Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Middlesex South Registry of Deeds in Cambridge

Seal
Map of Massachusetts highlighting Middlesex County
Location in the U.S. state of Massachusetts
Map of the United States highlighting Massachusetts
Massachusetts's location in the U.S.
Founded May 10, 1643
Seat Lowell and Cambridge
Largest city Lowell
Area
 • Total 847 sq mi (2,194 km2)
 • Land 818 sq mi (2,119 km2)
 • Water 29 sq mi (75 km2), 3.5%
Population
 • (2010) 1,503,085
 • Density 1,838/sq mi (710/km²)
Congressional districts 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4

Middlesex County is a county in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of 2016, the estimated population was 1,589,774,[1] making it the twenty-first most populous county in the United States, and the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England. For administrative purposes, the county holds two regions, Middlesex-North with its county seat in Lowell, and Middlesex-South with its county seat in Cambridge.[2]

Middlesex County is included in the Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The county government was abolished in 1997, but the county boundaries continue to describe a state district for court jurisdictions and for other administrative purposes, such as an indicator for elections. Massachusetts counties also define locations for National Weather Service weather alerts (such as severe thunderstorm warnings).

In 2010, the center of population of Massachusetts was located in Middlesex County, in the town of Natick.[3]

History

The county was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered that "the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires." Middlesex initially contained Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, Wayland, and Reading.[4] In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Boston annexed several adjacent cities and towns including Charlestown and Brighton from Middlesex County, resulting in an enlargement of Suffolk County. On April 19th, 1775, it became the site of the first armed conflict of the American Revolutionary War.

Law and government

On July 11, 1997, the Massachusetts State Legislature abolished Middlesex County as a governmental entity due primarily to the county's insolvency. Middlesex County continues to exist as a geographic boundary.[5]

Immediately prior to its abolition, the government of Middlesex County consisted of three County Commissioners elected at-large to staggered four-year terms, a County Treasurer elected to a six-year term, a County Sheriff elected to a six-year term and two Registers of Deeds, one for the Northern District at Lowell and the other for the Southern District at Cambridge, both elected to six-year terms.[6] Middlesex County owned and operated the Superior Courthouses in Cambridge and Lowell and the Middlesex County Hospital in Waltham. Besides the employees of the Sheriff's Department and the two Registries of Deeds, the county had a Maintenance Department, a Security Department, small administrative staffs in the Treasurer's and Commissioners' Offices, and the employees at the hospital. Budgets proposed by the County Commissioners were approved by a County Advisory Board that consisted of a single representative of each of the 54 cities and towns in the county. The votes of the individual members of the Advisory Board were weighted based on the overall valuation of property in their respective communities. The county derived its revenue primarily from document filing fees at the Registries of Deeds and from a Deeds Excise Tax, a transfer tax assessed on the sales price of real estate that was also collected by the Registries of Deeds.[7]

The legislation abolishing Middlesex County retained the Sheriff and Registers of Deeds as independently elected officials and transferred for administrative purposes the Sheriff's Department to the state Department of Public Safety and the two Registry of Deeds offices to the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office.[8] Additionally, all county maintenance and security employees were absorbed into the corresponding staffs of the Massachusetts Trial Court. The legislation also transferred ownership of the two Superior Courthouses to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The hospital was closed. Finally, the office of County Commissioner was immediately abolished and the office of County Treasurer was abolished as of December 31, 2002.[9]

Besides the Sheriff and the two Registers of Deeds, the Middlesex District Attorney, the Middlesex Register of Probate and the Middlesex Clerk of Courts (which were already part of state government before the abolition of Middlesex County government) are all elected countywide to six-year terms. In Middlesex County (as in the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts) governmental functions such as property tax assessment and collection, public education, road repair and maintenance, and elections are all conducted at the city and town level and not by county government.

Records of land ownership in Middlesex County are maintained at the two Registries of Deeds. The first Middlesex County Registry of Deeds was created in 1649 in Cambridge. In 1855, the Massachusetts State Legislature created a Registry of Deeds for the Northern District of Middlesex County in Lowell. The Northern District consists the city of Lowell and the towns of Billerica, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford and Wilmington. The remaining 44 cities and towns of Middlesex County are in the Southern District which remained in Cambridge.[10]

Even after the abolition of county government in Middlesex, communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services.

