010)[3] | |||
| • Total | 27,982 | ||
| • Density | 2,667.5/sq mi (1,029.9/km2) | ||
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) | ||
| ZIP code | 02481, 02482, 02457 | ||
| Area code(s) | 339 / 781 | ||
| FIPS code | 25-74175 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0618332 | ||
| Website | www.wellesleyma.gov | ||
Wellesley ( /ˈwɛlzliː/) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census.[3]
It is best known as the home of Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of Massachusetts Bay Community College. While most of Olin College, a private engineering school, is in the town of Wellesley, its main entrance is located in Needham, Massachusetts.
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Wellesley was settled in the 1630s as part of Dedham, Massachusetts. It was subsequently a part of Needham, Massachusetts called West Needham, Massachusetts. On Oct. 23, 1880, West Needham residents voted to secede from Needham and the town of Wellesley was later christened by the Massachusetts legislature on April 6, 1881.[4][5]
Wellesley's population grew by over 80 percent during the 1920s.[6]
The town designated Cottage Street and its nearby alleys as the historic district in its zoning plan. Most houses in this district were built around the 1860s and qualify as protected buildings certified by the town's historic commission.
Wellesley is located in eastern Massachusetts. It is bordered on the east by Newton, on the north by Weston, on the south by Needham and Dover and on the west by Natick. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.49 square miles (27,200 km), of which, 10.18 square miles (26,400 km) is land and .32 square miles (830 km) is water.[2]
The town's historic 19th century inn was demolished to make way for condominiums and mixed-use development in 2006.[7] The Wellesley Country Club clubhouse, which is the building where the town was founded, was demolished in 2008.[4] The town's pre-World War II high school building is being torn down & replaced,[8] and the entire 1960s-style Linden Street strip-mall has been replaced by "Linden Square" – a shopping district that includes a flagship Roche Bros. supermarket, restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, along with a mixture of national chains and local shops.[9]
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1890 | 3,600 | — |
| 1900 | 5,072 | +40.9% |
| 1910 | 5,413 | +6.7% |
| 1920 | 6,224 | +15.0% |
| 1930 | 11,439 | +83.8% |
| 1940 | 15,127 | +32.2% |
| 1950 | 20,549 | +35.8% |
| 1960 | 26,071 | +26.9% |
| 1970 | 28,051 | +7.6% |
| 1980 | 27,209 | −3.0% |
| 1990 | 26,615 | −2.2% |
| 2000 | 26,613 | −0.0% |
| 2001* | 27,048 | +1.6% |
| 2002* | 27,020 | −0.1% |
| 2003* | 26,867 | −0.6% |
| 2004* | 26,754 | −0.4% |
| 2005* | 26,842 | +0.3% |
| 2006* | 26,899 | +0.2% |
| 2007* | 27,093 | +0.7% |
| 2008* | 27,274 | +0.7% |
| 2009* | 27,398 | +0.5% |
| 2010 | 27,982 | +2.1% |
| * = population estimate. Source: United States Census records and Population Estimates Program data.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16] | ||
The Census Bureau has also defined the town as a census-designated place with an area exactly equivalent to the town.[2]
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,613 people, 8,594 households, and 6,540 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,614.1 people per square mile (1,009.4/km²). There were 8,861 housing units at an average density of 870.4 per square mile (336.1/km²). According to a 2007 Census Bureau estimate, the racial makeup of the town was 84.6% White, 10.0% Asian, 2.2% Black, 0.01% Native American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.4% of the population.[2]
There were 8,594 households out of which 39.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.2% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.9% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.14.[2]
In the town the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 13.9% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 77.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.1 males.[2]
In the 2007 estimate, the median income for a household was $125,814, and the median income for a family was $155,539. The per capita income in the town was $61,332. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $53,007 for females. About 2.4% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.[2]
According to Boston Magazine's yearly "Best Places To Live", Wellesley ranks first in the United States in percentage of adults who hold at least one college degree. Over 66% of the households have at least one individual holding an advanced degree beyond a Bachelor's Degree. In 2009, Wellesley ranked #2 in "America's Most Educated Small Towns" according to Forbes.com.[17]
The town government has been run by town meeting since the town's founding.
Since Proposition 2½ limited property tax increases to 2.5% per year in 1980, the town has had to ask residents for a number of overrides to maintain funding for certain programs. Although the main 2005 override passed, a simultaneous supplemental override to preserve certain specific programs and services failed by 17 votes. The 2006 override passed with a large majority. Wellesley also receives funding from the state government. Local roads have been repaved several times in the 1990s and 2000s.
Wellesley opened its new Free Library building in 2003, which is part of the Minuteman Library Network. Due to the structure of budget override votes and perhaps the size of the new main branch of the library, the two branch libraries—one in Wellesley Hills, which was purpose-built to be a branch library in the 1920s, another in Wellesley Fells—closed in the summer of 2006. The branch libraries reopened in September, 2008.[18]
Wellesley residents receive all major services from their town government, with the exception of residential trash pick-up.
