Waltham, Massachusetts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham on the banks of the Charles River
Waltham on the banks of the Charles River
Nickname(s): The Watch City
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°22′35″N 71°14′10″W / 42.37639°N 71.23611°W / 42.37639; -71.23611
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Middlesex
Settled 1634
Incorporated 1738
Government
 - Type Mayor-council city
 - Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy
Area
 - Total 13.6 sq mi (35.2 km2)
 - Land 12.7 sq mi (32.9 km2)
 - Water 0.9 sq mi (2.4 km2)
Elevation 50 ft (15 m)
Population (2007)
 - Total 59,758
 - Density 4,705.4/sq mi (1,816.4/km2)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 02451-02454
Area code(s) 339 / 781
FIPS code 25-72600
GNIS feature ID 0612400
Website http://www.city.waltham.ma.us/

Billed by the Chamber of Commerce as the "birthplace of the American industrial revolution", and an early center for the labor movement, Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for the 19th century industrial city planning. The city is now a center for research and higher education. The population was 59,226 at the census in 2000. The name Waltham means 'home in the woods'.

Waltham is commonly referred to as Watch City because of its association with the watch industry. Waltham Watch Company opened its factory in Waltham in 1854 and was the first company to make watches on an assembly line. It won the gold medal in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. The company produced over 40 million watches, clocks and instruments before it closed in 1957.

Contents

[edit] Pronunciation

The name of the city is pronounced with the primary stress on the first syllable and a full vowel in the second syllable, /ˈwɔːlθæm/ "wall-tham", though the name of the Waltham watch was pronounced with a reduced schwa in the second syllable: /ˈwɔːlθəm/.

[edit] History

Waltham was first settled in 1634 as part of Watertown and was officially incorporated as a separate town in 1738.

In the early 19th century, Francis Cabot Lowell and his friends and colleagues established in Waltham the Boston Manufacturing Company - the first integrated textile mill in the United States.

The city is home to a number of large estates, including Gore Place, a mansion built in 1806 for former Massachusetts governor Christopher Gore; the Robert Treat Paine Estate, a residence designed by architect Henry Hobson Richardson and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted for philanthropist Robert Treat Paine, Jr. (1810-1905); and the Lyman Estate, a 400-acre (1.6 km2) estate built in 1793 by Boston merchant Theodore Lyman.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Waltham was home to the brass era automobile manufacturer Metz, where the first production motorcycle in the U.S. was built.

[edit] National Register of Historic Places

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Geography

Waltham is located at 42°22′50″N 71°14′6″W / 42.38056°N 71.235°W / 42.38056; -71.235 (42.380596, -71.235005),[1] about 10 miles (16.09 km) north-west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, and approximately 3 miles north-west of Boston's Brighton neighborhood.

The city stretches along the Charles River and contains several dams. The dams were used to power textile mills and other endeavors in the early years of the industrial activity.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.6 square miles (35.2 km²), of which 12.7 square miles (32.9 km²) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.4 km²) (6.69%) is water.

[edit] Neighborhoods

Waltham has several neighborhoods or villages, including:[2]

  • Angleside
  • Banks Square
  • The Bleachery
  • Cedarwood
  • The Chemistry
  • The Highlands
  • The Island (formerly Morse Meadow Island)
  • Kendal Green (mostly in Weston)
  • Lakeview
  • The Lanes
  • Northeast
  • Piety Corner
  • Pigeon Hill
  • Prospectville (defunct in 1894, now under Cambridge Reservoir)
  • Ravenswood
  • Robert's
  • Rock Alley
  • Southside
  • Warrendale

[edit] Adjacent towns

It is bordered to the west by Weston and Lincoln, to the south by Newton, to the east by Belmont and Watertown, and to the north by Lexington.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[3] in 2000, there were 59,226 people, 23,207 households, and 12,462 families in the city. The population density was 4,663.4/mile² (1,800.6/km²). There were 23,880 housing units at an average density of 1,880.3/sq mi (726.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.98% White, 4.41% African American, 0.16% Native American, 7.29% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 3.20% from other races, and 1.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.49% of the population. Guatemalans have recently surpassed Puerto Ricans as the dominant Latino population. Guatemalan businesses and establishments have sprung up in Moody Street and other parts of the city.

There were 23,207 households, of which 20.3% included those under the age of 18, 41.3% were married couples living together, 8.9% were headed by a single mother, and 46.3% were non-families. 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 3.01.

The age distribution is as follows: 15.5% under 18, 16.8% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% 65 or older. The median age was 34. For every 100 females, there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 95.6 males.

The median income for a household was $54,010, and the median income for a family was $64,595. These figures increased to $60,434 and $79,877, respectively, according to an estimate in 2007.[4] Males had a median income of $42,324, as opposed to $33,931 for females. The per capita income was $26,364. 7% of the population and 3.6% of families lived below the poverty line. 4.8% of those under 18 and 8.4% of those 65 and older lived below the poverty line.

[edit] Government

This section requires expansion.

