Medfield, Massachusetts

Medfield, Massachusetts
Town
Medfield center in summer
Location in Norfolk County in Massachusetts
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Norfolk
Settled	1649
Incorporated	1651
Government
• Type	Open town meeting
Area
• Total	14.6 sq mi (37.8 km2)
• Land	14.5 sq mi (37.6 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	178 ft (54 m)
Population  (2007)
• Total	11,288
• Density	845.9/sq mi (326.2/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (Eastern)
ZIP code	02052
Area code	508 / 774
FIPS code	25-39765
GNIS feature ID	0618323
Website	http://www.town.medfield.net/

Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,288 at a 2008 estimate.

For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Medfield, please see the article Medfield (CDP), Massachusetts.

History

The Pool, Medfield, 1889. by Dennis Miller Bunker, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Medfield (New Dedham) was first settled in 1649 and was officially incorporated in 1651 as the 43rd town in Massachusetts. The settlers were thirteen families who relocated from Dedham. The Rev. Ralph Wheelock is credited with the founding of Medfield, was the first town school master and now has the 2nd&3rd grade elementary school named after him. The town's boundaries originally extended into present-day Medway and Millis.

Half the town (32 houses, two mills, and many barns) was destroyed by Native Americans during King Philip's War in 1675. One house, known as the Peak House, was burnt in the war but was rebuilt shortly there-after near downtown Medfield.The Dwight-Derby house downtown Medfield survived the war and has since been purchased by the town's historical society. Renovation is ongoing.

It was also the home to a large hat factory in the late 1800s

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 37.8 km² (14.6 sq mi). 14.5 square miles (37.6 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.62%) is water. The Charles River borders almost a third of Medfield. Medfield is surrounded by the towns Dover, Norfolk, Walpole, Westwood, Millis, and Sherborn.

Demographics

See 2000 Census Data at: http://www.mass.gov/mgis/massgis.htm

Population/Housing

• 13,677 people, 5,284 households, and 5,462 families

• Population density = 326.6 people/km² (845.8 people/sq mi)

• 5,048 housing units

Race	Population (%)
White	96.78
Black or African American	0.51
Native American	0.04
Asian	1.76
Pacific Islander	0.01
Other	0.23
Two or more races	0.68

Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.90% of the population.

• Of the 5,284 households, 50.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.8% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.3% were non-families. 15.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older

• Average household size = 3.02
• Average family size = 3.41

---

Age Distribution

• 33.6% under the age of 18
• 3.5% from 18 to 24
• 28.4% from 25 to 44
• 25.2% from 45 to 64
• 9.3% who were 65 or older
• The median age was 38 years.
• For every 100 females there were 96.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.

---

Income Data

• Per capita income = $42,891

• Median household income = $97,748

• Median family income = $110,926

• Median male income = $80,699

• Median female income = $44,500

• About 0.8% of families and 1.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.1% of those under age 18 and 1.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Medfield has a public School system that continually ranks among the top ten school systems in Massachusetts by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS)[1].

In 2005, Medfield High School and T.A. Blake Middle School switched buildings as a result of a massive construction project updating the current Medfield High School (formally T.A. Blake Middle School).

Public Schools:

• Memorial School, 59 Adams Street (grades K-1)[2]
• Wheelock School, 17 Elm Street (grades 2-3)[3]
• Dale Street School, 45 Adams Street (grades 4-5)[4]
• Thomas A. Blake Middle School, 24 Pound Street (grades 6-8)[5]
• Medfield High School (aka Amos Clark Kingsbury High School), 88R South Street (grades 9-12)[6]

Private Schools:

• The Montrose School, a Catholic girls' prep. school [7]

Events

• Every year in September, there is "Medfield Day"
• Every year on the first Friday of December, there is the annual tree lighting
• Every year on the first Saturday of December, there is the annual Winter parade in Medfield

Medfield State Hospital

Medfield State Hospital, located at 45 Hospital Road, opened in 1896 and originally operated on 685 pastoral acres. At its peak in 1952, it housed 1,500 patients. By 2001, it was down to about 300 acres (1.2 km²) and employed 450 people (including four psychologists) to care for a maximum of 147 patients. The cost to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was $21.5 million. On April 3, 2003, the doors were closed

• The film Shutter Island started prepping February 2008 and started filming at Medfield State Hospital in March 2008 [8].
• The film The Box was filmed at the hospital in December 2007 [9].

