Wakefield

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakefield,_Massachusetts
Wakefield is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston metropolitan area,[11] incorporated in 1812 and located about 12.5 mi (20.1 km) north-northwest of Downtown Boston. The 73rd most populous municipality in Massachusetts, Wakefield's population was 24,932 at the 2010 census,[1] with a 2016 population estimate of 26,399. Wakefield offers an assortment of activities around the local lake, Lake Quannapowitt.[12]

History
Wakefield was first settled in 1638 and was originally known as Lynn Village. It officially separated from Lynn and incorporated as Reading in 1644 when the first church (First Parish Congregational Church) and the first mill were established. This first corn mill was built on the Mill River on Water Street, and later small saw mills were built on the Mill River and the Saugus River.

The old parish church became known as the Old or South Parish when in 1713 the North Parish was established. This North Parish later became the town of North Reading. In 1769 the West Parish was established. In 1812 the Old or South Parish of Reading separated from Reading and was officially incorporated as South Reading. At the time it was spelled South Redding, not South Reading.

The railroad was chartered and built in 1844 between Wilmington and Boston. This later became the main line of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The Boston and Maine Foundry was built in 1854 and was later reincorporated as the Smith and Anthony Stove Company. The Boston Ice Company cut and shipped ice from Lake Quannapowitt starting in 1851.

The Rattan Works (which made wicker furniture) was established in 1856 by Cyrus Wakefield. This later grew into the Wakefield Rattan Company and at one time had a thousand employees. In 1868 Cyrus Wakefield donated land and money for a new town hall, and in thanks the town voted to change its name from South Reading to Wakefield. The town hall, currently named for William J. Lee,[13] is located at 1 Lafayette Street.[3][14]

In 1856 the South Reading Public Library was established, which later became the Beebe Town Library. In 1923, the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library was built and established by Junius Beebe, the son of Lucius Beebe (1810–1884).[15]

The first weekly newspaper in Wakefield was established in 1858.

One of the oldest and largest manufacturers of flying model airplane toys in the world, Paul K. Guillow, Inc. is located in Wakefield. The company is particularly notable for its extensive line of balsa wood model airplane kits.

Route 128 was built along the north edge of the town by 1958, and the American Mutual Insurance Company built its headquarters between Lake Quannapowitt and Route 128. American Mutual had over 1000 employees, most of them commuting to work via Route 128. By the late 1980s American Mutual was in liquidation due to the Woburn W. R. Grace litigation. The headquarters building was sold to the Beal Company and was home to Boston Technology Inc. which invented and manufactured corporate voice mail systems that operated on computer systems. Boston Technology merged in 1997 with Comverse Technology, a digital telecommunications equipment manufacturer, which later bought the building; Wakefield became headquarters of its eventual spinoff, Comverse.


Panoramic view of Lake Quannapowitt from its eastern shore, looking westward — June 2016
The northeastern part of Wakefield was home to an amusement park, Pleasure Island, billed as "The Disneyland of the Northeast," but the park closed in 1969 after only ten years of operation[16] due to unseasonably cold weather that brought diminishing returns among tourists.[16] In April 1971, a fire burned down much of the amusement park. The area now consists of several office buildings and is called "Edgewater Park".[16]

The bicentennial of the incorporation of Wakefield took place in 2012, whereas 2018 was the sesquicentennial of the 1868 town name change from “South Reading” to “Wakefield.”

2000 shooting spree
See also: Wakefield massacre
On December 26, 2000, seven workers at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield, Massachusetts were shot and killed by an Edgewater Tech employee. The 42-year-old gunman was an application supporter at Edgewater Technology.

During his trial, he stated that he was born without a soul and that God had allowed him to earn a soul by traveling back in time to kill Nazis. However, the prosecution asserted that the killings were motivated by his employer's garnishing of his wages to the IRS, as he failed to pay back taxes. He was found guilty of seven counts of first degree murder and sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

In 2008 this case was studied on the psychology program Most Evil.

Geography
Wakefield is located at 42°30′4″N 71°4′16″W (42.501345, -71.071324).[17]

Reading, Massachusetts (northwest), Melrose, Massachusetts (south), Stoneham, Massachusetts (southwest), Lynnfield, Massachusetts (northeast), and Saugus, Massachusetts (southeast) border Wakefield.

Route 129 runs through Wakefield as its Main Street. I-95/Route 128 skirt the northwestern border of Wakefield as one road known as the "Yankee Division Highway".

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.9 square miles (20 km2), of which 7.5 square miles (19 km2) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2), or 5.56%, is water.

Wakefield has two lakes, Crystal Lake and Lake Quannapowitt. Crystal Lake is used as a reservoir for some of the town's drinking water; as such, recreation is prohibited on Crystal Lake. Lake Quannapowitt, meanwhile, is used for a wide variety of recreational activities, including boating, windsurfing, kayaking, and fishing, and is the primary source of the Saugus River.

In 1847, Lake Quannapowitt was named for the Native American James Quannapowitt, one of the signers of the old Indian Deed of 1686. The earliest settlers referred to the lake simply as the "Greate Pond" or "Reading Pond."


