Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,677 at a 2008 estimate.
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Medfield, please see the article Medfield (CDP), Massachusetts.
History
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.
The [[Medfield Meadow Lots as well as Rocky woods, both nature reservations managed by the Trustees of the Reservations and part of the Charles River flood plain is located in Medfield.
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)
- 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
- 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].
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:
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.
- The film The Box was filmed at the hospital in December 2007.
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.[8]
- Zullo Gallery: An art gallery run by a Medfield resident. Displays several pieces of fine art that can be purchased.[9]
- 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.[10]
- 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.[citation needed]
- 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.
Art
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The Pool (1889) by Dennis Miller Bunker, painted in Medfield
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Annual events
- Medfield Day, a community event sponsored by Medfield Employers & Merchants Organization [1], happens on a Saturday each September. The outdoor event features local businesses, merchants, and civic organizations, who rent spaces around Meetinghouse Pond and set up booths for public display. It is considered the social event of the year. [11]
- Fallfest, this annual event is held every year in September and includes fireworks as well as showcasing local bands.
- Lord midnight madness sale. Santa comes and there is a big sale at lords.
Places of worship
- St. Edward the Confessor Parish, 133 Spring Street, Catholic. [12]
- Church of the Advent, 28 Pleasant Street, Episcopal. [13]
- First Baptist Church of Medfield, Main Street, Baptist. [14]
- United Church of Christ in Medfield, 496 Main Street, Protestant. [15]
- First Parish Medfield, 26 North Street, Unitarian Universalist. [16]
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.
- 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.
- 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.[17] 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 Peters 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.
Trivia
- The Dwight-Derby House at 7 Frairy Street is the fifty-first oldest house in the United States.
- There is only one town named Medfield in the entire world.[citation needed] There is a subdivision in Wake County, North Carolina, as well as a section of the city of Baltimore, and a street in Boston & London, all with the name Medfield.[2] In addition, a small village in England named Metfield exists and is actually pronounced exactly the same way. The Church of the Advent in Medfield has a sister church in Metfield, St. John the Baptist.
- An episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was filmed here in 2005. In the show, celebrity Mia Hamm was shown playing soccer at Wheelock Elementary School.Curt Schilling was shown when the show revealed the mock Fenway Park in the family’s backyard.
- Walt Disney used to visit Medfield to visit friend and neighbor, Justin Whitlock Dart. He flew into town on a private plane and landed in Dart's dirt airfield, what is now the Wheelock soccer fields. Several live-action Disney movies of the 1960s and 1970s, including The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, The Monkey's Uncle, and the Kurt Russell-starring films The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Now You See Him, Now You Don't, and The Strongest Man in the World, as well as the 1997 remake Flubber, all take place in and around the fictitious "Medfield College".
- Neo-Nazi scam-artist Davis Wolfgang Hawke may have buried around $500,000 in gold and platinum on his parents' property in Medfield.[3]
- Hunting is not allowed in Medfield.
- Medfield has a very strong Destination ImagiNation program. Many of their teams end up going on to State-level competition, and one team placed 5th at World level. In addition, three teams went to Nationals in 2007. One of the teams scored 22nd. In 2009, the Medfield Community High School team placed second at globals, the highest placing team to date.nd.
- The Medfield High School Varsity football team won the Division 3 state championship in 2006 against Whittier Tech. They had a record of 12-1 that season under Head Coach Mike Slason. This was the team’s first-ever state championship.
- The town installed a new artificial turf field and track next to the newly renovated high school in 2005. The field is called the "Field of Dreams" and was put in through fundraising from the town.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.medfield-memo.org/
- ^ DeSorgher, Richard. "This Old Town." Medfield Hometown Weekly 05 Apr 2007: Page 2.
- ^ AOL Digging For Treasure In Medfield? Family Says It Will Fight Company's Search (WCVB; ABC Ch.5 Boston (August 16, 2006)
External links
