Editing Mendon, Massachusetts

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Mendon, Massachusetts
| nickname           = 
| motto              = 
| image_skyline      = First Church Mendon.JPG
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = First Church, Mendon
| image_seal         = MendonMA-seal.png
| image_flag         = 
| image_map          = Worcester County Massachusetts incorporated and unincorporated areas Mendon highlighted.svg
| mapsize            = 260px
| map_caption        = Location in [[Worcester County, Massachusetts|Worcester County]] and the state of [[Massachusetts]].
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Massachusetts]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Massachusetts|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Worcester County, Massachusetts|Worcester]]
| established_title  = Settled
| established_date   = 1660
| established_title2 = Incorporated
| established_date2  = May 15, 1667
| established_title3 = 
| established_date3  = 
| government_type    = [[Open town meeting]]
| leader_title       = [[Town Administrator]]
| leader_name        = Jeremy Stull
| leader_title1      = Board of <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selectmen
| leader_name1       = Alejna Brugos (Chair)<br>Brendan Chenelle (Vice-Chair)<br>Jason Kuter<br>Mike Merolli<br> Mike Goddard
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_total_km2     = 47.3
| area_total_sq_mi   = 18.3
| area_land_km2      = 46.9
| area_land_sq_mi    = 18.1
| area_water_km2     = 0.4
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.2
| population_as_of   = 2020
| settlement_type    = [[New England town|Town]]
| population_total   = 6228
| population_density_km2 = 132.8
| population_density_sq_mi = 344.1
| elevation_m        = 101
| elevation_ft       = 330
| timezone           = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|Eastern]]
| utc_offset         = -5
| timezone_DST       = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|Eastern]]
| utc_offset_DST     = -4
| coordinates        = {{Coord|42|06|20|N|71|33|10|W|region:US-MA_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type   = ZIP Code
| postal_code        = 01756
| area_code          = [[Area code 508|508]] / [[Area code 774|774]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 25-40255
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 0618371
|| website            = [http://mendonma.gov/ 
 footnotes          = 
}}
'''Mendon''' is a town in [[Worcester County, Massachusetts|Worcester County]], [[Massachusetts]], United States. The population was 6,228 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0600000US2502740255|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=November 11, 2021|title=Census - Geography Profile: Mendon town, Worcester County, Massachusetts}}</ref> Mendon is part of the [[Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor]], an early center of the [[industrial revolution in the United States]]. Mendon celebrated its 350th anniversary on May 15, 2017.

==History==
=== Early history ===
[[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] inhabited the Mendon area for thousands of years prior to [[European colonization of the Americas]]. At the time of contact, [[Nipmuc]] people inhabited the area that would become Mendon, and Nipmuc Pond is named for them. [[Nipmuc Regional High School]] was named after this lake. ''Nipmuc'' means "small pond place" or "people of the fresh waters".<ref name= "nipmuc">{{cite web |title= Nipmuc History |publisher= Lee Sultzman |url= http://www.dickshovel.com/nipmuc.html |access-date= September 28, 2007}}</ref> The Nipmuc name does not refer to a specific village or tribe, but to natives that inhabited almost all of central Massachusetts.  Over 500 Nipmuc live today in Massachusetts, and there are two nearby reservations at [[Grafton, Massachusetts|Grafton]] and [[Webster, Massachusetts|Webster]]. The Nipmuc had a written language, tools, a [[Tantiusques|graphite mine]] at [[Sturbridge, Massachusetts|Sturbridge]], and well-developed agriculture, including [[maize]] (a variant of corn), beans and squash.

In the early 1600s, [[Praying Indian]]s (natives who converted to [[Christianity]]) were settled into [[Praying town|Praying Towns]]. Wacentug and Rice City held two of these villages in Mendon, in a section that later became [[Uxbridge, Massachusetts|Uxbridge]]. These were two of the 14 Praying Indian villages established by Reverend [[John Eliot (missionary)|John Eliot]], from [[Natick, Massachusetts|Natick]] and [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]], who translated the Bible into the Nipmuc language.

===Pioneer settlement===
Pioneers from [[Braintree, Massachusetts|Braintree]] petitioned to receive a land grant for {{convert|8|mi|km}} square of land, {{convert|15|mi|km}} west of [[Medfield, Massachusetts|Medfield]].<ref name = "hist">{{cite book |last= Marvin |first= AP |title= History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Embracing a Comprehensive History of the County from its earliest beginnings to the present time; Vol. II |publisher= CF Jewitt and Company |year= 1879 |location= Boston, Massachusetts |pages= 146 }}</ref>  In September 1662, after the deed was signed with a Native American chief, "Great John" and another Sachem, [[Quashaamit]], the pioneers entered this part of what is now southern Worcester County. Earlier, unofficial, settlement occurred here in the 1640s, by [[American pioneer|pioneers]] from Roxbury. This was the beginning of Mendon.

