WINCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS

'Winchester' is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the town had a population of 20,500.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Education

Children's Own School and St. Mary's School

Transportation

Winchester today

Town services

Sister City

Notable residents

Footnotes

External links

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 19th 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 $3,000 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 that 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 20th 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 20th 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.

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.

Demographics

As of the census 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.

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 that is reflected in their MCAS scores.

Children's Own School and St. Mary's School

The Children's Own School, in Winchester, is among the earlier surviving Montessori schools in the United States. The building it occupies, a former farmhouse, is considered locally historic. It was founded by Dorothy Gove in the 1920s. Ms. Gove was an acquaintance of Maria Montessori, giving her a firsthand opportunity to learn the Montessori concept of learning. Today the school operates as a private, non-religious, Montessori school for children of ages three to six, with classes of up to 25 children.
St. Mary's School is a parochial school on Washington Street. It is affiliated with St. Mary's Parish, which opened 131 years ago. The school opened in 1914 and has over 200 students in grades pre-K through 5. The building also serves as the Sunday school for the parish during Sunday services.

Transportation

Winchester has two stops on the MBTA Commuter Rail Lowell Line: Wedgemere and Winchester Center. The 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 to adjacent communities such as Medford, Arlington, and Cambridge. Bus route #134 runs between North Woburn and Wellington Station on the MBTA's Orange Line near Revere/Malden. Bus route #350 runs from the Burlington Mall to Alewife station in Cambridge on the MBTA's Red Line. A commuter express bus runs from Cummings Park in Woburn to Boston during rush hours. Nearby Anderson/Woburn Station off I-93 (Commerce Way exit) has Logan Express shuttle bus service to Boston's Logan Airport every 30 minutes and free shuttle service to Manchester Airport for ticketed passengers every two hours.
The commuter rail from Lowell goes to Boston's North Station where one can connect with the the "T", Boston's subway system.

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. Town-developed housing for seniors continues to flourish across from Wedge Pond (home to Borggaard Beach, a popular swimming spot) which is adjacent to the Packer Tennis Courts. 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 their rival city of Woburn.

Town services

There is no municipal trash pickup in Winchester. For 2007, residents pay $175 per family annually for the first passenger car sticker permit ($30 for a second and third car permit) for the right to drop off their trash at the town transfer station, commonly called "the dump."
The facility is a "Transfer Station" rather than a "dump" because trash is not disposed of at the site; rather the town pays to have it trucked off-site for incineration or dumping. However, 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 dump 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.
This facility, located off Swanton street on McKay Avenue in North Winchester, 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. It is open on Sundays in November only for the purpose of receiving residential yard waste (leaves) 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 transfer station 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 site started as a primitive landfill in the 1940s and '50s. "Going to the dump" was a Saturday ritual for many families that dated back to when it was a real 'dump' or landfill.
In the 1960s, a gas-fired incinerator was built on one side of the property. The remainder of the property was used for non-combustible waste such as appliances and metal.
The incinerator was forced to shut down in the 1970s because there were environmental concerns about the untreated smoke from the incinerator's furnace. With the closure of the incinerator, the site was converted to the transfer station that it is now.
"Going to the dump" has been a tradition in Winchester for many years. Much social interaction takes place at the facility. It was a place to catch up on news and gossip about events happening in Winchester. Local political candidates made their appearances at "the dump" on Saturdays, pressing the flesh and handing out literature.
Other town services include the Winchester Board of Health, the Town Clerk, the Post Office, Water & Sewer Emergencies, the Public Works Department and, of course, full-time paid police and fire departments.

Sister City

Winchester is the sister city of 'St. Germain-en-Laye', France. St Germain's town square is centered around a beautiful chateau that is now a museum. While Winchester does not have a chateau, its town center does have a Starbucks and a KaBloom.

Notable residents

★ Joe Bellino, Heisman Trophy winning football player at the United States Naval Academy

★ Bob Bigelow, Retired NBA basketball player

★ 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 M. Corse, hero of Southern campaigns in the Civil War

★ Edward Everett, President of Harvard University, Governor of Massachusetts, and Ambassador to Britain

★ Brutus Beefcake, former WWF wrestler, and regular tag team partner of fellow wrestler Hulk Hogan.

★ Yo Yo Ma, Cellist.

★ Samuel W. McCall, ten time United States Congressman and three-time Governor of Massachusetts

★ Cam Neely, retired NHL player

★ 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

★ Jay Pandolfo, NHL player

★ Richard R. Schrock, one of the recipients of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

★ Whitney Smith, director of the Flag Research Center.

★ Mike Pagliarulo, ex-pro baseball player for the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees.

★ Claude Shannon, engineer and information theorist

★ Richard Stolzman, clarinetist

★ John Volpe, three time Governor of Massachusetts, United States Secretary of Transportation, and Ambassador to Italy

★ Brad Whitford of Aerosmith.

★ Harry Sinden, former GM and coach of the Boston Bruins.

★ Glen Murray, NHL Player for Boston Bruins

★ Alicia Sacramone 5 time Gymnastics World Championships medalist.

Footnotes

1.''History of Winchester, Massachusetts'' by H.S.Chapman and Bruce W. Stone (1936,1975)

2.''Ladies Home Journal'', Aug., 1975

External links

★ Winchester official site

★ Rotary Club of Winchester

★ Children's Own School of Winchester

★ The Friends of Winter Pond

★ Winchester Highlanders Running Club