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Middlesex County, Massachusetts

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Middlesex County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and the 22nd most populous county in the United States. This makes the county the most populous county on the East Coast outside of New York or Florida. Middlesex County is one of two U.S. counties (along with Santa Clara County, California) to be amongst the top 25 counties with the highest household income and the 25 most populated counties. It is included in the Census Bureau's Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan Statistical Area. As part of the 2020 United States census, the Commonwealth's mean center of population for that year was geo-centered in Middlesex County, in the town of Natick<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Efn (this is not to be confused with the geographic center of Massachusetts, which is in Rutland, Worcester County).

On July 11, 1997, Massachusetts abolished the executive government of Middlesex County primarily due to the county's insolvency.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Middlesex County continues to exist as a geographic boundary<ref name="MGL34B">Template:MassGenLaws</ref> and is used primarily as district jurisdictions within the court system and for other administrative purposes; for example, as an election district. The National Weather Service weather alerts (such as severe thunderstorm warning) continue to localize based on Massachusetts's counties.

HistoryEdit

The county was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered that "the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires." Middlesex initially contained Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, and Reading.<ref name="Boston Annex">Davis, William T. Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, p. 44. The Boston History Company, 1895.</ref> In 1649 the first Middlesex County Registry of Deeds was created in Cambridge.

On April 19, 1775, Middlesex was the site of the first armed conflict of the American Revolutionary War.

In 1855, the Massachusetts State Legislature created a minor Registry of Deeds for the Northern District of Middlesex County in Lowell.<ref name="Boston Annex" />

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Boston annexed several of its adjacent cities and towns including Charlestown and Brighton from Middlesex County, resulting in an enlargement and accretion toward Suffolk County.<ref name="Boston Annex" />

Beginning prior to the dissolution of the executive county government, the county comprised two regions with separate county seats for administrative purposes:

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> consisted of the remaining 44 cities and towns of Middlesex County.<ref name="MGL36-1">Template:M.G.L.</ref>

Since the start of the 21st century, much of the current and former county offices have physically decentralized from the Cambridge seat, with the sole exceptions being the Registry of Deeds and the Middlesex Probate and Family Court, which both retain locations in Cambridge and Lowell. Since the first quarter of 2008, the Superior Courthouse<ref name="Superior court move" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> has been seated in the city of Woburn;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the Sheriff's Office is now administratively seated in the city of Medford and the Cambridge-based County Jail<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> has since been amalgamated with another county jail facility in Billerica.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Cambridge District Court (which has jurisdiction for Arlington, Belmont and Cambridge); along with the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office, although not a part of the Middlesex County government, was also relatedly forced to relocate to Medford at the time of the closure of the Superior Courthouse building in Cambridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Law and governmentEdit

Of the fourteen counties of Massachusetts, Middlesex is one of eight<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which have had no county government or county commissioners since July 1, 1998, when county functions were assumed by state agencies at local option following a change in state law.<ref name="MGL34B"/> Immediately prior to its dissolution, the executive branch consisted of three County Commissioners elected at-large to staggered four-year terms. There was a County Treasurer elected to a six-year term. The county derived its revenue primarily from document filing fees at the Registries of Deeds and from a Deeds Excise Tax; also a transfer tax was assessed on the sale price of real estate and collected by the Registries of Deeds.<ref>Middlesex County Directory: 1993-1995, (Cambridge: Middlesex County Commissioners Office, 1995)</ref>

Budgets as proposed by the County Commissioners were approved by a County Advisory Board that consisted of a single representative of each of the 54 cities and towns in Middlesex County. The votes of the individual members of the advisory board were weighted based on the overall valuation of property in their respective communities.

The County Sheriff and two Registers of Deeds (one for the Northern District at Lowell and another for the Southern District at Cambridge) are each elected to serve six-year terms.<ref name="MGL34-4">Template:MassGenLaws</ref> Besides the employees of the Sheriff's Office and the two Registries of Deeds, the county had a Maintenance Department, a Security Department, some administrative staff in the Treasurer's and Commissioners' Offices, and the employees of the hospital.

The county government also owned and operated the Superior Courthouse, one of which was formerly in Cambridge (since 2008 relocated to Woburn.)<ref name="Superior court move">Template:Cite news</ref> and one in Lowell; and the defunct Middlesex County Hospital in the city of Waltham.