Points of interest

• Rocky Woods is a 491-acre (1.99 km²) reservation in the northeast part of town. The property has 6.5 miles (10.5 km) of nature trails for hiking or biking, a few ponds for fishing, and open space for picnics and barbecues.[10]
• Zullo Gallery: An art gallery run by a Medfield resident. Displays several pieces of fine art that can be purchased.[11]

• Noon Hill is the highest point in Medfield at 370 feet (110 m) with a trail to its peak. There are a total of 4.5 miles (7.2 km) of trails around the hill and offer views of the hills of Walpole, Norfolk, and Gilette Stadium.[12]

• Peak House. Burnt during the Native-American attack on the town during the King Philip War in 1676, the Peak House was re-built in 1680. It was turned over to the Medfield Historical Society in 1924 and restored to its original Colonial look. It is open every Sunday from 2 PM- 5 PM from June to September and by appointment at other times. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and the steep roof has the highest pitch on record in Massachusetts for a 17th century house.

• Medfield Historical Society on Pleasant Street. The Society museum contains historic artifacts and documents. The Society also owns the Peak House.

• The Dwight Derby House: Constructed in 1651, it is one of the ten oldest homes in the United States according to the National Register of Historic Places. Like the Peak House, it survived the King Philip's War raids by Native Americans. Numerous additions have been made to the home over the years as the property changed owners. Is the fifty first oldest home in America.

• Hinkley Pond, named after Vietnam fatality Stephen Hinkley, a native of Medfield, located on Green Street, is a site for public swimming and has a playground and sand area. Swimming lessons are taught on site.

• Lowell Mason Museum and Music Center. Birthplace of Lowell Mason and a rare example of First Period American architecture and construction. Portions of the house date to 1651. A community effort saved the home from demolition and relocated it to Hinkley Pond in 2010. The Lowell Mason Foundation maintains the house, which will house the Lowell Mason Museum, community space, and a music center.

Notable residents

• Hannah Adams (1755–1831), Medfield native and Christian author; the first female professional writer in America.
• George Inness (1825–1894), artist, some of whose paintings are of Medfield in the Nineteenth century. A street in town, near the vantage of one of his paintings, bears his last name.
• Donald E. Booth, American Diplomat and the current US Ambassador to Ethiopia.
• Lowell Mason (1792–1872), a composer of hymns and pioneer of music education in American public schools. A street in town bears his name.
• Charles Martin Loeffler (1861–1935), a German-born American composer. A street in town off South st. on the development of Southern Acres bears his last name.
• John Preston (1945-1994), author of gay erotica and editor of gay non-fiction anthologies.
• Curt Schilling, of the Boston Red Sox. His family lives on Woodridge Road in a 26-acre (110,000 m²) estate formerly occupied by another athlete, Drew Bledsoe. Schilling bought the home in 2003 for $4,500,000.[13] In 2008 a baseball field, behind the Middle School was dedicated "Schilling Field". The event was complete with a softball game between Red Sox wives and the Medfield High School softball team. Several Red Sox players were in attendance to watch the game.
• Peter McNeeley, boxer. In 1995, Peter McNeeley fought former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson after Tyson's release from prison. The fight lasted a mere 83 seconds. T.K.O.
• Tom McNeeley, boxer who has been KO'd by Sugar Ray Robinson in the first round of their fight years before his son Peter's fight with Mike Tyson.
• Pete Carroll, coach of USC and former coach of the New England Patriots also lived in Medfield. He donated money to keep the high school weight room open all season long during the summer for the football players. Carroll also help start the Middle School football program by getting a $30,000 grant from the NFL. He also volunteered to be a referee when the hired one failed to appear.
• Drew Bledsoe, retired NFL quarterback, formerly quarterback of the New England Patriots, resided in Medfield when he was the quarterback of the Patriots. He bought the entire Medfield football team cleats before he moved out of Medfield. His house was later purchased by Curt Schilling when he came to play for the Boston Red Sox.
• John Hannah, former New England Patriots guard and Hall of Famer.
• Raymond Berry - Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver for the Baltimore Colts, former head coach of the New England Patriots
• Rich Gotham - president of the Boston Celtics
• Ted Johnson - Former linebacker of the New England Patriots lived in Medfield. Ted played for the patriots from 1995–2004
• Rick Lyle - Former defensive end for the New England Patriots lived in Medfield. Rick played for the patriots from 2002-2003.

External links

• Medfield.TV
• Town of Medfield
• Medfield Schools
• The Medfield Press-- Medfield's paper since 1922
• Medfield Weather - current conditions and forecast