Winchester, Massachusetts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Settled: 1640 – Incorporated: 1850 | |
| Zip Code(s): 01890 – Area Code(s): 339 / 781 | |
| Official website: http://www.winchester.us/ | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
 Location in Massachusetts |
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| Government | |
| County | Middlesex County |
| Form of Government | Representative town meeting |
| Executive office | Town Manager |
| Geography | |
| Area | |
| Total | 6.3 mi² / 16.3 km² |
| Land | 6.0 mi² / 15.6 km² |
| Water | 0.3 mi² / 0.6 km² |
| Coordinates | |
| Elevation | 62 ft / 19 m |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| Population | |
| Total (2000) | 20810 |
| Density | 3446.3/mi² / 1330.6/km² |
Winchester is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the town had a population of 20,810.
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[edit] History
The land on which Winchester now sits was purchased from Native Americans by representatives of the settlement of Charlestown in 1639, and the area was first settled in 1640. In the early years of the settlement, the area was known informally as Waterfield, a reference to its many ponds and to the river which bisected the central village. In its second century the area was referred to as Black Horse Village, after the busy tavern and hostelry in its center. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, present day Winchester comprised parts of Medford, Cambridge, and Woburn. The movement toward incorporation of what by this time was called South Woburn was likely precipitated by the rise of the Whig Party in Massachusetts.* The Whigs sought to split a new jurisdiction away from heavily Democratic Woburn, and found enough supporters in the burgeoning village to organize a movement toward incorporation. Representatives of the planned new town selected the name Winchester in recognition of Colonel William P. Winchester of nearby Watertown, who pledged three thousand dollars toward the construction of the first town hall. Upon the signature of then Governor Briggs, the town of Winchester was officially incorporated on April 30, 1850. Curiously, Colonel Winchester did not live to visit the town which had honored his family name. He succumbed to typhoid fever within months of its incorporation.
The town's early growth paralleled improvements in transportation. Prior to incorporation, the Middlesex Canal, linking the Merrimack River to Boston, was completed through then Waterfield. It flourished from 1803-36, until the Boston and Lowell Railroad completed a line which neatly bisected the town and provided it with two stations. Able to deliver passengers as well as goods, the railroad soon bankrupted the canal and spurred more people to move to the area. The first church was built in 1840, the Post Office followed in 1841, and soon after incorporation town schools were started. Industries small and large followed, including the Beggs and Cobb tannery and the Winn Watch Hand factory which would operate well into the twentieth century.
By the time of the Civil War, to which Winchester lent many citizens, the need for a municipal water supply became apparent. Engineers convinced a skeptical public to fund a dam in the highlands to the east of town. The structure blocked the creek which flowed from the Middlesex Fells and produced the first of three reservoirs which continue to provide clear water today.
In the early twentieth century, growth continued apace as Winchester evolved from its agri-industrial roots into the bedroom community it remains. A rich mix of immigrants ... first the Irish in the northern and eastern neighborhoods, then a smattering of African-Americans who flocked to the New Hope Baptist Church in the highlands, and finally Italians who came to work in the west-side farms and live in the "Plains" to the east ... complemented Winchester's Yankee forbears. The constant in these times of change and up to the present has been the public spirited efforts of all to continue to maintain the innate physical charm of the town.
[edit] Winchester today
Just as its town government of Selectmen and Town Meeting members has remained essentially unchanged for most of its existence, so has Winchester's flavor little departed from the place that a 1970s survey listed as "one of top fifteen suburbs" in the nation**. Since completion of the "new" Winchester High School in 1972, with population growth finally leveling off, town leaders have had more time and funds to devote to maintaining than molding Winchester's character. Opposite the Main Street bypass from the high school sits the successful Jenks Seniors Center. Across Wedge Pond, town-developed housing for seniors continues to flourish. The Kiwanis club hosts its annual fishing derby on the adjacent shores, while the Rotary Club runs its busy auction nearby. The EnKa Society, a continuation of a once-defunct high school society, continues to raise money for the Winchester Hospital and other community groups and activities through its annual street fair and carnival. And every year, as for over a century, thousands of sports fans attend the annual Thanksgiving Day football contest between Winchester High School and its rival town Woburn.
[edit] Public education
Winchester has five elementary schools (Ambrose, Lincoln, Lynch, Muraco, and Vinson-Owen), one middle school (McCall Middle School), and one high school (Winchester High School). Winchester provides a quality educational environment which is reflected in their MCAS scores.
[edit] Transportation
Winchester has two stops on the MBTA Commuter Rail Lowell Line: Wedgemere and Winchester Center. The two stops are in easy walking distance of one another. The latter is much closer to the town center, hence the name. There are bus lines going through Winchester as well that go to adjacent communities such as Medford, Arlington, and Cambridge.
