Wellesley, MA Real Estate
Geography
Wellesley is located in Eastern Massachusetts. It is bordered on the east by Newton, on the north by Weston, on the south by Needham and Dover and on the west by Natick.
History
Wellesley was originally part of Dedham, Massachusetts, and was subsequently a part of Needham, Massachusetts called West Needham, Massachusetts. One of the businessmen attracted to the town was Henry Durant, who in 1875 founded Wellesley College, a college for women with a lakeside campus. Durant named the college to honor his next-door neighbor, Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, a wealthy businessman and town benefactor whose mansion was named "Wellesley" in commemoration of his wife, whose maiden name was Welles.
Demographics
The median income for a household in the town was $138,472, and the median income for a family was $134,769. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $53,007 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $52,866. About 2.4% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.
The town was originally a mixture of farmland and estates, shifting to a more middle-class Protestant population as young families moved in after WWII. There were also small Irish and Italian communities. Although racial discrimination in real estate sales is no longer an obstacle to new buyers, Wellesley's diversity has increased only slowly over the years.
Education
Wellesley has a public school system. Wellesley Public Schools are normally among the top scorers for the state's MCAS testing. The Wellesley Elementary Schools are Fiske, Upham, Sprague, Schofield, Hunnewell, Hardy and Bates. The Middle, and High schools are called Wellesley Middle School, and Wellesley High School. The Middle School has recently finished some major renovations of many hallways, the gyms, and many classrooms. The renovated rooms include some of the newer classroom technologies such as the SMARTboard. This is the principal and one of the assistant principal's last year in Wellesley.
Transportation
Wellesley has had rail service to Boston since 1833. These days rail service is provided through Wellesley’s participation in the MBTA, which offers a total of 17 weekday Commuter Rail trains inbound towards Boston & outbound towards Framingham & Worcester. Wellesley's stations are (east to west) Wellesley Farms, Wellesley Hills, and Wellesley Square.
For elders and people with disabilities there is a specific MBTA-based service, THE RIDE which offer free or low-cost door-to-door service by appointment.
From nearby Riverside MBTA Station in Newton, commuter express buses run to downtown Boston, Newton Corner and Central Square, Waltham. This is also a station for Greyhound Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines with frequent service to Boston, New York City, and other destinations.