Boxford, Massachusetts
Location in Essex County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°39′40″N 70°59′50″W / 42.66111, -70.99722
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Essex
Settled	1645
Incorporated	1685
Government
- Type	Open town meeting
Area
- Total	24.6 sq mi (63.6 km²)
- Land	24.0 sq mi (62.1 km²)
- Water	0.6 sq mi (1.5 km²)
Elevation	95 ft (29 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	7,921
- Density	330.4/sq mi (127.6/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	01921
Area code(s)	351 / 978
FIPS code	25-07420
GNIS feature ID	0618294
Website: http://www.town.boxford.ma.us/

Boxford is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,921 at the 2000 census.

Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Boxford.

History

Boxford was first settled in 1646 and was officially incorporated in 1685. The community takes its name from a town of the same name in the United Kingdom.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 24.6 square miles (63.6 km²), of which, 24.0 square miles (62.1 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.5 km²) of it (2.40%) is water.

The highest natural point in Boxford is Bald Hill, at an elevation of 243 feet (74 meters). It sits in a corner of the Boxford State Forest, near the town's border with Middleton.

Boxford is a geographically large town with almost no commercial development. The town is traditionally divided into Boxford Village (commonly called East Boxford) and West Boxford Village, corresponding to the respective East and West Boxford centers. The "centers" of town each consist of a Congregational church (First Congregational in Boxford and Second Congregational in West Boxford), a general store, a library, and a fire department.

The town is heavily forested, and criss-crossed by various brooks and streams. A number of ponds dot Boxford, among them Stiles Pond, Cedar Pond, Spofford Pond, Lowe Pond, Four Mile Pond and Baldpate Pond. Throughout town, there are also a number of scenic hiking trails.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,921 people, 2,568 households, and 2,254 families residing in the town. The population density was 330.4 people per square mile (127.6/km²). There were 2,610 housing units at an average density of 42.0 persons/km² (108.9 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the town was 97.37% White, 0.34% African American, 0.11% Native American, 1.21% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races. 0.85% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,568 households out of which 48.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 80.0% were married couples living together, 6.0% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 12.2% were non-families. 9.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.08 and the average family size was 3.32.

In the town the population was spread out with 32.2% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $113,212, and the median income for a family was $119,491. Males had a median income of $90,397 versus $48,042 for females. The per capita income for the town was $48,846. 1.4% of the population and 0.8% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 0.8% are under the age of 18 and 3.1% are 65 or older

Education

Boxford has one high school, Masconomet Regional High School. It is commonly believed to be in Topsfield because it has a Topsfield Post Office box address. However, the school, which is located on Endicott Road, lies entirely within Boxford.

There are also two elementary schools in Boxford. The Harry Lee Cole School, which serves Preschool through Grade 2, is located near East Boxford center. The Spofford Pond School, serving Grades 3 through 6, is located in the town's geographic center.

Points of interest

• Boxford State Forest, near Interstate 95 and the towns of Topsfield and Middleton, boasts numerous walking trails that weave through heavily forested areas.

• Commercial landmarks in and around town include Benson's Ice Cream near West Boxford center, Paisley's Farm Stand, Ingaldsby Farm, the Boxford Community store in East Boxford (also known as "Jack's" or "Wayne's", after its former and current owners), West Village Provisions in West Boxford, and the Boxford House of Pizza.

• The town also has a retirement home called Four Mile Village, which sits adjacent to picturesque Four Mile Pond.

• Stiles Pond with adjacent Keith Koster Memorial Baseball Park, is the town "beach", Camp Rotary is also located on Stiles Pond, opposite the "beach"

• Baldpate Pond is another popular swimming, fishing, boating, and hiking location.

Notable residents

• Thomas Knowlton (1740–1776), American patriot who served as a Colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolution
• Rufus Porter (1792-1884), painter, founder of Scientific American
• Richard Smith (17th Century), Great grandfather of Joseph Smith, founder of Mormon church
• Sidney Perley (1858-1928), lawyer, writer, author, poet, historian.
• Norman Hassan (1958-) Drummer in the band UB40
• Debra Jo Rupp (1951-), Actress, best known for her role as Kitty Foreman in That 70's Show
• Mark Bavaro (1963-), former Pro Bowl American football player for the New York Giants[1]
• Carl Yastrzemski (1939-), former member of the Boston Red Sox and American Major League Baseball hall of famer. [2]

• Johnny Bucyk (1935- ) Boston Bruins - Hall of Fame - Former team captain
• Raymond Bourque (1960- ) Boston Bruins - Hall of Fame - Former team captain

References

• Perley, Sidney. History of Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts. Full images at books.google.Published 1880.
• Perley, Francis, Samuel Wood, Moses Carleton. 1795 Map of Boxford.
• Dorman, Moses. 1830 Map of Boxford.
• Beers, D.G. 1872 Atlas of Essex County 1872 Map of Boxford. Plate 57.
• Walker, George H. 1884 Atlas of Essex County 1884 Map of Boxford. Plate 109.
• Vital Records of Boxford to 1849. Originally published by the Topsfield Historical Society in 1905. Transcribed and put online by John Slaughter and Jodi Salero 2007.
• Boxford Town Records 1685-1706. Transcribed by Sidney Perley in 1880. From page 41 of Volume 5 of The Historical Collections of the Topsfield Historical Society. Published 1899. Full image and OCR at books.google.

• Burt, Bill. "'67 Sox were there from start to finish", Gloucester Daily Times, 2007-7-2. Retrieved on 2007-7-11. 
• Goode, John. "A Giant Among Us", Boston.com, 2004-12-14. Retrieved on 2007-2-3. 

External links

• Town of Boxford

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