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Medford, Massachusetts

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement

Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus on both sides of the Medford and Somerville border.

History

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Indigenous history

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File:Wood 1634 Medford Detail.png
Detail of William Wood's 1634 map of New England, showing Naumkeag sachem Wonohaquaham, known by English colonists as Sagamore John, in Medford<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Native Americans inhabited the area that would become Medford for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas. At the time of European contact and exploration, Medford was the winter home of the Naumkeag people, who farmed corn and created fishing weirs at multiple sites along the Mystic River.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Naumkeag sachem Nanepashemet was killed and buried at his fortification in present-day Medford during a war with the Tarrantines in 1619.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> The contact period introduced several European infectious diseases which would decimate native populations in virgin soil epidemics, including a smallpox epidemic which in 1633 killed Nanepashemet's sons, sachems Montowompate and Wonohaquaham. Sagamore Park in West Medford is a native burial site from the contact period, which includes the remains of a likely sachem, either Nanepashemet or Wonohaquaham.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> After the 1633 epidemic, Nanepashemet's widow, known only as the Squaw Sachem of Mistick, led the Naumkeag, and over the next two decades would deed large parts of Naumkeag territory to English settlers. In 1639, the Massachusetts General Court purchased the land that would become present-day Medford, then within the boundaries of Charlestown, from the Squaw Sachem.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

17th century

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Medford was settled in 1630 by English colonists as part of Charlestown, of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The settlement was originally called "Mistick" by Thomas Dudley, based on the Massachusett name for the area's river. Thomas Dudley's party renamed the settlement "Meadford".<ref>History of the Town of Medford, p. 30</ref> The name may have come from a description of the "meadow by the ford" in the Mystic River, or from two locations in England that Cradock may have known: the hamlet of Mayford or Metford in Staffordshire near Caverswall, or from the parish of Maidford or Medford (now Towcester, Northamptonshire).<ref name="History of Middlesex County, p. 158">History of Middlesex County, p. 158</ref> In 1634, the land north of the Mystic River was developed as the private plantation of Matthew Cradock, a former governor. Across the river was Ten Hills Farm, which belonged to John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony.<ref>History of the Town of Medford, p. 39</ref>

File:Cradock Bridge stone.jpg
A stone with the dates of the early Cradock Bridge in Medford

In 1637, the first bridge (a toll bridge) across the Mystic River was built at the site of the present-day Cradock Bridge, which carries Main Street into Medford Square.<ref name="patch">Template:Cite web</ref> It would be the only bridge across the Mystic until 1787, and as such became a major route for traffic coming into Boston from the north (though ferries and fords were also used).<ref name="mhs" /> The bridge would be rebuilt in 1880, 1909, and 2018.<ref name="patch" />

Until 1656, all of northern Medford was owned by Cradock, his heirs, or Edward Collins. Medford was governed as a "peculiar" or private plantation. As the land began to be divided among several people from different families, the new owners began to meet and make decisions locally and increasingly independently from the Charlestown town meeting. In 1674, a Board of Selectmen was elected; in 1684, the colonial legislature granted the ability to raise money independently; and in 1689, a representative to the legislature was chosen. The town got its religious meeting room in 1690 and a secular meeting house in 1696.<ref name="mhs">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1692, the town engaged its first ordained preacher, Rev. John Hancock Sr.. During his time of service, Rev. Hancock lived in Medford, serving until November 1693. One of his grandsons was John Hancock, who was a later notable figure of the American Revolutionary War and later elected as first and third governor of Massachusetts.<ref name="mhs" /><ref name=hooper62>Template:Cite book</ref>

18th and 19th centuries

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The land south of the Mystic River, present-day South Medford, was originally known as "Mistick Field". It was transferred from Charlestown to Medford in 1754.<ref>History of the Town of Medford, p. 5</ref> This grant also included the "Charlestown woodlots" (the Medford part of the Middlesex Fells), and part of what was at the time Woburn (now Winchester).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other parts of Medford were transferred from Charlestown in 1811, Winchester in 1850 ("Upper Medford"), and Malden in 1879. Additional land was transferred to Medford from Malden (1817), Everett (1875), and Malden (1877) again.<ref name="History of Middlesex County, p. 158"/><ref name="mhs3">Template:Cite web</ref>