The land for the settlement was {{convert|8|mi}} square of Native American land in the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] and was purchased from the Nipmuc Indians, "for divers good and vallewable considerations them there unto Moovinge and especiall for an in consideration of the summe of twenty fower pound Ster."<ref name= "mendon">{{cite book |last= Metcalf MD |first= John G. |title= Annals of the town of Mendon: from 1659 to 1880 |publisher= E.L. Freeman, printers to the State |year= 1880 |location= Providence, R.I.|pages= 3–4 }}</ref> In 1662, "Squinshepauke Plantation was started at the Netmocke settlement and plantation", and was incorporated as the town of Mendon in 1667. The settlers were ambitious and set about clearing the roads that would mark settlement patterns throughout the town's history.

[[File:Mendon Mass Founders Plaque.jpg|thumb|right|Photo of the Founders' Plaque in Founders' Park, Mendon, Mass.]]

The early settlement at Mendon was first listed in [[Middlesex County, Massachusetts|Middlesex County]] in 1667, then in 1671 in [[Suffolk County, Massachusetts|Suffolk County]], and in Worcester County from 1731 onward.<ref name="hist"/> Mendon was first settled in 1660 and was officially incorporated in 1667. The town was originally {{convert|64|sqmi|km2}}, including at least part of the modern-day towns of [[Milford, Massachusetts|Milford]], [[Bellingham, Massachusetts|Bellingham]], [[Hopedale, Massachusetts|Hopedale]], [[Uxbridge, Massachusetts|Uxbridge]], [[Upton, Massachusetts|Upton]], [[Blackstone, Massachusetts|Blackstone]], [[Northbridge, Massachusetts|Northbridge]] and [[Millville, Massachusetts|Millville]].  For this reason, the town of Mendon is sometimes referred to as "Mother Mendon".  Benjamin Albee (1614–1695) erected a water-powered mill on Mill River in 1664 where it crosses modern-day Hartford Avenue.<ref>[http://www.albee.org/genealogy/1.htm Albee Genealogy reference from Albee.org]</ref><ref name="Ballou, Adin pp. 522-23">Ballou, Adin. ''History of Milford, Massachusetts,'' Vol. 2, pp. 522–23, Franklin Press, 1882.</ref> and was one of the town's important early residents. The mill was the first water-powered grist mill in the region.<ref name="Ballou, Adin pp. 522-23"/>

On July 14, 1675, early violence in [[King Philip's War]] took place in Mendon, with the deaths of multiple residents and the destruction of Albee's mill. These were the first settlers killed in this war in the Colony of Massachusetts. A man named Richard Post, of Post's lane, may have been the first settler killed. The town was largely burnt to the ground later that winter in early 1676.<ref name="well">{{cite web|title=Tommies/Mendon|publisher=wellwooster.com|url=http://www.wellswooster.com/tommies/mendon.htm|access-date=November 20, 2007}}</ref> During King Philip's War, many Nipmuc from around Marlboro and Natick were interned Deer Island, and many died from the harsh winter in 1675.  The town of Mendon was resettled and rebuilt in 1680.

[[Robert Taft, Sr.]], settled here, in the part that became Uxbridge, in 1680 and was the patriarch of the famous [[Taft family]]. He settled here in 1669 and was among those forced back to Braintree because of King Philip's War. In 1712, Mendon was the birthplace of Lydia Chapin, who became America's first legal woman voter, known later as Lydia Chapin Taft, or simply [[Lydia Taft]]. [[Ezra T. Benson]] was born here and became a famous [[Mormon]] Missionary and [[Utah Territory]] legislator. (See also the article of neighboring [[Uxbridge, Massachusetts]].) The [[Taft family]] became an American political dynasty, especially in [[Ohio]], but also in [[Iowa]], [[Rhode Island]], [[Vermont]], and other states. President [[William Howard Taft]] was a descendant and also was a descendant of George Aldrich.

Another American family began in Mendon with the immigrant George Aldrich. His descendants included a number of U.S. congressmen, including Senator [[Nelson Aldrich]], who started the [[Federal Reserve Bank]], and Vice President [[Nelson Rockefeller|Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller]]. Other descendants were Ezra T. Benson and his grandson, [[Ezra Taft Benson]], former Secretary of Agriculture under President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], later 13th President of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].