Lake Quannapowitt, seen here, is the larger of Wakefield's two principal lakes, the other being Crystal Lake.
Lake Quannapowitt is also home to the oldest inland yacht club in the United States, Quannapowitt Yacht Club, which was founded in 1886.

Long regarded as "Wakefield's greatest natural resource," Lake Quannapowitt covers an area of 247 acres (1.00 km2). Its outlet is the Saugus River to the Atlantic Ocean. Wakefield Common sits to the south of the lake, and is the site of many recreational activities and events throughout the year. In 1991, a group of local citizens formed "The Friends of Lake Quannapowitt" to advocate for the lake and to educate the public about this natural resource. The group has also raised money for projects that benefit the lake and the surrounding areas.

Points of interest
See also: List of Registered Historic Places in Wakefield, Massachusetts
Lake Quannapowitt is a popular recreation area for walkers, joggers, bikers, and rollerbladers.
Lucius Beebe Memorial Library.
The town common is the central park of Wakefield, on the southern edge of Lake Quannapowitt. Events such as summer concerts and the Fourth of July festivities take place there.
Breakheart Reservation, located in Saugus, is also accessible from Wakefield.
Wakefield History Museum, located on Prospect Street.

Places of worship
Wakefield has a wide variety of places of worship serving numerous faiths and denominations. Many townspeople are regular attendees at one of the following:

First Parish Congregational Church (Downtown/Wakefield Square)
Emmanuel Episcopal Church (Downtown/Wakefield Square)
Unitarian Universalist Church of Wakefield (Main Street)
Greenwood Union Church (Greenwood)
Most Blessed Sacrament Church (southern Greenwood)
Romanian Orthodox Church (East Side)
St. Florence Parish (Montrose)
St. Joseph Parish (West Side)
Temple Emmanuel (West Side)
Wakefield–Lynnfield United Methodist Church (Montrose)
Christ the King North Shore (Wakefield Junction)
Mun Su Sa Buddhist Temple (Montrose)
First Baptist Church Fire
The First Baptist Church of Wakefield (Downtown/Wakefield Square, constructed 1872) served Wakefield for nearly 150 years before being destroyed by a lightning strike and subsequent fire around 7:10 PM EDT, Tuesday, October 23, 2018. It took the rest of the night for firefighters and first responders to extinguish the blaze. As of October 25, the remains of the church were in a pile waiting cleanup. In the aftermath, First Baptist worship services have continued at the nearby First Parish Congregational Church.

Transportation
An MBTA Commuter Rail station on the Haverhill/Reading Line is located near the center of town as well as a second station in the Greenwood section. A former Boston and Maine Railroad station located east of this line is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Several MBTA buses on Route 136 and Route 137 run to surrounding communities, including the nearby Oak Grove stop as well as Malden Center, both rapid transit stations on the Orange Line. The route 428 bus from Oaklandvale in nearby Saugus to Haymarket in downtown Boston stops on Farm Street in front of Wakefield High School; this bus route runs express to Haymarket. Rt. 128/I-95 runs through Wakefield with exits at Albion Street, North Avenue, Water Street, Vernon Street, New Salem Street, and Salem Street. State Route 129 also passes through Wakefield. US Route 1 runs through nearby Saugus and Lynnfield, while I-93 runs through neighboring Stoneham.

Media
The town is served by two daily newspapers, the locally owned Daily Item, an edition of the Daily Times Chronicle; and a weekly, the Wakefield Observer. The Wakefield Memorial High School has a newspaper, written by the students, recently renamed "WHS exPRESS". The town operates a Public Access cable channel, WCAT Wakefield.

In addition, Wakefield Nation provides election coverage and supports local charitable causes.

Sports
Wakefield has a strong local sports fan base and a robust youth sports culture. Wakefield High School has popular football, baseball, softball, hockey and basketball programs. Wakefield High's football team earned a Division II "Super Bowl" title in 1999,[58] and its men's and women's basketball teams won Division II state championships in 1997.[58] Baseball is a popular spring and summer sport in the town, with two men's semiprofessional teams: the Wakefield Merchants, a member of Boston's Intercity Baseball League (and champions of that league in 1978 and 1994),[59] and a team representing the local American Legion post.

Wakefield has many active youth sports leagues. Young athletes in Wakefield can choose to play baseball, basketball, lacrosse, football, soccer, hockey, dance, cheerleading, and softball, among other team sports. The following is a list of the volunteer organizations that maintain these leagues.

Baseball – Wakefield Little League
Basketball – Wakefield Basketball Association
Lacrosse – Wakefield Youth Lacrosse Association
Football – Wakefield Pop Warner
Soccer – Wakefield Soccer Association
Hockey – Wakefield Youth Skating Association
Annual events
Town Day
Independence Day Parade / Home Town March[nb 3] (July 4)
Festival Italia (typically 3rd Saturday in August)
Homecoming Celebration in Autumn
Concerts on the Common (July–September)
Festival By The Lake (2nd Saturday in June)
Tis the Season Holiday Stroll (1st Saturday in December)