[edit] Town services
There is no municipal trash pickup in Winchester. Residents pay $150 per family annually for the first passenger car sticker permit ($25 for a second car permit) for the right to drop-off their trash at the town "Transfer Station," which is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturday, except Thursdays when it is open from noon to 8 p.m.. The "Transfer Station" is open on Sundays in November only for the purpose of receiving residential leaf rakings which are composted on site. Certain items such as blocks of concrete or asphalt may not be disposed of at the Transfer Station; other items such as televisions, computer monitors, empty propane tanks, air conditioners, and wine coolers are accepted in exchange for an additional $10 per item. The Transfer Station has a "swap shop" that is open on Saturdays only. Residents and resident businesses can recycle cans and designated plastics, glass bottles, paper and cardboard, standard batteries, many large household metal items, and residential car oil. Certain Saturdays are designated as hazardous disposal days where the "dump" accepts items such as smoke detectors, mercury thermometers, and other household hazardous materials. There are also drop-off bins to accept clothing items that are donated to local charities.
The facility is called a "Transfer Station" rather than a "dump" or "public tip" because trash is not disposed of at the site; rather the town pays to have it trucked to an off-site location for incineration or dumping. However, local residents prefer to call it a dump for ease in conversation and to express their real thoughts about the "Transfer Station." It costs the town as much to operate the Transfer Station as it would cost to provide curb-side trash pickup, but the Selectmen decided that the social interaction of citizens at the site outweighed the convenience of a more conventional trash service.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 16.3 km² (6.3 mi²). 15.6 km² (6.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 3.97% water.
The town is formed in the shape of a trapezoid whose long axis runs from southwest to northeast. It is roughly bisected by a central valley which is the remnant of the original course of the Merrimack River. After glacial debris effectively rerouted the Merrimack north to its current location, all that remained of its original course through present day Winchester is the Aberjona River and the several ponds it feeds en route to the Mystic Lakes on Winchester's southern border.
On its eastern third, the valley rises steeply into the wooded hills of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, in which lie the North, Middle, and South Reservoirs. The western edge of the valley yields to Arlington and Lexington heights, and the boundaries with those two towns. To the north, the town's longest border is shared with Woburn.
Winchester has several bodies of water, including the Mystic Lakes, Wedge Pond, Winter Pond, and the Aberjona River.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 20,810 people, 7,715 households, and 5,724 families residing in the town. The population density is 1,330.3/km² (3,446.3/mi²). The town is 93% White, 4.5% Asian, 1% Hispanic or Latino, 0.7% African American, and 1.2% from two or more races.
There are 7,715 households, of which 35.7% have children under the age of 18. 64.1% are married couples living together and 25.8% are non-families.
The median age of residents is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 88.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $94,049, and the median income for a family is $110,226. The per capita income is $50,414. 2.6% of the population and 1.3% of families are below the poverty line.
[edit] Notable people from Winchester
- Joe Bellino, Heisman Trophy winning football player at the United States Naval Academy
- Robert A. Brown, President of Boston University
- Stephen J. Burke, Actor from the film Green
- Ashton Carter, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy
- Allan McLeod Cormack, one of the recipients of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- General John Corse, hero of Southern campaigns in the Civil War
- Edward Everett, President of Harvard University, Governor of Massachusetts, and Ambassador to Britain
- Frank Fontaine, who appeared regularly as Crazy Guggenheim on The Jackie Gleason Show, lived at 407 Highland Avenue, now the site of the Winchester Community Music School.
- Brutus Beefcake, former WWF wrestler, and regular tag team partner of fellow wrestler Hulk Hogan.
- Samuel W. McCall, ten time United States Congressman and three-time Governor of Massachusetts
- Laurence Owen, of the prominent Vinson-Owen skating family; national skating champion whose career was cut short by the plane crash which wiped out the national team in 1961
- Richard R. Schrock, one of the recipients of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Richard Stolzman, Clarinetist.
- John Volpe, three time Governor of Massachusetts, United States Secretary of Transportation, and Ambassador to Italy
- Yo Yo Ma, Cellist.
[edit] Children's Own School & St. Mary's School
The Children's Own School, located in Winchester, is among the earlier surviving Montessori schools in the United States, and the building it occupies, a former farmhouse, is considered locally historic.
It was founded by Dorothy Gove in the 1920s. Ms. Dorothy Gove had been an acquaintance of Maria Montessori, giving her a firsthand opportunity to learn the Montessori concept of learning.
Today the school continues to operate as a private, non-religious Montessori school for children of ages from three to six, with classes of up to twenty-five children apiece.
St. Mary's Parochial School is located on Washington Street. It is affiliated with St. Mary's Parish which opened 131 years ago. The school opened in 1914 and is a thriving school with over 200 students in Grades Pre-K through 5. The school has a brand new computer lab as well as a field located on the property.
The preschool has grown and developed considerably since it began. There are two 3 year-old programs and two 4 year-old programs. They have a hard-working and dedicated Associate Director, Mrs. Lisa Canniff. She has been teaching there for ten years and is wonderful with young children.
[edit] References
United States Census Bureau
[edit] Footnotes
1.History of Winchester, Massachusetts by H.S.Chapman and Bruce W. Stone (1936,1975)
2.Ladies Home Journal, Aug., 1975
[edit] External links
- Rotary Club of Winchester
- The Friends of Winter Pond
- Winchester Highlanders Running Club
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