Waltham is governed by a mayor and a city council. The current mayor is Jeanette A. McCarthy. There are 15 members of the city council, each elected to two-year terms in non-partisan elections. The current president of the city council is Thomas J. Curtin.

The city is in Massachusetts's 7th congressional district and is currently represented in the United States House of Representatives by Edward J. Markey.

[edit] Education

[edit] Public schools

The Waltham public school system includes six elementary schools (Northeast, Fitzgerald, MacArthur, Plympton, Whittemore, Stanley), two middle schools (McDevitt, Kennedy), and one senior high school (Waltham High School).[1]

Waltham High School's sports teams had been referred to as the Watchmen and the Crimson, before they changed the name to the Hawks.

[edit] Private schools

[edit] Higher education

Waltham is home to:

[edit] Transportation

This section requires expansion.

Waltham is close to several U.S. interstate highways. Interstate 95, which is also Route 128, runs through the western part of the city. Exits in Waltham are 26, 27, and 28. Interstate 90, which is also the Massachusetts Turnpike, is just to the south in Newton, Massachusetts. Due to its proximity to the center of the Cambridge-Boston-Quincy metropolitan area, a number of state highways are within a few miles.

The MBTA commuter rail has two stops in Waltham as part of the Fitchburg-Boston Line: one in Central Square Waltham across from the City Hall and one near Brandeis University.

MBTA bus service also covers the city, including routes 70, 70A, 170, 505, 553, 554, and 556.

[edit] Media

This section requires expansion.

Waltham is home to a daily newspaper, the Daily News Tribune. WCAC-TV provides local-interest television programming. Waltham news sometimes appears in the Boston Globe's GlobeWest section, as well.

[edit] Culture

Waltham Supermarket on Main Street, established in 1936, was a large historic grocery store that closed in the 1990s. However, the building continues to be a supermarket, occupied by Shaw's, then Victory, and now Hannaford.

Moody Street in downtown Waltham offers its own brand of entertainment with a colorful assortment of shops, restaurants, and bars, including the Watch City Brewing Co., The Skellig, Jake's Dixie Roadhouse, The Lincoln (L), Gourmet Pottery, and the Embassy Cinema. Moody Street's booming nightlife, convenience to the commuter rail and lower rents have attracted younger professionals to Waltham in growing numbers in recent years. Moody Street is also referred to as "Restaurant Row" because of the number, variety and quality of its restaurants.

For over 25 years, the Waltham Arts Council has sponsored "Concerts On Waltham Common", featuring a different musical act each week of the summer, free of charge to attendees. "Concerts On Waltham Common" was created and organized by Stephen Kilgore until his death in 2004.

Waltham's cultural life is enriched by the presence of two major universities and a number of arts organizations throughout the city.

The Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra, a civic symphony of the MetroWest area, began in 1985 under the direction of local musicians David J. Tierney and Harold W. McSwain, Jr. With almost 60 professional, semi-professional, and amateur musicians, the orchestra's mission is to provide the Waltham community with the opportunity to perform in and attend classical concerts of the highest quality. WPO musicians come from Waltham as well as from Boston and surrounding communities. The ensemble includes players of a wide range of ages and professions.

There are five to six concerts throughout the season, including one that features the winner of the annual Youth Concerto Competition, which provides opportunities for young musicians to perform solo works with the WPO. Annual concerts have included summer Concerts on the Common and the December Holiday Pops.

Waltham is home to the Waltham Symphony Orchestra, a high-level semi-professional civic orchestra. The 55 piece orchestra performs five concerts each season at the Kennedy Middle-school Auditorium. Its music director is French-born American conductor, Patrick Botti.

Open space in the city is protected by the Waltham Land Trust.

[edit] Business Community

Waltham is about 3 miles from the city limits of Boston, but maintains a distinctly different flavor. A number of high-tech companies have taken advantage of the lower cost of real estate to set up office in the ring of office parks that dot the highway exits in Waltham. Among the large high-tech companies with offices in Waltham are Microsoft, Oracle and Hitachi. Waltham is headquarters to Lycos, four Fortune 500 companies (Raytheon, Global Partners, PerkinElmer and ThermoFisher Scientific), and numerous privately held companies, such as Harvey Building Products, Extech Instruments, Black Duck Software, and V.i. Labs. Business class hotels and restaurants have sprung up to serve the needs of this community.

Waltham is home to the Sports Authority Training Center, which houses a training facility and office of the Boston Celtics.

[edit] Points of interest

See also: List of Registered Historic Places in Waltham, Massachusetts

[edit] Notable residents

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  2. ^ http://www.waltham-community.org/neighborhoods.html
  3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  4. ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=16000US2539835&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US25%7C16000US2539835&_street=&_county=waltham&_cityTown=waltham&_state=04000US25&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=

[edit] Further reading

 This article is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (July 2007)

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Municipalities and communities of
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Cities
Towns
CDPs
Other
villages
Flag of Massachusetts
v • d • e

 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Boston (capital)
Topics
Regions
Counties
Cities
(See All
Municipalities)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltham,_Massachusetts"
Personal tools