Medway Town

Norfolk County, Massachusetts

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Medway Town Hall is located at 155 Village Street, Medway, MA 02053.
Phone: 508‑533‑3200.

The history of Medway [1] is one of growth, transition, and adaptation to the changing economic times. Medway began as an agricultural community and transitioned to cottage and light industry as these endeavors yielded more opportunity for prosperity. These in turn were supplanted with larger mills and factories, which drove a housing boom and the establishment of village centers around the mills. As times changed, the mills and their goods were no longer in demand, and many shuttered their doors and either fell into disrepair or destroyed by fires. Some of the mills have been repurposed to either provide housing (Sanford Mill) or support a variety of smaller commercial endeavors (The Stone Mill). Medway evolved into a "bedroom community," whereby many residents commute to surrounding cities and towns for work. Change is as they say, inevitable, so having a plan and vision in place to address change and opportunity is crucial in order to gracefully adapt to the changing times.

Neighborhoods

Medway as described in 1937 [2]

Medway was settled in 1657 and incorporated in 1713. It is a quiet manufacturing center on the north bank of the Charles River, surrounded by meadowlands and wooded hills. The town lands were set off in 1713, but their seclusion from the rest of the Commonwealth is revealed by Medway's reluctance to send representatives to the General Court for 13 years. In 1763, however, the first known census in Massachusetts was taken here, and during the Revolutionary War the town took an active part in boycotting British goods. Shoe, needle, and textile factories remain of a long list of plants formerly including straw bonnet-making, carpet-weaving, organ-building, and an important bell foundry, one of the oldest in the United States.

  1. Medway Master Plan, 2009, www.townofmedway.org, accessed September, 2022.
  2. Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for Massachusetts, Massachusetts: A Guide to Its Places and People, American Guide Series, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1937.

Nearby Towns: Franklin Town • Holliston Town • Norfolk Town • Sherborn Town • Wrentham Town •


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