The population of Medford rose from 230 in 1700 to 1,114 in 1800. After 1880, the population rapidly expanded, reaching 18,244 by 1900.<ref>United States census</ref> Farmland was divided into lots and sold to build residential and commercial buildings, starting in the 1840s and 1850s; government services expanded with the population (schools, police, post office) and technological advancement (gas lighting, electricity, telephones, railways).<ref name="mhs3" /> Tufts University was chartered in 1852 and the Crane Theological School at Tufts opened in 1869. In 1865, the Lawrence Rifles volunteer militia company was formed in Medford during the Civil War.

Medford was incorporated as a city in 1892, and was a center of industry, including the manufacture of tiles and crackers,<ref name=cityhistory>Medford city history</ref> bricks,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> rum,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and clipper ships,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> such as the White Swallow and the Kingfisher, both built by Hayden & Cudworth.<ref name = "gleason"> Template:Cite book </ref>

Transportation

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During the 17th century, a handful of major public roads (High Street, Main Street, Salem Street, "the road to Stoneham", and South Street) served the population, but the road network started a long-term expansion in the 18th century.<ref>History of the Town of Medford, "Roads" chapter.</ref> The Medford Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1803 and (as was reasonably common at the time) turned what is now Mystic Avenue over to the city in 1866. The Andover Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1805 and turned what is now Forest Street and Fellsway West over to Medford in 1830.<ref name="mhs3" />

Other major commercial transportation projects included the Middlesex Canal by 1803,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Boston and Lowell Railroad in West Medford in the 1830s, and the Boston and Maine Railroad to Medford Center in 1847.

A horse-powered street railway began running to Somerville and Charlestown in 1860. The street railway network expanded in the hands of various private companies and went electric in the late 1890s when trolleys to Everett and downtown Boston were available.<ref name="mhs3" /> Streetcars were converted to buses in the 20th century. Interstate 93 was constructed between 1956 and 1963.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Spongy moth

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In 1868, a French astronomer and naturalist, Leopold Trouvelot, was attempting to breed a better silkworm using spongy moths. Several moths escaped from his home at 27 Myrtle Street. Within ten years, the insect had denuded the vegetation in the neighborhood. It spread over North America.<ref name = "forbush"> Template:Cite book </ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Holiday songs

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In Simpson's Tavern, a tavern and boarding house on High Street, in the late 19th century, resident James Pierpont is rumored to have written "Jingle Bells" after watching a sleigh race from Medford to Malden. There is also a claim that Pierpont wrote it while he was the music director at Unitarian Universalist Church in Savannah, Georgia. He copyrighted the song while there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=wsav>"Was ‘Jingle Bells’ actually written in Savannah? Local historian discusses popular holiday song’s origins" – WSAV, December 25, 2020</ref>

Another resident, Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880), made a poem out of the trip across town to her grandparents' house, now the song "Over the River and Through the Wood".

Other notables

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File:View of the bridge over mystic river.jpg
1790 bird's-eye view from Bunker Hill of the "Malden Bridge" across the Mystic River, with Medford in the background
File:PompsWall4.jpg
Pomp's Wall and Historical Marker

Paul Revere's famous midnight ride traveled along Main Street and continued onto High Street in Medford Square. An annual re-enactment honors the historic event.

The Peter Tufts House (350 Riverside Ave.) is thought to be the oldest all-brick building in New England. Another important site is the "Slave Wall" on Grove Street, built by "Pomp",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> an enslaved person owned by the prominent Brooks family.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Royall House and Slave Quarters, which once belonged to one of Harvard Law School's founders, Isaac Royall, Jr., is a National Historic Landmark and a local history museum. The house was used by Continental Army troops, including George Washington and John Stark, during the American Revolutionary War.