The legislation abolishing the Middlesex County executive retained the Sheriff and Registers of Deeds as independently elected officials, and transferred the Sheriff's Office under the state Department of Public Safety and the two Registry of Deeds offices to the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office.<ref name="MGL34B-10">Template:MassGenLaws</ref> Additionally, all county maintenance and security employees were absorbed into the corresponding staffs of the Massachusetts Trial Court. The legislation also transferred ownership of the two Superior Courthouses to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The hospital was closed. Finally, the office of County Commissioner was immediately abolished and the office of County Treasurer was abolished as of December 31, 2002.<ref name="MGL34B-2">Template:MassGenLaws</ref> Any county roads transferred to the Commonwealth as part of the dissolution. The other administrative duties (such as Sheriff, Department of Deeds and court system, etc.) and all supporting staff were transferred under the Commonwealth as well.

Administrative structure todayEdit

Records of land ownership in Middlesex County continue to be maintained at the two Registries of Deeds. Besides the Sheriff and the two Registers of Deeds, the Middlesex District Attorney, the Middlesex Register of Probate and the Middlesex Clerk of Courts (which were already part of state government before the abolition of Middlesex County government) are all elected countywide to six-year terms.

In Middlesex County (as in the entirety of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), the governmental functions such as property tax assessment and collection, public education, road repair and maintenance, and elections were all conducted at the municipal city and town level and not by the county government.

In 2012 the 22-story Superior Court Building in Cambridge which was transferred from the abolished Executive County government was sold<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Due to its transfer from state control,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> many local residents had tried to force the private developers to reduce the overall height of the structure.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Even following the abolition of the executive branch for county government in Middlesex, communities are still granted a right by the Massachusetts state legislature to form their own regional compacts for sharing of services and costs thereof.

County government: Middlesex County
Clerk of Courts: Michael A. Sullivan
District Attorney: Marian T. Ryan
Register of Deeds: Richard P. Howe, Jr. (North at Lowell)
Maria C. Curtatone (South at Cambridge)
Register of Probate: Tara E. DeCristofaro
County Sheriff: Peter J. Koutoujian<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

State government
State Representative(s): citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

State Senator(s): citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Governor's Councilor(s): Robert L. Jubinville (D-2nd district)
Marilyn M. Petitto (D-3rd district)
Eileen R. Duff (D-5th district)
Terrence W. Kennedy (D-6th district)
Paul DePalo (D-7th district)
Federal government
U.S. Representative(s): Jake Auchincloss (D-Template:Ushr)
Lori Trahan (D-Template:Ushr)
Seth Moulton (D-Template:Ushr)
Katherine Clark (D-Template:Ushr)
Ayanna Pressley (D-Template:Ushr)
U.S. Senators: Elizabeth Warren (D), Ed Markey (D)

GeographyEdit

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (3.5%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is the third-largest county in Massachusetts by land area.

It is bounded southeast by the Charles River and drained by the Merrimack, Nashua, and Concord rivers, and other streams.<ref>Template:Cite AmCyc</ref>

The MetroWest region comprises much of the southern portion of the county.

Adjacent countiesEdit

TransportationEdit

These routes pass through Middlesex County

National protected areasEdit

DemographicsEdit

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In 2006, Middlesex County contained the tenth most millionaires of any county in the United States.<ref name="millionaires">Template:Cite news</ref>

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 1,503,085 people, 580,688 households, and 366,656 families residing in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 612,004 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 80.0% white, 9.3% Asian, 4.7% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 3.3% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 6.5% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The largest ancestry groups were:<ref name="census-dp2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 

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Of the 580,688 households, 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.9% were non-families, and 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.10. The median age was 38.5 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $77,377 and the median income for a family was $97,382. Males had a median income of $64,722 versus $50,538 for females. The per capita income for the county was $40,139. About 5.1% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.0% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

79.6% spoke only English at home, while 4.3% spoke Spanish, 2.7% Portuguese, 1.6% Italian, 1.6% Chinese including Mandarin and other Chinese dialects, and 1.5% spoke French.

