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Wellesley, Massachusetts

 
Wikipedia: Wellesley, Massachusetts
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Wellesley, Massachusetts
—  Town  —
Location in Norfolk County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°17′47″N 71°17′35″W / 42.29639°N 71.29306°W / 42.29639; -71.29306
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Norfolk
Settled 1660
Incorporated 1881
Government
 - Type Representative town meeting
 - Executive Director
Area
 - Total 10.5 sq mi (27.2 km2)
 - Land 10.2 sq mi (26.4 km2)
 - Water 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2)
Elevation 141 ft (43 m)
Population (2007)
 - Total 26,985
 - Density 2,645.6/sq mi (1,022.2/km2)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 02481, 02482
Area code(s) 339 / 781
FIPS code 25-74175
GNIS feature ID 0618332
Website http://www.wellesleyma.gov/Pages/index

Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,613 at the 2000 census. It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College. The Hunnewell Arboretum abuts the Wellesley campus, and the Elm Bank Horticulture Center has it's entrance in Wellesley, although it is located across a small private bridge over the Charles River and is therefor in the neighboring town of Dover. The public education services of the town are well regarded, especially Wellesley High School; in 2007 it was ranked 70th best public high school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, earning a Gold Medal.[1]

Contents

History

Wellesley was settled in the 1630s as part of Dedham, Massachusetts. It was subsequently a part of Needham, Massachusetts called West Needham, Massachusetts. Wellesley became independent in 1881.

Historic district

The town designated Cottage Street and its nearby alleys as the historic district in its zoning plan. Most houses in this district were built around the 1860s and qualify as protected buildings certified by the town's historic commission.

Central Street in Wellesley Square, looking west

Wellesley Square

Wellesley Square (aka Wellesley Center) is in the center of the town. Along Washington Street, Central Street and Church Street major chain stores and privately-owned shops have made a home for themselves in the main shopping hub of Wellesley. Church Square is home to the historic department store E.A. Davis and Co. as well as J. McLaughlin, Crossing Main, Cachet, Triangle Shop, and The Gifted Hand. Central Street features more nation-wide chains, as well as restaurants, a book store, and coffee shops such as Starbucks and Peets.

Recent construction

According to the Wellesley Townsman, over 500 houses in Wellesley have been razed to make way for newer dwellings in the last ten years.[citation needed] The town's historic 19th century inn was demolished to make way for condominiums and mixed-use development, and the Wellesley Country Club clubhouse, which is the building where the town was founded, was demolished. The town's pre-World War II high school building is being torn down & replaced, and the entire 1960s-style Linden Street strip-mall has been replaced by "Linden Square" - a shopping district that includes a flagship Roche Brothers supermarket, restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, along with a mixture of national chains and local "mom & pop" shops.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.5 square miles (27.2 km²), of which, 10.2 square miles (26.4 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²) of it (2.96%) is water.

Adjacent towns

Wellesley is located in eastern Massachusetts. It is bordered on the east by Newton, on the north by Weston, on the south by Needham and Dover and on the west by Natick.

Neighborhoods

The town is informally divided into several sections or neighborhoods:

  • Wellesley Square
  • Dana Hall
  • Wellesley Hills (broad area of land covered by the zip code 02481,encompassing several neighborhoods)
  • Wellesley Farms
  • Cliff Estates
  • Country Club
  • Wellesley Lower Falls
  • Northgate, Southgate, Westgate
  • Poet's Corner (aka Longfellow Estates)
  • College Heights
  • Fells
  • The General's area
  • Sheridan Estates
  • Standish Estates

Demographics

The Census Bureau has also defined the town as a census-designated place with an area exactly equivalent to the town.

As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 26,613 people, 8,594 households, and 6,540 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,614.1 people per square mile (1,009.4/km²). There were 8,861 housing units at an average density of 870.4/sq mi (336.1/km²). According to a 2007 Census Bureau estimate[3], the racial makeup of the town was 84.6% White, 10.0% Asian, 2.2% Black, 0.01% Native American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.4% of the population.