George Luther Stearns, an American industrialist and one of John Brown's Secret Six. His passion for the abolitionist cause shaped his life, bringing him into contact with the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson and starting The Nation magazine. He was given the rank of major by Massachusetts Governor John Andrew and spent most of the Civil War recruiting for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments and the 5th cavalry.

Medford was home to Fannie Farmer, author of one of the world's most famous cookbooks—as well as James Plimpton, the man credited with the 1863 invention of the first practical four-wheeled roller skate, which set off a roller craze that quickly spread across the United States and Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Amelia Earhart lived in Medford while working as a social worker in 1925.

Elizabeth Short, the victim of an infamous Hollywood murder and who became known as The Black Dahlia, was born in Hyde Park (the southernmost neighborhood of the city of Boston, Massachusetts) but raised in Medford before going to the West Coast looking for fame.

Medford has sent more than its share of athletes to the National Hockey League; Shawn Bates, though born in Melrose, grew up in Medford, as did Keith Tkachuk, Mike Morrison, David Sacco and Joe Sacco. Former Red Sox pitcher Bill Monbouquette grew up in Medford, as did former Major League Baseball infielder Mike Pagliarulo.

Medford was home to Michael Bloomberg, American businessman, philanthropist, and the founder of Bloomberg L.P. He was the Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013. Mayor Bloomberg attended Medford High School and resided in Medford until after he graduated from college at Johns Hopkins University.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His mother remained a resident of Medford until her death in 2011.

The only cryobank of amniotic stem cells in the United States is located in Medford, built by Biocell Center, a biotechnology company led by Giuseppe Simoni.

Notorious crimes

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Medford was the location of some infamous crimes:

  • One of the biggest bank robberies and jewel heists in world history<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> happened on Memorial Day weekend in 1980, when several crooked officers of the Medford Police and Metropolitan District Commission Police forces robbed the Depositors Trust Bank in Medford Square, yielding an estimated $25 million. The book The Cops Are Robbers: A Convicted Cop's True Story of Police Corruption is based upon this event. Salvatore's Restaurant, now known as "The Vault", located at 55 High Street in Medford Square, is partially in the same location as the bank that was robbed. The private dining room in the restaurant uses the bank's vault door as an entrance way, and the hole in the corner of the ceiling that the robbers crawled through was left intact for nostalgia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • An admitted Mob execution by Somerville's Winter Hill Gang of Joe "Indian-Joe" Notarangeli took place on April 19, 1973 at the "Pewter Pot" café in Medford Square, now called the "Lighthouse Cafe."<ref>"Black Mass: The Irish Mob, the Boston FBI and a Devil's Deal, "Dick Lehr (author), Gerard O'Neill (author) 1-891-62040-1 Public Affairs Press</ref>
  • In October 1989, the FBI recorded a Mafia initiation ceremony held by the Patriarca crime family at a home on Guild St. in Medford.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

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Medford is located at Template:Coord (42.419996, −71.107942).<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (5.79%) is water.

A park called the Middlesex Fells Reservation, to the north, lies partly within the city. This Template:Convert preserve is shared by Medford with the municipalities of Winchester, Stoneham, Melrose, and Malden. The Mystic River flows roughly west to southeast through the middle of the city.

Neighborhoods

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People from Medford often identify themselves with a particular neighborhood.

  • West Medford
    • Brooks Estates
  • Fulton Heights/The Heights (North Medford)
  • Wellington (East Medford)
  • Glenwood
  • Lawrence Estates
  • South Medford
  • Medford Hillside

Demographics

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Template:See also Template:Historical populations

Irish Americans have a strong presence in the city and live in all areas. South Medford is a traditionally Italian neighborhood. West Medford, the most affluent of Medford's many neighborhoods, was once the bastion of some of Boston's elite families—including Peter Chardon Brooks, one of the wealthiest men in post-colonial America and father-in-law to Charles Francis Adams—and is also home to a historic African-American neighborhood that dates to the Civil War.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Between 2021 and 2022, the United States Census Bureau ranked Medford as having one of the nation's fastest-growing populations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2010, there were 56,173 people, 22,810 households, and 13,207 families residing in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 24,046 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 78.6% White, 8.80% African American, 0.2% Native American, 6.9% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.8% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.4% of the population.