Middlesex County has the largest Irish-American population of any U.S. county with a plurality of Irish ancestry.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Middlesex County MA population density.png
Population density of Middlesex County by census block (2020)<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Demographic breakdown by townEdit

IncomeEdit

Template:See also The ranking of unincorporated communities that are included on the list is reflective if the census-designated locations and villages were included as cities or towns. Data is from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Rank Town Per capita
income 		Median
household
income 		Median
family
income 		Population Number of
households
1 Weston Town $96,475 $180,815 $220,441 11,229 3,557
2 Sherborn Town $70,983 $152,083 $183,456 4,102 1,463
3 Wayland Town $70,185 $125,076 $151,812 12,939 4,902
4 Carlisle Town $68,060 $159,063 $171,167 4,814 1,612
5 Lexington Town $67,584 $136,610 $158,888 31,129 11,411
6 Concord Town $67,374 $127,951 $156,352 17,523 6,197
7 Winchester Town $65,172 $127,665 $160,706 21,205 7,611
8 Sudbury Town $63,862 $159,713 $173,587 17,482 5,613
9 Newton City $60,323 $109,724 $141,944 84,583 30,735
10 Lincoln Town $57,471 $130,523 $141,667 6,480 2,150
11 Hopkinton Town $56,939 $126,350 $149,213 14,691 4,893
Chestnut Hill (02467) ZCTA $55,947 $114,140 $151,375 21,952 6,237
12 Belmont Town $54,361 $99,529 $121,250 24,548 9,465
Cochituate CDP $52,936 $107,589 $133,082 6,384 2,496
13 Boxborough Town $51,159 $103,918 $134,583 4,957 1,984
14 Acton Town $49,603 $109,491 $135,000 21,656 7,924
15 Natick Town $49,012 $90,046 $117,259 32,729 13,440
16 Bedford Town $48,899 $101,886 $128,448 13,192 4,951
17 Stow Town $48,448 $112,130 $132,061 6,488 2,328
West Concord CDP $47,633 $103,693 $145,242 6,134 2,069
18 Holliston Town $47,624 $107,374 $125,236 13,512 4,918
19 Westford Town $47,587 $119,511 $135,000 21,716 7,308
20 Arlington Town $47,571 $85,059 $107,862 42,570 19,007
21 Groton Town $47,003 $117,903 $135,143 10,478 3,650
22 Ashland Town $46,626 $93,770 $116,799 16,305 6,484
23 Cambridge City $46,242 $69,017 $94,536 104,322 45,386
24 Reading Town $44,949 $99,131 $117,477 24,504 9,055
25 Chelmsford Town $42,535 $90,895 $110,967 33,610 13,304
26 North Reading Town $42,256 $104,069 $116,729 14,703 5,077
27 Dunstable Town $41,937 $109,205 $121,406 3,128 1,087
28 Littleton Town $41,815 $103,438 $114,094 8,810 3,198
Middlesex County County $41,453 $79,691 $100,267 1,491,762 577,349
29 Watertown City $41,090 $76,718 $90,521 31,792 14,042
30 Wakefield Town $40,227 $85,379 $112,293 24,794 10,058
31 Burlington Town $40,083 $92,236 $107,339 24,207 9,177
32 Melrose City $39,873 $84,599 $105,893 26,864 10,963
Groton CDP $39,208 $55,446 $127,708 1,077 507
Hopkinton CDP $38,507 $71,536 $105,882 2,110 877
33 Tyngsborough Town $38,067 $101,103 $111,780 11,198 3,797
34 Stoneham Town $37,573 $77,476 $95,490 21,413 8,909
35 Marlborough City $37,314 $72,853 $94,770 38,087 15,856
36 Wilmington Town $37,084 $100,861 $107,436 22,116 7,200
37 Pepperell Town $37,081 $84,618 $102,946 11,407 4,125
38 Maynard Town $36,818 $77,255 $93,116 10,083 4,222
39 Tewksbury Town $36,509 $86,378 $103,008 28,778 10,670
40 Hudson Town $36,141 $76,714 $95,746 18,845 7,679
Pepperell CDP $35,227 $68,500 $65,417 2,239 852
Massachusetts State $35,051 $65,981 $83,371 6,512,227 2,522,409
41 Medford City $34,615 $72,033 $83,078 55,843 22,461
Hudson CDP $33,734 $68,812 $86,216 14,797 6,129
42 Woburn City $33,725 $72,540 $87,924 37,831 15,357
43 Waltham City $33,717 $68,326 $82,233 60,209 23,520
44 Framingham City $33,665 $66,047 $86,977 67,844 26,167
Pinehurst CDP $33,572 $95,038 $100,650 7,289 2,414
45 Billerica Town $33,347 $88,531 $98,371 39,930 13,859
46 Somerville City $32,785 $64,480 $71,518 75,566 31,476
47 Ashby Town $32,434 $82,614 $84,655 3,030 1,060
48 Ayer Town $32,179 $54,899 $78,947 7,370 3,063
Littleton Common CDP $32,058 $80,352 $105,217 2,907 1,131
49 Dracut Town $31,533 $71,824 $88,281 29,249 11,173
50 Townsend Town $31,201 $76,250 $91,023 8,906 3,114
East Pepperell CDP $30,475 $74,077 $79,104 2,195 811
Ayer CDP $30,456 $42,055 $79,708 2,573 1,205
United States Country $27,915 $52,762 $64,293 306,603,772 114,761,359
Townsend CDP $27,166 $51,512 $71,023 968 453
51 Malden City $26,893 $52,842 $65,763 58,821 23,422
Shirley CDP $24,943 $41,250 $41,838 1,330 593
52 Everett City $24,575 $48,319 $58,045 41,079 15,681
53 Shirley Town $24,427 $71,146 $78,493 7,235 2,189
54 Lowell City $23,600 $51,471 $57,934 105,860 39,399
Devens CDP $13,933 $72,986 $73,194 1,704 113

