Norwood, Massachusetts | |
|---|---|
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 Seal | |
 Location in Norfolk County in Massachusetts | |
| Coordinates:42°11′40″N71°12′0″W / 42.19444°N 71.20000°W /42.19444; -71.20000 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Massachusetts |
| County | Norfolk |
| Settled | Sep 4 1678 |
| Incorporated | 1872 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Representative town meeting |
| • Town Manager | Tony Mazzucco |
| Area | |
• Total | 10.5 sq mi (27.3 km2) |
| • Land | 10.5 sq mi (27.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0.077 sq mi (0.2 km2) |
| Elevation | 148 ft (45 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 31,611 |
| • Density | 3,021/sq mi (1,166.5/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (Eastern) |
| ZIP Code | 02062 |
| Area code | 339 /781 |
| FIPS code | 25-50250 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0619460 |
| Website | www.norwoodma.gov |
Norwood is a town andcensus-designated place inNorfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Norwood is part of theGreater Boston area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,611.[1] The town was named after Norwood, England. Norwood is on theNeponset River,[2] which runs all the way toBoston Harbor fromFoxborough.
The Town of Norwood, officially formed in 1872, was until that time part ofDedham, known as the "mother of towns", as fourteen of the present communities of easternMassachusetts lay within its original borders.[citation needed] Long used as a hunting ground by Native Americans, Norwood was first settled by Ezra Morse in 1678. He set up a sawmill in what is now South Norwood, the part of town to which the first concentration of families, almost all of whom were farmers, migrated over the next half-century.[citation needed]
During theAmerican Revolution, there was aMinuteman company organized in the area.[citation needed] Its captain, Aaron Guild, on learning of the British marching onLexington andConcord to seize the munitions stored there, rode to join the fight and arrived in time to fire on the British at Concord Bridge and participate in the running battle that chased the Redcoats back to Boston.[citation needed]
Abraham Lincoln passed through the town during his pre-inaugural tour of New England.[citation needed]
TheOak View Mansion, located in Norwood, was built by Francis Olney Winslow.[citation needed] Construction began in 1868 and was completed in 1870. Oak View was the scene of almost constant socializing. Some of the most prominent figures hosted in Oak View were President and future Supreme Court JusticeWilliam Howard Taft and PresidentCalvin Coolidge.[citation needed]
Famous Irish-language writerMáirtín Ó Cadhain spent some time in Norwood during the early-20th century.[3] Ó Cadhain later references Norwood in his 1949 bookCré na Cille, in which one of the characters immigrates to Norwood.
In 1955,United Fruit Company purchased theForbes estate in Norwood from Harvard University and soon constructed one of the largest banana research facilities in the Americas.[3] It was at its Norwood facility that United Fruit Company designed and later patented freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, and seafood for companies likeKellogg's andCampbell's.
The town shares its name with a town in the borough ofCroydon,South London,England. When Norwood separated from Dedham, they considered naming the new community Balch, after the Rev.Thomas Balch.[4]
Norwood is located at42°11′9″N71°12′5″W / 42.18583°N 71.20139°W /42.18583; -71.20139 (42.185974, −71.201661).[5]
The Town of Norwood is located 13 miles southwest of Boston, placing it in the Boston Metropolitan Area.[6]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.6 square miles (27.3 km2), of which 10.5 square mile (27.1 km2) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km2) (0.66%) is water.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 2,845 | — |
| 1890 | 3,733 | +31.2% |
| 1900 | 5,480 | +46.8% |
| 1910 | 8,014 | +46.2% |
| 1920 | 12,627 | +57.6% |
| 1930 | 15,049 | +19.2% |
| 1940 | 15,383 | +2.2% |
| 1950 | 16,636 | +8.1% |
| 1960 | 24,898 | +49.7% |
| 1970 | 30,815 | +23.8% |
| 1980 | 29,711 | −3.6% |
| 1990 | 28,700 | −3.4% |
| 2000 | 28,587 | −0.4% |
| 2010 | 28,602 | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 31,611 | +10.5% |
| 2024* | 31,764 | +0.5% |
| * = population estimate. Source:United States Census records andPopulation Estimates Program data.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] | ||
As of 2023 Norwood’s racial demographics are[15]
As of thecensus[16] of 2010, there were 30,602 people. The racial makeup of the town was 80.92%White, 8.01%Black orAfrican American, 0.09%Native American, 9.57%Asian, 0.01%Pacific Islander, 0.77% fromother races, and 1.25% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 3.58% of the population. 27.3% were ofIrish descent.
As of thecensus[16] of 2000, there were 28,587 people, 11,623 households, and 7,380 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,727.0 inhabitants per square mile (1,052.9/km2). There were 11,945 housing units at an average density of 1,139.5 per square mile (440.0/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 90.51%White, 2.31%Black orAfrican American, 0.09%Native American, 5.06%Asian, 0.01%Pacific Islander, 0.77% fromother races, and 1.25% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 1.65% of the population. 34.7% were ofIrish, 14.8%Italian, 5.4%American and 5.0%English ancestry according toCensus 2000.