===Colonial and revolutionary era===
Mendon would eventually rebuild and find itself along Boston's [[Middle Post Road]] ([[Massachusetts Route 16|Route 16]] today). Milestone 37 (from [[Boston]]) was erected in 1772 and still stands today.<ref>[http://www.preserveamerica.gov/6-25-04PAcommunity-mendonMA.html Preserve America Community]</ref>  In 1719, [[Bellingham, Massachusetts|Bellingham]] became the first community to break off from Mother Mendon and incorporate as a separate entity. In 1789, it is purported that President [[George Washington]], during his inaugural journey, was denied a room in Mendon by an innkeeper's wife.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061101011517/http://www.blackstonedaily.com/mendon.pdf blackstone daily]}}</ref>

===Modern Mendon===
Lake Nipmuc Park was a popular resort in the early 20th century, featuring leading musical and [[vaudeville]] talent.  Vintage postcards from this resort are frequently for sale on [[eBay]]. The first [[Aerosmith]] gig took place at [[Nipmuc Regional High School]] (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) in this town on November 6, 1970. Mendon is home to two Boy Scout (BSA) troops, Troop 1 Mendon and Troop 44 Mendon.

Mendon has teamed up with neighboring town Upton to make the Mendon Upton Regional School District (MURSD), this district features four schools. In elementary school the two towns are split and each have equally nice schools. However, in middle school the classes merge into one and attend Miscoe Hill Middle School. Finally, in high school they attend Nipmuc Regional High School, which was recently{{When|date=May 2025}} named one of the top 500 schools in the United States.

In 1986 [[United States Congress|Congress]] created the [[Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor]], a national park.  Mendon falls within this corridor. In modern times, Mendon serves primarily as a [[bedroom community]] but has seen some significant commercial development along Route 16 in recent years. [[Southwick's Zoo]] in Mendon is currently Massachusetts's largest zoo. The [[Mendon Twin Drive-In]], one of only three [[drive-in theater]]s in Massachusetts, is located in Mendon.<ref>[http://www.drive-ins.com/theaters?keywords=&city=&code=ma&status_op=open Driveins.com]</ref><ref>[http://www.drive-in-movie-theaters.com/drive-in-movie-theaters-in-massachusetts-ma/ Drive-In Movie Theaters in Massachusetts]</ref>

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|18.3|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|18.1|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|0.2|sqmi}}, or 0.88%, is water.

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations | type=USA
 | 1850|1300
 | 1860|1351
 | 1870|1175
 | 1880|1094
 | 1890|919
 | 1900|911
 | 1910|880
 | 1920|961
 | 1930|1107
 | 1940|1315
 | 1950|1619
 | 1960|2068
 | 1970|2524
 | 1980|3108
 | 1990|4010
 | 2000|5286
 | 2010|5839
 | 2020|6228
 | 2023*|6331
 | footnote=* = population estimate.  {{Historical populations/Massachusetts municipalities references}}<ref>{{cite web | title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020−2023| publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] | access-date=May 19, 2024 | url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html}}</ref>
}}

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2000, there were 5,286 people, 1,815 households, and 1,450 families residing in the town.  The population density was {{convert|292.1|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 1,886 housing units at an average density of {{convert|104.2|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the town was 97.99% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.40% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.59% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.15% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.87% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.96% of the population.

There were 1,815 households, out of which 42.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.5% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.1% were non-families. Of all households, 16.0% were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.28.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.5% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $71,164, and the median income for a family was $79,337. Males had a median income of $55,230 versus $36,174 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $27,693.  About 2.6% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.

==Government==
{{Worcester County politicians 
| county = Worcester
| state_rep = Brian W. Murray (D)
| state_sen = Ryan Fattman (R)
| gov_councilors = Paul DePalo (D)
| fed_rep = [[Jim McGovern (congressman)|James P. McGovern]] (D-[[United States House of Representatives, Massachusetts District 2|2nd District]]),
| fed_sen = [[Edward Kennedy]] (D)<br>[[John Kerry]] (D)}}

==Library==
Mendon's Taft Public Library was established in 1881.<ref>C.B. Tillinghast. The free public libraries of Massachusetts. 1st Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts. Boston: Wright & Potter, 1891. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LusKAAAAYAAJ Google books]</ref><ref>[http://mendonma.net/depts/pages/municipal-pages/taft-public-library.php Taft Public Library] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101233350/http://mendonma.net/depts/pages/municipal-pages/taft-public-library.php |date=November 1, 2010 }}. Retrieved November 10, 2010</ref> In fiscal year 2008, the town of Mendon spent 1.66% ($187,825) of its budget on its public library—approximately $32 per person, per year ($39.19 adjusted for inflation to 2021).<ref>July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008; cf. The FY2008 Municipal Pie: What's Your Share? Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Board of Library Commissioners. Boston: 2009. Available: [http://mblc.state.ma.us/advisory/statistics/public/repmunicpie/index.php Municipal Pie Reports] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123010127/http://mblc.state.ma.us/advisory/statistics/public/repmunicpie/index.php |date=January 23, 2012 }}. Retrieved August 4, 2010</ref> A new library, built on the site of the former St. Michael's Church, was completed in 2016.