 County government: Middlesex County
Clerk of Courts: Michael A. Sullivan
District Attorney: Marian T. Ryan
Register of Deeds: Richard P. Howe, Jr. (North at Lowell)
Maria C. Curtatone (South at Cambridge)
Register of Probate: Tara E. DeCristofaro
County Sheriff: Peter J. Koutoujian
State government
State Representative(s): 37 Representatives:
State Senator(s): 16 Senators:
Governor's Councilor(s):
Federal government
U.S. Representative(s): James P. McGovern (D-2nd District)
Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-4th District)
Niki Tsongas (D-3rd District)
Seth Moulton (D-6th District)
Katherine Clark (D-5th District)
Michael Capuano (D-7th District)
U.S. Senators: Elizabeth Warren (D), Ed Markey (D)

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 847 square miles (2,190 km2), of which 818 square miles (2,120 km2) is land and 29 square miles (75 km2) (3.5%) is water.[11] It is the third-largest county in Massachusetts by land area.

It is bounded southeast by the Charles River, and drained by the Merrimack, Nashua, and Concord rivers, and other streams.[12]

The MetroWest region comprises much of the southern portion of the county.

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
179042,769—
180046,9289.7%
181052,78912.5%
182061,47216.4%
183077,96126.8%
1840106,61136.7%
1850161,38351.4%
1860216,35434.1%
1870274,35326.8%
1880317,83015.8%
1890431,16735.7%
1900565,69631.2%
1910669,91518.4%
1920778,35216.2%
1930934,92420.1%
1940971,3903.9%
19501,064,5699.6%
19601,238,74216.4%
19701,397,26812.8%
19801,367,034−2.2%
19901,398,4682.3%
20001,465,3964.8%
20101,503,0852.6%
Est. 20161,589,774[13]5.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[14]
1790-1960[15] 1900-1990[16]
1990-2000[17] 2010-2013[1]

As of 2006, Middlesex County was tenth in the United States on the list of most millionaires per county.[18]

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 1,503,085 people, 580,688 households, and 366,656 families residing in the county.[19] The population density was 1,837.9 inhabitants per square mile (709.6/km2). There were 612,004 housing units at an average density of 748.3 per square mile (288.9/km2).[20] The racial makeup of the county was 80.0% white, 9.3% Asian, 4.7% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 3.3% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 6.5% of the population.[19] In terms of ancestry, 23.5% were Irish, 16.2% were Italian, 11.2% were English, 9.2% were French, and 7.1% were German.[21]

Of the 580,688 households, 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.9% were non-families, and 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.10. The median age was 38.5 years.[19]

The median income for a household in the county was $77,377 and the median income for a family was $97,382. Males had a median income of $64,722 versus $50,538 for females. The per capita income for the county was $40,139. About 5.1% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.0% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.[22]

79.6% spoke English, 4.3% Spanish, 2.7% Portuguese, 1.6% Italian, 1.6% Chinese including Mandarin and other Chinese dialects and 1.5% French as their first language. Middlesex County has the largest Irish-American population of any U.S. county with a plurality of Irish ancestry.[23][24]

Demographic breakdown by town

Income

The ranking of unincorporated communities that are included on the list are reflective if the census designated locations and villages were included as cities or towns. Data is from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.[25][26][27]