Wellesley is serviced by the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant (WMLP). It is one of only a handful of municipal light plants in the state of Massachusetts.
Residents of Wellesley cart their own refuse to Wellesley's Recycling and Disposal Facility (RDF), a town-operated multi-use waste recycling site, where items are sorted by type, recyclability and potential reuse. Old books and magazines are available for town residents to take, which have their own shelving section.
The RDF also has a "Take it or Leave it" area where residents leave items they no longer want but that are in good repair. In 2004, the Town had to discontinue the "Take it or Leave it" because of funding cutbacks. However, within six months town residents reinstated it by means of a volunteer system. The section reopened with volunteers on duty at all times to organize the goods and ensure that only usable items were left there.
The town is known for for possessing the second greatest concentration of residents with advanced degrees in the country. The public education services of the town are very well regarded, especially Wellesley High School; in 2007 it was ranked 70th best public high school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, earning a Gold Medal.[19]
Wellesley's public school system is nationally well regarded. In 2007, Wellesley High School was ranked 70th best public high school in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report,[19] and on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test the district regularly scores higher than the state average.[20][21][22] The school system also contains a middle school and eight elementary schools.
The town contains a private elementary school, Tenacre Country Day School, and Dana Hall School a preparatory school for girls.
Wellesley also contains the main campus of 3 colleges, Wellesley College, a women's liberal arts college, Massachusetts Bay Community College, a two-year public college, and Babson College, a business college. According to Forbes.com, Wellesley College is the 6th best college in the country.[23] According to US News & World Report, Babson College is the number one college in the country for entrepreneurship, receiving this distinction for the past fourteen years.[24] In addition, The Financial Times ranked Babson College as the 5th best U.S. college for providing custom executive education programs.[25] Part of main campus of Olin College, a private engineering school, is located in Wellesley, although its main entrance is located in Needham.
Wellesley has had rail service to Boston since 1833. These days rail service is provided through Wellesley's participation in the MBTA, which offers a total of 17 weekday Commuter Rail trains inbound towards Boston & outbound towards Framingham & Worcester. Wellesley's stations are (east to west) Wellesley Farms, Wellesley Hills, and Wellesley Square. The Wellesley Farms station is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. MWRTA bus service also runs along Walnut Street, Cedar Street, and Route 9.
The highways I-95/Route 128 and Route 9 run through Wellesley.
For elders and people with disabilities there is a specific MBTA-based service, The Ride, which offers free or low-cost door-to-door service by appointment.[26]
From nearby Riverside MBTA Station in Newton, commuter express buses run to downtown Boston, Newton Corner and Central Square, Waltham. This is also a station for Greyhound Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines with frequent service to Boston, New York City, and other destinations.
Wellesley's Council on Aging contracts out a daily low-cost minibus service offering elderly access to several local medical facilities and the Woodland MBTA station.[27] Further afield is the Springwell Senior Medical Escort Program / Busy Bee Transportation Service for rides to medical & non-medical services in the area. There is also a monthly minibus to Natick Collection (formerly Natick Mall).
For Amtrak service the nearest stations are west in Framingham, east in Boston at Back Bay and South Station, and south in Route 128 Station in Westwood.
Those affiliated with Wellesley College can take advantage of their bus services to Cambridge & Needham.[28] Wellesley College & Babson College also both offer discounted Zipcar service.[29][30]
Also during the weeks before Christmas is the "Holly Trolley", a free seasonal trolley (a modified bus) sponsored by the Wellesley Chamber of Commerce that has two loops through town, bringing shoppers downtown for holiday shopping & home again.
Each year the weekend before Memorial Day, The Town of Wellesley sponsors the annual Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend which includes the annual Veterans' Parade and Fireworks. The fireworks display is one of the most elaborate and spectacular shows that is done by local or town government in the United States. It is put on by Atlas Fireworks of Jaffrey, NH who also put on the Jaffrey Festival of Fireworks. On Sunday, May 18, 2008 the Beach Boys performed in a concert on the Wellesley High School athletic fields in front of an estimated 10,000 town residents and fans. The funds for the performance, an estimated 250 thousand dollars, were made as a gift by an anonymous donor and life long fan of the band.
The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra presents classical, pops, and family concerts at Mass Bay Community College at its Wellesley Campus.
The town of Wellesley is home to several religious institutions. There is one temple, Temple Beth Elohim, and several churches: Wellesley Congregational Church, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, St. Paul's Catholic Church, Christ Church United Methodist, Wellesley Hills Congregational Church (also known as The Hills Church), First Church of Christ-Scientist, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, The Metrowest Baptist Church, Elmwood Chapel, and Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills.
The Hunnewell Arboretum abuts the Wellesley campus, and the Elm Bank Horticulture Center has its entrance in Wellesley, although it is located across a small private bridge over the Charles River and is therefore in the neighboring town of Dover.
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