There were 11,623 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% weremarried couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 20.8% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $58,421, and the median income for a family was $70,164 (these figures had risen to $66,743 and $80,292 respectively as of a 2007 estimate[17]). Males had a median income of $50,597 versus $34,312 for females. Theper capita income for the town was $27,720. About 2.7% of families and 4.4% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.
TheNorwood Public Schools operates eight schools (serving Kindergarten through 4th graders), and an additional school institution, Little Mustangs Preschool Academy. The public elementary schools located in Norwood include: Balch, Callahan, Cleveland, Oldham, Prescott, & Willett.[citation needed]
Norwood has one public middle school, the Dr. Philip O. Coakley Middle School (serving 5th through 8th graders)[18] (formerly Norwood Junior High South), where all six elementary schools combine. Norwood also has a public high school,Norwood High School (NHS),[19] (serves grades 9–12).
The Fine Mortuary College in Norwood includes a one-room museum featuring antique embalming tables and centuries-old wooden coffins.[20]
Businesses in Norwood have access to the most educated workforce in the nation, ample venture capital, and several other advantages that help lay the foundation for regional clusters and Norwood's target industries, like advanced manufacturing and life sciences.[21]
Norwood's top employers includeModerna,FM Global,Home Market Foods,MS Walker, and many other manufacturers and businesses engaged in research and development.[22]
Moderna opened its state-of-the-art clinical development site in 2018, employing over 1,400.[23] Moderna's Norwood facilities serve as its primary manufacturing facility and is responsible for producing its COVID-19 vaccine. The facility in Norwood has been expanded to increase the production capacity of Moderna's vaccine and to support the company's research and development efforts. Additionally, Moderna has established partnerships with local organizations in Norwood to support the community, including funding for education and workforce development initiatives.
A large cluster of automobile dealerships on Route 1 is known as the Norwood "Automile."[citation needed] The concept of having competing dealerships join together to publicize the "Automile" as an automobile shopping center was largely the work ofErnie Boch, famous in the Boston area for his ads urging people to "Come on down!"[citation needed]
TheSkating Club of Boston moved to Norwood in 2020.[citation needed] The facility, located on University Avenue in Norwood, is a state-of-the-art skating rink home to the Skating Club of Boston's training and development programs for figure skating, ice dancing, and synchronized skating. The Norwood High School hockey teams play at the facility.[citation needed] In addition to the rink, the facility features a fitness center, a pro shop, and a cafe. The Skating Club of Boston has a rich history in figure skating and has produced many world champions and Olympic medalists.[citation needed]
Norwood was the long-time home of photographer and publisherFred Holland Day.[citation needed] As a photographer, Day at one point rivalledAlfred Stieglitz in influence. The publishing firm of Copeland and Day was the American publisher ofOscar Wilde'sSalome with illustrations byAubrey Beardsley.[citation needed] The Day House is now a museum and the headquarters of the Norwood Historical Society. F. Holland Day Historic House Museum is located at 93 Day St.[citation needed]
| Climate data for Norwood, Massachusetts (Norwood Memorial Airport), 1991−2020 normals,[a] extremes 1895−present[b] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 39.5 (4.2) | 42.3 (5.7) | 48.9 (9.4) | 61.2 (16.2) | 71.3 (21.8) | 80.4 (26.9) | 85.7 (29.8) | 84.3 (29.1) | 76.8 (24.9) | 65.7 (18.7) | 54.6 (12.6) | 44.3 (6.8) | 62.9 (17.2) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 30.1 (−1.1) | 32.0 (0.0) | 39.2 (4.0) | 50.1 (10.1) | 59.6 (15.3) | 68.8 (20.4) | 74.3 (23.5) | 72.4 (22.4) | 64.5 (18.1) | 53.4 (11.9) | 44.1 (6.7) | 35.3 (1.8) | 52.0 (11.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 20.6 (−6.3) | 21.6 (−5.8) | 29.5 (−1.4) | 39.0 (3.9) | 47.9 (8.8) | 57.3 (14.1) | 62.8 (17.1) | 60.6 (15.9) | 52.1 (11.2) | 41.2 (5.1) | 33.6 (0.9) | 26.3 (−3.2) | 41.0 (5.0) |
| Average rainfall inches (mm) | 3.41 (87) | 2.80 (71) | 3.72 (94) | 3.96 (101) | 3.30 (84) | 3.92 (100) | 3.03 (77) | 3.63 (92) | 3.82 (97) | 4.54 (115) | 3.69 (94) | 4.09 (104) | 43.91 (1,115) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 15.1 (38) | 14.1 (36) | 11.6 (29) | 2.5 (6.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0.3 (0.76) | 1.7 (4.3) | 10.8 (27) | 56.1 (142) |
| Source: NOAA (snowfall data from WALPOLE 2)[28] | |||||||||||||
Municipalities and communities ofNorfolk County, Massachusetts,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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| Geographic | |
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