There were 8,594 households out of which 39.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.2% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.9% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 13.9% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 77.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.1 males.

In the 2007 estimate, the per capita income in the town was $61,332. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $53,007 for females. The median income for a household was $125,814, and the median income for a family was $155,539. About 2.4% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over[3].

Government

Wellesley Town Hall

The town government has been run by town meeting since the town's founding.

Since Proposition 2½ limited property tax increases to 2.5% per year in 1980, the town has had to ask residents for a number of overrides to maintain funding for certain programs. Although the main 2005 override passed, a simultaneous supplemental override to preserve certain specific programs and services failed by 17 votes. The 2006 override passed with a large majority. Wellesley also receives funding from the state government. Local roads have been repaved several times in the 1990s and 2000s.

Wellesley opened its new Free Library building in 2003, which is part of the Minuteman Library Network. Due to the structure of budget override votes and perhaps the size of the new main branch of the library, the two branch libraries—one in Wellesley Hills, which was purpose-built to be a branch library in the 1920s, another in Wellesley Fells—closed in the summer of 2006. The branch libraries reopened in September, 2008. [1]

Services

Wellesley residents receive all major services from their town government, with the exception of residential trash pick-up.

Municipal light plant

Wellesley is serviced by the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant (WMLP). It is one of only a handful of municipal light plants in the state of Massachusetts.

Recycling and disposal

Residents of Wellesley cart their own refuse to Wellesley’s Recycling and Disposal Facility (RDF), a town-operated multi-use waste recycling site, where items are sorted by type, recyclability and potential reuse. Old books and magazines are available for town residents to take, which have their own shelving section.

The RDF also has a ‘Take it or Leave it’ area where residents leave items they no longer want but that are in good repair. In 2004, the Town had to discontinue the ‘Take it or Leave it’ because of funding cutbacks. However, within six months town residents reinstated it by means of a volunteer system. The section reopened with volunteers on duty at all times to organize the goods and ensure that only usable items were left there.

Politics

Residents of Wellesley have typically voted Democratic. Wellesley is generally a swing community in state level elections.

In 2008 Wellesley voted for Democrat Barack Obama with 65% of the vote to Republican John McCain with 34% of the vote. [4]

Wellesley is located in Norfolk County which is one of the more Republican counties in Massachusetts. [4]

Education

Public schools

Wellesley has a public school system. Wellesley Public Schools are normally among the top scorers for the state's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System testing. The Wellesley Elementary Schools are Fiske, Upham, Sprague, Schofield, Hunnewell, Hardy and Bates. The Middle, and High schools are called Wellesley Middle School, and Wellesley High School, respectively. Wellesley High School is formally known as Gamaliel Bradford High School, but this is barely known & rarely used. The Middle School has recently finished some major renovations of many hallways, the gyms, and many classrooms. The renovated rooms include some of the newer classroom technologies such as the SMARTboard. This is the principal's first year in Wellesley and one of the assistant principal's first year in that capacity.

School sports

Wellesley High School maintains the longest-running football game rivalry in the country with neighboring Needham High School. The two teams meet annually on Thanksgiving. Wellesley currently leads the series with 58 wins, 52 losses, and 9 ties. Wellesley is also home to the half-way point of the Boston Marathon. It is also home to the 2006 MIAA div.2 Lacrosse State Champions, which boasted a season with only one loss, to the perennial powerhouse Duxbury, who is in Div. 1. It is also home to the 2005-2006 MIAA div. 2 Girls Ice Hockey State Champions, who went undefeated with a regular season record of 15-0-3. Also it is home to the 2006 Massachusetts state sailing champions. In 2008, the girls varsity basketball team won the Div 2 State Championship and was considered to be perhaps the best mid size public school team in New England. Also, in 2008 the boys varsity hockey team finished their best season in recent years at 17-3-2 ranked 11th in the state. The boys tennis and golf teams are consistently among the best in Eastern Massachusetts. The Middle School holds the Mini-Marathon that is 2.6 miles long. It occurs a week before the Boston Marathon.