Law enforcementEdit

Template:Infobox law enforcement agency

The primary responsibility of the Middlesex Sheriff's Office is oversight of the Middlesex House of Correction and Jail in Billerica. It formerly ran the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge, which closed on June 28, 2014. In addition, the Sheriff's Office operates the Office of Civil Process and, the Lowell Community Counseling Centers, and crime prevention and community service programs. The office of sheriff was created in 1692, making it one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the United States. The sheriff is elected to a 6-year term.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Notable sheriffs include:<ref name="Edward M. Burns, Esq"/> Template:Div col

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PoliticsEdit

Voter registration and party enrollment as of August 2024<ref name="Voters">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Template:Party color cell Unenrolled 712,349 Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell Democratic 327,852 Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell Republican 77,758 Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell Libertarian 3,095 Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell Other parties 6,641 Template:Percentage
Total 1,127,675 Template:Percentage

Prior to 1960, Middlesex County was a Republican Party stronghold, backing only two Democratic Party presidential candidates from 1876 to 1956. From the 1960 election the trend reversed; the county has exclusively supported Democratic presidential candidates. This has intensified in recent decades, as George H. W. Bush in 1988 was the most recent Republican presidential candidate to receive over 40 percent of the county's votes and Mitt Romney in 2012 the last Republican to receive over 30 percent. In 2020, Joe Biden won 71% of the county’s votes, the highest share for any presidential candidate since 1964.

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CommunitiesEdit

File:Map of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Geo. H. Walker & Co., 1889.jpg
1889 map of Middlesex County
File:Middlesex County Massachusetts incorporated and unincorporated areas Cambridge highlighted.svg
Map of Middlesex County, with Cambridge highlighted

Most municipalities in Middlesex County have a town form of government; the remainder are cities, and are so designated on this list. Villages listed below are census or postal divisions but have no separate corporate or statutory existence from the cities and towns in which they are located.

CitiesEdit

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TownsEdit

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Census-designated placesEdit

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Other villages and neighborhoodsEdit

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EducationEdit

Template:Expand section School districts include:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} - Text list Template:Webarchive</ref>

K-12: Template:Div col

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Secondary:

Elementary: Template:Div col

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Tertiary institutions include:

CultureEdit

Middlesex County is home to the Middlesex County Volunteers, a fife and drum corps that plays music from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Founded in 1982 at the end of the United States Bicentennial celebration, the group performs extensively throughout New England. They have also performed at the Boston Pops, throughout the British Isles and Western Europe, and at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo's Salute to Australia in Sydney, Australia.

See alsoEdit

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Explanatory notesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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BibliographyEdit

Further readingEdit

  • Template:Cite book
  • Edwin P. Conklin, Middlesex County and Its People: A History. In Four Volumes. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1927.
  • Samuel Adams Drake, History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County. Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1880. Volume 1 | Volume 2
  • D. Hamilton Hurd, History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. In Three Volumes. Philadelphia, PA: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1890. Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3
  • Robert H. Rodgers, Middlesex County in the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England: Records of Probate and Administration, February 1670/71 – June 1676. Rockport, ME: Picton Press, 2005.

External linksEdit

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Template:Geographic Location Template:Middlesex County, Massachusetts Template:US state navigation box Template:Greater Boston Template:Massachusetts Public High Schools Template:Authority control

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