Rank Town Per capita
income		 Median
household
income		 Median
family
income		 Population Number of
households
1 Weston Town $96,475 $180,815 $220,441 11,229 3,557
2 Sherborn Town $70,983 $152,083 $183,456 4,102 1,463
3 Wayland Town $70,185 $125,076 $151,812 12,939 4,902
4 Carlisle Town $68,060 $159,063 $171,167 4,814 1,612
5 Lexington Town $67,584 $136,610 $158,888 31,129 11,411
6 Concord Town $67,374 $127,951 $156,352 17,523 6,197
7 Winchester Town $65,172 $127,665 $160,706 21,205 7,611
8 Sudbury Town $63,862 $159,713 $173,587 17,482 5,613
9 Newton City $60,323 $109,724 $141,944 84,583 30,735
10 Lincoln Town $57,471 $130,523 $141,667 6,480 2,150
11 Hopkinton Town $56,939 $126,350 $149,213 14,691 4,893
Chestnut Hill (02467) ZCTA $55,947 $114,140 $151,375 21,952 6,237
12 Belmont Town $54,361 $99,529 $121,250 24,548 9,465
Cochituate CDP $52,936 $107,589 $133,082 6,384 2,496
13 Boxborough Town $51,159 $103,918 $134,583 4,957 1,984
14 Acton Town $49,603 $109,491 $135,000 21,656 7,924
15 Natick Town $49,012 $90,046 $117,259 32,729 13,440
16 Bedford Town $48,899 $101,886 $128,448 13,192 4,951
17 Stow Town $48,448 $112,130 $132,061 6,488 2,328
West Concord CDP $47,633 $103,693 $145,242 6,134 2,069
18 Holliston Town $47,624 $107,374 $125,236 13,512 4,918
19 Westford Town $47,587 $119,511 $135,000 21,716 7,308
20 Arlington Town $47,571 $85,059 $107,862 42,570 19,007
21 Groton Town $47,003 $117,903 $135,143 10,478 3,650
22 Ashland Town $46,626 $93,770 $116,799 16,305 6,484
23 Cambridge City $46,242 $69,017 $94,536 104,322 45,386
24 Reading Town $44,949 $99,131 $117,477 24,504 9,055
25 Chelmsford Town $42,535 $90,895 $110,967 33,610 13,304
26 North Reading Town $42,256 $104,069 $116,729 14,703 5,077
27 Dunstable Town $41,937 $109,205 $121,406 3,128 1,087
28 Littleton Town $41,815 $103,438 $114,094 8,810 3,198
Middlesex County County $41,453 $79,691 $100,267 1,491,762 577,349
29 Watertown Town $41,090 $76,718 $90,521 31,792 14,042
30 Wakefield Town $40,227 $85,379 $112,293 24,794 10,058
31 Burlington Town $40,083 $92,236 $107,339 24,207 9,177
32 Melrose City $39,873 $84,599 $105,893 26,864 10,963
Groton CDP $39,208 $55,446 $127,708 1,077 507
Hopkinton CDP $38,507 $71,536 $105,882 2,110 877
33 Tyngsborough Town $38,067 $101,103 $111,780 11,198 3,797
34 Stoneham Town $37,573 $77,476 $95,490 21,413 8,909
35 Marlborough City $37,314 $72,853 $94,770 38,087 15,856
36 Wilmington Town $37,084 $100,861 $107,436 22,116 7,200
37 Pepperell Town $37,081 $84,618 $102,946 11,407 4,125
38 Maynard Town $36,818 $77,255 $93,116 10,083 4,222
39 Tewksbury Town $36,509 $86,378 $103,008 28,778 10,670
40 Hudson Town $36,141 $76,714 $95,746 18,845 7,679
Pepperell CDP $35,227 $68,500 $65,417 2,239 852
Massachusetts State $35,051 $65,981 $83,371 6,512,227 2,522,409
41 Medford City $34,615 $72,033 $83,078 55,843 22,461
Hudson CDP $33,734 $68,812 $86,216 14,797 6,129
42 Woburn City $33,725 $72,540 $87,924 37,831 15,357
43 Waltham City $33,717 $68,326 $82,233 60,209 23,520
44 Framingham Town $33,665 $66,047 $86,977 67,844 26,167
Pinehurst CDP $33,572 $95,038 $100,650 7,289 2,414
45 Billerica Town $33,347 $88,531 $98,371 39,930 13,859
46 Somerville City $32,785 $64,480 $71,518 75,566 31,476
47 Ashby Town $32,434 $82,614 $84,655 3,030 1,060
48 Ayer Town $32,179 $54,899 $78,947 7,370 3,063
Littleton Common CDP $32,058 $80,352 $105,217 2,907 1,131
49 Dracut Town $31,533 $71,824 $88,281 29,249 11,173
50 Townsend Town $31,201 $76,250 $91,023 8,906 3,114
East Pepperell CDP $30,475 $74,077 $79,104 2,195 811
Ayer CDP $30,456 $42,055 $79,708 2,573 1,205
United States Country $27,915 $52,762 $64,293 306,603,772 114,761,359
Townsend CDP $27,166 $51,512 $71,023 968 453
51 Malden City $26,893 $52,842 $65,763 58,821 23,422
Shirley CDP $24,943 $41,250 $41,838 1,330 593
52 Everett City $24,575 $48,319 $58,045 41,079 15,681
53 Shirley Town $24,427 $71,146 $78,493 7,235 2,189
54 Lowell City $23,600 $51,471 $57,934 105,860 39,399
Devens CDP $13,933 $72,986 $73,194 1,704 113

