South Medford is the southern neighborhood of Medford, Massachusetts.
South Medford is the southern neighborhood of Medford, Massachusetts.
Medford was founded in 1630 by English settlers as part of Charlestown. The area remained predominantly rural and mostly White Anglo-Saxon Protestant ("WASP") in character for over two hundred years, during which the South Medford Baptist church and other institutions were founded. [1]
Paul Revere's famous midnight ride traveled along Main Street in South Medford, continuing onto High Street in Medford Square. An annual re-enactment takes place honoring the historic event.
The Isaac Royall House, located on Main Street, once belonged to one of Harvard Law School's founders, Isaac Royall, Jr. It is a National Historic Landmark and local history museum. The house was used by Continental Army troops, including George Washington and John Stark, during the American Revolutionary War.
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. The Medford Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1803, but turned what is now Mystic Avenue over to the city in 1866. The Andover Turnpike Company was incorporated in 1805, but turned what is now Forest Street and Fellsway West over to Medford in 1830.
Other major commercial transportation projects included the Middlesex Canal by 1803, the Boston and Lowell Railroad in West Medford in the 1830s, and the Boston and Maine Railroad to Medford Center in 1847.
The historic Stearns House was built in 1845 in the village, near a canal that closed in 1852. [2] George Luther Stearns was 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 Albion Andrew and spent most of the Civil War recruiting for the 54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments and the 5th cavalry.
South Medford is home to Tufts University, which was chartered in 1852. The Crane Theological School at Tufts opened in 1869. A horse-powered street railway began running to Somerville and Charlestown in 1860. In 1890, Medford was described as "an ancient and charming suburban town" with its own railway line, the Medford branch, although South Medford was then so rural as not to rate either its own rail station or its own post office. [3] 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. Streetcars were converted to buses in the 20th century. Interstate 93 was constructed between 1956 and 1963.
South Medford is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, approximately 2 miles from Boston. The area that is now known as "South Medford" was originally known as "Mistick Field". It was transferred from Charlestown to Medford in 1754. [2]
The neighborhood of South Medford has an area of 2.344 square miles (6.07 km2), and a population of 22,132, making its population density 9,442 people per square mile, which is denser than Medford generally. [4] The range of house values is between $400,000 and $700,000. [4] Three-quarters of residents are of the "white" race. [4]
South Medford is closer to Downtown Boston than most of Boston. Its southern borders stretch to Winter Hill, Somerville, Massachusetts, and its northern and eastern borders lie on the banks of the Mystic River along historic Medford Square. It borders the Medford Hillside neighborhood to the west. The Prudential Tower can be seen in the background looking south from Main Street. Charlestown, Boston is 1.6 miles (3.29 km) away from its southernmost border.
In the early parts of the 20th century, large waves of Italian and Irish immigrants began to settle into the areas just outside the center of Boston. South Medford soon became an enclave for Italian-Americans who brought with them the rich cultural heritage of "the old country" which they had previously bestowed so deeply upon Boston's North End neighborhood.
Since this wave of emigration the neighborhood has traditionally been largely Italian-American, with a sizable Irish-American population present as well. The community is known for its supposed tight knit nature. Residents apparently can still be heard speaking Italian in South Medford, as well as remnants from the rich Italian-American past such as a bocce court at the South Medford Fire Station. South Medford has more Italian bakeries than the North End of Boston. Frank Sinatra used to frequent DePasquale's (now Bocceli's) in South Medford, along with "Crazy Guggenheim" Frank Fontaine, and Rocky Marciano.
As with its neighboring city of Somerville, Massachusetts, South Medford is experiencing a wave of Yuppie gentrification common in commuter friendly urban neighborhoods. [5] [6]
South Medford is home to several urban parks, including:
Medford is a city 6.7 miles (10.8 km) northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Medford and Somerville border.
Somerville is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area of 4.12 square miles (10.7 km2), the city has a density of 19,671/sq mi (7,595/km2), making it the most densely populated municipality in New England and the 16th most densely populated incorporated municipality in the country. Somerville was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from Charlestown. In 2006, the city was named the best-run city in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe. In 1972, 2009, and 2015, the city received the All-America City Award. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Somerville and Medford border.
Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett tribe, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston, and also adjoins the Mystic River and Boston Harbor waterways. Charlestown was laid out in 1629 by engineer Thomas Graves, one of its earliest settlers, during the reign of Charles I of England. It was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Stoneham is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, nine miles (14.5 km) north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offer convenient access to Boston and the North Shore coastal region and beaches of Massachusetts. The town is the birthplace of the Olympic figure-skating medalist Nancy Kerrigan and is the location of the Stone Zoo.
Union Square is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of Somerville, Massachusetts. It is centered on Union Square proper, which is located at the intersection of Washington Street, Webster Avenue, and Somerville Avenue.