There were 22,810 households, of which 22.3% had children under 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.1% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.00.

The population was spread out in the city, with 13.8% under the age of 15, 14.3% from 15 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 or older. The median age was 37.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The median income for a household in the city was $52,476, and the median income for a family was $62,409. Males had a median income of $41,704 versus $34,948 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,707. About 4.1% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.7% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

Medford has three Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels. The Public-access television channel is TV3, The Educational-access television is channel 15, and 16 is the Government-access television (GATV) municipal channel.

Education

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Medford is home to many schools, public and private.

Elementary
Public

Template:Main

  • Missituk Elementary School
  • Brooks Elementary School
  • John J. McGlynn Elementary School
  • Milton Fuller Roberts Elementary School
Private (non-sectarian)
  • Eliot-Pearson Children's School (Pre-K–2)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Gentle-Dragon Preschool (Pre-K)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Merry-Go-Round Nursery School (Pre-K)
  • Play Academy Learning Center (Pre-K–K)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Oakland Park Children's Center (Pre-K)
  • Six Acres Nursery School (Pre-K–K) (non-sectarian, but run through Medford Jewish Community Center)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Private (sectarian)
Middle School

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  • John J. McGlynn Middle School
  • Madeline Dugger Andrews Middle School
High School
Public

Template:Main

College
Private
Miscellaneous education
Private

Government

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County government: Middlesex County
Clerk of Courts: Michael A. Sullivan
District attorney: Marian Ryan
Register of Deeds: Richard P. Howe, Jr. (North at Lowell)
Eugene C. Brune (South at Cambridge)
Register of Probate: Tara E. DeCristofaro
County Sheriff: Peter Koutoujian (D)
State government
State Representative(s): Paul Donato (D)
Sean Garballey (D)
Christine Barber (D)
State Senator(s): Patricia D. Jehlen (D, 2nd Middlesex district)
Governor's Councilor(s): Terrence W. Kennedy (D)
Federal government
U.S. Representative(s): Katherine Clark (D-5th District)
U.S. Senators: Elizabeth Warren (D), Ed Markey (D)
Voter registration and party enrollment as of August 24, 2024<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Party Number of voters Percentage
Template:Party color cell Unaffiliated 25,394 55.88%
Template:Party color cell Democratic 15,225 37.88%
Template:Party color cell Republican 2,156 5.30%
Template:Party color cell Libertarian 102 0.25%
Total 43,137 100%

Local government

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City Council Template:Div col

  • Isaac B. "Zac" Bears, President
  • Kit Collins, Vice President
  • Anna Callahan
  • Emily Lazzaro
  • Matt Leming
  • George A. Scarpelli
  • Justin Tseng
Template:Div col end<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

School Committee

Template:Div col

  • Breanna Lungo-Koehn, Chair
  • Jenny R. Graham, Vice Chair
  • Nicole Branley
  • John Intoppa
  • Aaron Olapade
  • Erika Reinfeld
  • Paul Ruseau, Secretary
Template:Div col end

<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Local media and news

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The City of Medford has several local news and media outlets:

Print

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Transportation

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Three MBTA subway stations are located in Medford: Template:Bts on the Orange Line, plus Template:Bts and Template:Bts on the Green Line. The MBTA Commuter Rail Lowell Line stops at Template:Bts. Medford is served by MBTA bus local routes 80, 94, 95, 96, 99, 100, 101, 108, and 134, plus express route 354.

Interstate 93 travels roughly north–south through the city. State routes passing through Medford include 16, 28, 38, and 60.

Points of interest

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Template:Further

File:1852 Middlesex Canal (Massachusetts) map.jpg
1852 map of Boston area showing Medford and rail lines
File:THATCHER MAGOUN (Ship) (c112-02-34).jpg
Clipper ship Thatcher Magoun

Notable people

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See also

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References

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Template:Reflist

Further reading

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Template:EB1911 poster

Template:Middlesex County, Massachusetts Template:Massachusetts Template:Greater Boston Template:Authority control

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