Politics

Presidential Elections Results[28]
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
2016 27.6% 219,793 65.3% 520,360 7.1% 56,582
2012 35.5% 267,321 62.6% 471,804 2.0% 15,045
2008 33.9% 245,766 64.0% 464,484 2.2% 15,781
2004 34.5% 237,815 64.0% 440,862 1.5% 10,283
2000 30.3% 198,914 61.5% 404,043 8.2% 54,091
1996 27.1% 169,926 63.4% 398,190 9.5% 59,861
1992 28.1% 193,703 49.9% 343,994 22.0% 151,756
1988 43.8% 290,352 54.6% 361,563 1.6% 10,713
1984 49.4% 319,604 50.3% 325,065 0.3% 2,085
1980 40.3% 256,999 42.5% 270,751 17.2% 109,929
1976 40.4% 260,044 55.9% 359,919 3.6% 23,419
1972 43.6% 269,064 55.9% 345,343 0.5% 3,244
1968 32.6% 188,304 64.1% 370,310 3.3% 18,982
1964 23.4% 134,729 76.3% 439,790 0.4% 2,291
1960 40.8% 246,126 59.0% 356,130 0.2% 1,260
1956 61.1% 343,125 38.6% 216,668 0.3% 1,580
1952 57.0% 316,069 42.7% 236,910 0.3% 1,626
1948 47.0% 228,262 51.1% 248,240 1.9% 9,406
1944 52.8% 236,102 47.0% 210,253 0.2% 725
1940 52.4% 242,658 47.2% 218,663 0.5% 2,116
1936 47.6% 199,704 45.2% 189,512 7.2% 30,304
1932 50.4% 184,486 47.6% 174,257 1.9% 7,008
1928 52.0% 189,189 47.6% 173,339 0.4% 1,313
1924 63.7% 162,530 25.3% 64,544 11.0% 28,161
1920 69.9% 156,636 27.5% 61,661 2.6% 5,781
1916 53.8% 60,802 44.1% 49,844 2.2% 2,426
1912 29.7% 30,511 35.7% 36,689 34.7% 35,667
1908 61.2% 58,672 32.7% 31,362 6.1% 5,853
1904 60.6% 55,704 35.8% 32,889 3.6% 3,275
1900 60.6% 49,638 36.0% 29,476 3.5% 2,841
1896 71.4% 57,281 24.4% 19,591 4.2% 3,394
1892 52.4% 40,375 45.1% 34,769 2.5% 1,946
1888 54.3% 35,768 43.4% 28,570 2.3% 1,519
1884 48.5% 27,654 39.0% 22,206 12.6% 7,157
1880 59.3% 30,339 38.7% 19,801 2.0% 1,013
1876 58.0% 27,304 41.6% 19,561 0.4% 193
Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of February 1, 2017[29]
Party Number of Voters Percentage
Democratic 358,794 35.20%
Republican 97,072 9.52%
Unenrolled 552,530 54.21%
Minor Parties 1,857 0.18%
Total 1,019,169 100%

Communities

Most municipalities in Middlesex County have a town form of government; the remainder are cities, and are so designated on this list. Villages listed below are census or postal divisions, but have no separate corporate or statutory existence from the cities and towns in which they are located.

Cities

Towns

Census-designated places

Other villages and neighborhoods

Culture

Middlesex County is home to the Middlesex County Volunteers, a fife and drum corps that plays music from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Founded in 1982 at the end of the United States Bicentennial celebration, the group performs extensively throughout New England. They have also performed at the Boston Pops, throughout the British Isles and Western Europe, and at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo's Salute to Australia in Sydney, Australia.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  3. ↑ "Centers of Population by State: 2010". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  4. ↑ Davis, William T. Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, p. 44. The Boston History Company, 1895.
  5. ↑ Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) c.34B, s.1
  6. ↑ MGL c.34, s.4
  7. ↑ Middlesex County Directory: 1993-1995, (Cambridge: Middlesex County Commissioners Office, 1995)
  8. ↑ MGL c.34B, s.10
  9. ↑ MGL c.34B, s.2
  10. ↑ MGL c.36, s.1
  11. ↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  12. ↑  Ripley, George; Dana, Charles A., eds. (1879). "Middlesex: I. A N. E. county of Massachusetts". The American Cyclopædia.
  13. ↑ "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  14. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  18. ↑ Sahadi, Jeanne (March 28, 2006). "Top 10 millionaire counties". CNN.
  19. 1 2 3 "DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  20. ↑ "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  21. ↑ "DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  22. ↑ "DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  23. ↑
  24. ↑ http://www.census.gov/popest/data/counties/totals/2011/tables/CO-EST2011-01-25.csv
  25. ↑ "SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  26. ↑ "ACS DEMOGRAPHIC AND HOUSING ESTIMATES 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  27. ↑ "HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  28. ↑ http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS
  29. ↑ "Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 13, 2010" (PDF). Massachusetts Elections Division. Retrieved 2010-03-14.

Further reading

Coordinates: 42°29′N 71°23′W / 42.49°N 71.39°W / 42.49; -71.39

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