Higher education

In addition to Wellesley College, Wellesley is also home to the main campus of Massachusetts Bay Community College, Babson College, Olin College, Dana Hall School, a preparatory school for girls and Tenacre Country Day School. While independent, Dana Hall was at one time considered a feeder school to Wellesley College. According to Boston Magazine's yearly "Best Places To Live," Wellesley ranks first in the United States in percentage of adults who hold at least one college degree. Over 66% of the households have at least one individual holding an advanced degree beyond a Bachelor's Degree. In 2009, Wellesley ranked #2 in "America's Most Educated Small Towns" according to Forbes.

Transportation

Commuter Rail train at Wellesley Hills

Wellesley has had rail service to Boston since 1833. These days rail service is provided through Wellesley’s participation in the MBTA, which offers a total of 17 weekday Commuter Rail trains inbound towards Boston & outbound towards Framingham & Worcester. Wellesley's stations are (east to west) Wellesley Farms, Wellesley Hills, and Wellesley Square. The Wellesley Farms station is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. MWRTA bus service also runs along Walnut Street, Cedar Street, and Route 9.

The highways US-95/Route 128 and Route 9 run through Wellesley.

For elders and people with disabilities there is a specific MBTA-based service, THE RIDE which offer free or low-cost door-to-door service by appointment.

From nearby Riverside MBTA Station in Newton, commuter express buses run to downtown Boston, Newton Corner and Central Square, Waltham. This is also a station for Greyhound Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines with frequent service to Boston, New York City, and other destinations.

Wellesley’s Council on Aging contracts out a daily low-cost minibus service offering elderly access to several local medical facilities and the Woodland MBTA station. Further afield is the Springwell Senior Medical Escort Program / Busy Bee Transportation Service for rides to medical & non-medical services in the area. There is also a monthly minibus to Natick Collection (formerly Natick Mall).

For Amtrak service the nearest stations are west in Framingham, east in Boston at Back Bay and South Station, and south in Route 128 Station in Westwood.

Those affiliated with Wellesley College can take advantage of their bus services to Cambridge & Needham. Wellesley College & Babson College also both offer discounted Zipcar service.

Also during the weeks before Christmas is the "Holly Trolley", a free seasonal trolley (a modified bus) sponsored by the Wellesley Chamber of Commerce that has two loops through town, bringing shoppers downtown for holiday shopping & home again.

Culture

Religion

The Catholic-organization Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) was founded at St. John the Evangelist in Wellesley in January 2002.[2] It was founded by parishioners who were frustrated and angered by what they perceived as the Archdiocese of Boston's unwillingness or inability to address ongoing sexual abuse scandals. VOTF supports victims and opponents of clergy sexual abuse, and advocates for Church governance reform. The group claims 25,000 registered supporters in 40 U.S. states.[3]

Cuisine

Ming Tsai, chef and host of East Meets West on the Food Network, owns the restaurant Blue Ginger in the Wellesley Square neighborhood.

Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend

Each year the weekend before Memorial Day, The Town of Wellesley sponsors the annual Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend which includes the annual Veterans' Parade and Fireworks. The fireworks display is one of the most elaborate and spectacular shows that is done by local or town government in the United States. It is put on by Atlas Fireworks of Jaffrey, NH who also put on the Jaffrey Festival of Fireworks. On Sunday, May 18, 2008 the Beach Boys performed in a concert on the Wellesley High School athletic fields in front of an estimated 10,000 town residents and fans. The funds for the performance, an estimated 250 thousand dollars, were made as a gift by an anonymous donor and life long fan of the band.

The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra

The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra presents classical, pops, and family concerts at Mass Bay Community College at its Wellesley Campus.

Notable residents

References

  1. ^ U. S. News & World Report (2007 November 29). Gold Medal Schools. Accessed 2007 December 17.
  2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  3. ^ a b http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=06000US2502174175&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=wellesley&_cityTown=wellesley&_state=04000US25&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=
  4. ^ a b http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/election_results/ma_president/

http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/02/educated-small-towns-forbeslife-cx_jd_0105realestate.html

Further reading

External links

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