<gallery widths=200 heights=145>
Image:1899 Mendon public library Massachusetts.png|Taft Public Library, Mendon, 1899
Image:Taft Public Library and Mendon Town Hall, MA.jpg|Taft Public Library and Mendon Town Hall, 2010
</gallery>

==Points of interest==
* [[Mendon Twin Drive-In]]
* Southwick's Zoo<ref>http://www.southwickszoo.com/</ref>
* Historic walking tour of Mendon<ref>[https://blackstoneheritagecorridor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mendon-Walking-Tour2020.pdf Walking tour]</ref>
* [[Mendon Airport]] (private)
* Mendon Town Beach<ref>[http://www.mendonma.gov/beach Mendon Town Beach]</ref>

==National Historic Places==
* [[Mendon Center Historic District]]
* [[Nathan C. Aldrich House and Resthaven Chapel]] 
* [[North Avenue Rural Historic District]]
* [[Olney Cook Artisan Shop]]

==Media==
* The ''{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000303003249/http://www.utcnews.com/ Upton and Mendon Town Crier]}}'' newspaper (circulation ~5500) is published twice monthly and mailed free to all residents of Mendon and the adjoining town of [[Upton, Massachusetts|Upton]].
* The [http://www.milforddailynews.com ''Milford Daily News''] is the nearest daily publication.

==Notable people==
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* [[Benjamin Adams (politician)|Benjamin Adams]] (1764–1837), [[United States House of Representatives|U. S. Congressman]]<ref name="Marquis 1607-1896">{{cite book | title = Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896 | publisher = Marquis Who's Who | location = Chicago | year = 1967}}</ref>
* [[Adin Ballou]] (1803–1890), social reformer, [[Pacifism|pacifist]], and [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] minister, led Mendon's Unitarian Church from 1831 to 1842, immediately before his founding of the [[Hopedale Community]]<ref>{{cite web|url=  http://uudb.org/articles/adinballou.html |title=Adin Ballou|publisher = Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography
|access-date= March 28, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Ezra T. Benson]] (1811–1869), [[Mormon pioneer]] (birthplace)<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/ETBenson.html|title=Ezra Taft Benson, 1811-1869|publisher = Brigham Young University|access-date= March 28, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Adin B. Capron]] (1841–1911), [[United States House of Representatives|U. S. Congressman]]<ref>{{cite web|url= http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000135|title=CAPRON, Adin Ballou, (1841 - 1911)|publisher =Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date= March 28, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Albert Harkness]] (1822–1907), scholar and educator<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=H0030|title=From Martha Mitchell's Encyclopedia Brunoniana Harkness, Albert 1842|publisher = Brown University|access-date= March 28, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Lydia Taft]] (1712–1778), America's first woman voter (birthplace)<ref>{{cite web|url= http://blackstonedaily.com/Journeys/cm-lt.htm|title= Uxbridge Breaks Tradition and Makes History: Lydia Chapin Taft|publisher= Black Stone Daily|access-date= March 28, 2014|url-status= usurped|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110728082541/http://blackstonedaily.com/Journeys/cm-lt.htm|archive-date= July 28, 2011}}</ref>
* [[Eli Thayer]] (1819–1899), [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] [[United States House of Representatives|congressman]] and founder of [[Oread Institute]]<ref>{{cite web|url= http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000145|title= THAYER, Eli, (1819 - 1899) |publisher = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date= March 28, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Armenia S. White]] (1817–1916), suffragette, philanthropist, social reformer<ref name="Hammond1910">{{cite book|last=Hammond|first=Otis Grant|title=The Granite Monthly: A Magazine of Literature, History and State Progress|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TRkXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA3|edition=Public domain|volume=42|year=1910|publisher=J.N. McClintock|pages=3–}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Mendon, Massachusetts}}
* [http://www.mendonma.gov Official Website]

{{Geographic location
 | Centre = Mendon
 | North = 
 | Northeast = [[Hopedale, Massachusetts|Hopedale]]
 | East = [[Bellingham, Massachusetts|Bellingham]]
 | Southeast = [[Bellingham, Massachusetts|Bellingham]]
 | South = [[Millville, Massachusetts|Millville]], [[Blackstone, Massachusetts|Blackstone]]
 | Southwest = [[Uxbridge, Massachusetts|Uxbridge]]
 | West = [[Northbridge, Massachusetts|Northbridge]]<br>[[Uxbridge, Massachusetts|Uxbridge]]
 | Northwest = [[Upton, Massachusetts|Upton]]
}}
{{Blackstone Valley}}
{{Worcester County, Massachusetts}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mendon, Massachusetts| ]]
[[Category:1660 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1660]]
[[Category:Towns in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Towns in Worcester County, Massachusetts]]