Magoun Square is a neighborhood centered on the intersection of Broadway and Medford Streets on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It is located between the neighborhoods of Ball Square and Winter Hill. It is a mixed-use urban business district, with commercial sites in the square and residential areas surrounding it. Trum Field, a park featuring baseball diamonds and basketball courts, is near Magoun Square, as are the headquarters of the Somerville Department of Public Works. Notable residents include playwright John Shea.
Teele Square is at the intersection of Broadway, Holland Street, and Curtis Street in Somerville, Massachusetts, a half-mile from Davis Square and the Davis Square stop on the MBTA Red Line, as well as a half-mile from Alewife Brook Parkway and Powder House Square. The square sits on Clarendon Hill, one of the seven hills of Somerville. The square is named after Jonathan W. Teele, who resided in an early portion of Charlestown that eventually became Somerville in 1842.
Winter Hill is a neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts. It gets its name from the 120-foot hill that occupies its landscape, the name of which dates back to the 18th century. Winter Hill is located roughly north of Medford Street, west of McGrath Highway, and east of Magoun Square.
East Cambridge is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Referred to in modern times as Area 1, East Cambridge is bounded by the Charles River and the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston on the east, the Somerville border on the north, Broadway and Main Street on the south, and the railroad tracks on the west. Most of the streets form a grid aligned with Cambridge Street, which was laid out to directly connect what is now the Charles River Dam Bridge with what in 1809 was the heart of Cambridge, Harvard Square. The northern part of the grid is a roughly six by eight block residential area. Cambridge Street itself is retail commercial, along with Monsignor O'Brien Highway, the Twin Cities Plaza strip mall, and the enclosed Cambridgeside Galleria. Lechmere Square is the transportation hub for the northern side. The southern half of the grid is largely office and laboratory space for hundreds of dot-com companies, research labs and startups associated with MIT, biotechnology firms including Genzyme, Biogen and Moderna, the Athenaeum Press Building, light industry, an NRG Energy power station, and various small businesses. This half of the neighborhood is generally identified with Kendall Square. Along the waterfront are several hotels and taller apartment buildings.
Assembly Square is a neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts. It is located along the west bank of the Mystic River, bordered by Ten Hills and Massachusetts Route 28 to the north and the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston to the south. The district's western border runs along Interstate 93. Located 2.5 mi (4.0 km) from downtown Boston, the 143 acres (580,000 m2) parcel is named for a former Ford Motor Company plant that closed in 1958.
Powder House Square is a neighborhood and landmark rotary in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. It is also known locally as Powder House Circle. It is the 6-way intersection of College Avenue, Broadway, Warner Street, and Powder House Boulevard. Powder House Square stands at the southern tip of Tufts University's main Somerville/Medford campus, and borders the northern edge of Nathan Tufts Park. The square takes its name from the 18th century Powder House which overlooks the rotary from Nathan Tufts Park.
The Peter and Oliver Tufts House is a historic house in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built about 1714, it is one of the oldest houses in the city's Winter Hill neighborhood, and was owned in the 19th century by members of the Tufts family responsible for developing the city's brickyards. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Ten Hills is a neighborhood in the northeastern part of the city of Somerville, Massachusetts. The area is roughly wedge-shaped, about 50 acres (200,000 m2) in size, and is bounded by the Mystic River to the north, McGrath Highway to the east, and is largely separated from the rest of Somerville by Interstate 93 to the southwest. Ten Hills is next to Assembly Square in the east, and Winter Hill in the southwest. The neighborhood landscape is predominated by a single hill, the peak of which is roughly at the intersection of Temple and Putnam Roads. The Ten Hills neighborhood is located in Ward 4, Precinct 1 of the City of Somerville, which is in the 34th district of Middlesex County.
The Green Line Extension (GLX) was a construction project to extend the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line light rail system northwest into Somerville and Medford, two inner suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. The project opened in two phases in 2022 at a total cost of $2.28 billion. Total ridership on the 4.3-mile (6.9 km) extension is estimated to reach 45,000 one-way trips per day in 2030.
Sullivan Square is a traffic circle located at the north end of the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after James Sullivan, an early 19th-century Governor of Massachusetts. Sullivan Square station on the MBTA Orange Line is located just west of the square.
Medford High School is a public high school located in the western edge of the Lawrence Estates section of Medford, Massachusetts on the southwest border of the Middlesex Fells Reservation. Students in the City of Medford may also attend the Medford Vocational-Technical High School on the same site, or the Curtis/Tufts alternative high school in South Medford.
Medford/Tufts station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located off Boston Avenue near College Avenue in Medford, Massachusetts, adjacent to Tufts University. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is the northern terminus of the E branch.
East Somerville station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located in southeastern Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
The following is a timeline of the history of Somerville, Massachusetts, USA.
East Somerville is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the city of Somerville, Massachusetts. The community stretches east along Broadway from Massachusetts Route 28 to Sullivan Square and Interstate 93 on the city line with the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown.
Coordinates: 42°24′7.6″N71°6′29.2″W / 42.402111°N 71.108111°W