Editing Westwood, Massachusetts (section)

==History==
Westwood was first settled in 1641 and was part of the town of [[Dedham, Massachusetts|Dedham]], originally called 'West Dedham', until it was officially incorporated in 1897. It was the last town to split from the original town of Dedham. From early in the settlement of Dedham, the people of the Clapboard Trees Precinct were "a wealthy, sophisticated lot, familiar with the bigwigs of provincial politics and prone to the religious liberalism that was à la mode in Boston."{{sfn|Lockridge|1985|p=101}} Residents did not care for the politically more powerful Calvinist views of those who lived in the village of Dedham and asked to separate.<ref>{{cite book | title = A New England Town | last = Lockridge | first = Kenneth | year = 1985 | publisher = W.W. Norton & Company | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-393-95459-3 | page = [https://archive.org/details/newenglandtown00lock/page/101 101] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/newenglandtown00lock/page/101 }}</ref>

It was originally to have been named the "Town of Nahatan:"{{cquote|a bill to incorporate the Town of Nahatan was reported in the Senate on March 8, 1897, by Senator Charles F. Woodward, Chairman of the Committee on Towns. No opposition to the passage of the bill appeared until it reached the House, when the representative from Nahant objected to the name "Nahatan," owing to its alleged similarity to the name Nahant.

It was desirable for the old, as well as the new town, to have the question of incorporation settled, if possible, before April 5, when appropriations for the coming year were going to be made. Therefore, in order to remove every trace of friction, however trivial, and thus expedite matters, the name was changed to Westwood.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/dedhamhistorical0708dedh/dedhamhistorical0708dedh_djvu.txt Dedham Historical Register], Vol. VIII. April, 1897. No. 2, "The New Town of Westwood"</ref>}}

In July 2005, [https://money.cnn.com/best/bplive/ CNN/Money and ''Money'' magazine] ranked Westwood 13th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States.