Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Seal
Location in the state of Massachusetts
Massachusetts's location in the U.S.
Founded	1643
Seat	Lowell, Cambridge
Largest city	Lowell
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	847.54 sq mi (2,195 km²) 823.46 sq mi (2,133 km²) 24.08 sq mi (62 km²), 2.84%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	1,503,085 1,826/sq mi (705/km²)
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4

Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, is the twenty-third most populous county in the United States and the most populous county in New England. As of 2010^[update], the population was 1,503,085.^[1] The center of population of Massachusetts is in Natick, Middlesex County.^[2]

For administrative purposes the county held two regions, Middlesex-North with county seat in Lowell, and Middlesex-South with county seat in Cambridge.^[3] The county government was abolished in 1997, but the county boundaries continue to describe a state district for court jurisdictions and for other administrative purposes, such as an indicator for elections.

As of 2006^[update], Middlesex County was tenth in the United States on the list of most millionaires per county.^[4]

History

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 sheires". Middlesex initially contained Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, and Reading.^[5]

Law and government

On July 11, 1997, the Massachusetts State Legislature abolished Middlesex County as a governmental entity due primarily to the county's insolvency. Middlesex County continues to exist as a geographic boundary.^[6]

Immediately prior to its abolition, the government of Middlesex County consisted of three County Commissioners elected at-large to staggered four-year terms, a County Treasurer elected to a six-year term, a County Sheriff elected to a six-year term and two Registers of Deeds, one for the Northern District at Lowell and the other for the Southern District at Cambridge, both elected to six-year terms.^[7] Middlesex County owned and operated the Superior Courthouses in Cambridge and Lowell and the Middlesex County Hospital in Waltham. Besides the employees of the Sheriff's Department and the two Registries of Deeds, the county had a Maintenance Department, a Security Department, small administrative staffs in the Treasurer's and Commissioners' Offices, and the employees at the hospital. Budgets 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 the 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 derived its revenue primarily from document filing fees at the Registries of Deeds and from a Deeds Excise Tax, a transfer tax assessed on the sales price of real estate that was also collected by the Registries of Deeds.^[8]

The legislation abolishing Middlesex County retained the Sheriff and Registers of Deeds as independently elected officials and transferred for administrative purposes the Sheriff's Department to the state Department of Public Safety and the two Registry of Deeds offices to the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office.^[9] 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.^[10]

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 entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts) governmental functions such as property tax assessment and collection, public education, road repair and maintenance and elections are all conducted at the city and town level and not by county government.

Records of land ownership in Middlesex County are maintained at the two Registries of Deeds. The first Middlesex County Registry of Deeds was created in 1649 in Cambridge. In 1855, the Massachusetts State Legislature created a Registry of Deeds for the Northern District of Middlesex County in Lowell. The Northern District consists the city of Lowell and the towns of Billerica, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford and Wilmington. The remaining 44 cities and towns of Middlesex County are in the Southern District which remained in Cambridge.^[11]

Even after the abolition of county government in Middlesex, communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services.

County government: Middlesex County
Clerk of Courts:	Michael A. Sullivan
District Attorney:	Gerard T. Leone, Jr.
Register of Deeds:	Richard P. Howe, Jr. (North at Lowell) Eugene C. Brune (South at Cambridge)
Register of Probate:	Tara E. DeCristofaro
County Sheriff:	Peter J. Koutoujian [2]
State government
State Representative(s):	37 Representatives: [3]
State Senator(s):	16 Senators: [4]
Governor's Councilor(s):
Federal government
U.S. Representative(s):	John Olver (D-1st District) James P. McGovern (D-3rd District) Barney Frank (D-4th District) Niki Tsongas (D-5th District) John F. Tierney (D-6th District) Edward J. Markey (D-7th District) Michael Capuano (D-8th District)
U.S. Senators:	John Kerry (D), Scott Brown (R)

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 847.54 square miles (2,195.1 km²), of which 823.46 square miles (2,132.8 km²) (or 97.16%) is land and 24.08 square miles (62.4 km²) (or 2.84%) is water.^[12]

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

Adjacent counties

• Hillsborough County, New Hampshire (north)
• Essex County (northeast)
• Suffolk County (southeast)
• Norfolk County (south)
• Worcester County (west)

National protected areas

• Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge
• Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
• Longfellow National Historic Site
• Lowell National Historical Park
• Minute Man National Historical Park
• Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	42,769		—
1800	46,928		9.7%
1810	52,789		12.5%
1820	61,472		16.4%
1830	77,961		26.8%
1840	106,611		36.7%
1850	161,383		51.4%
1860	216,354		34.1%
1870	274,353		26.8%
1880	317,830		15.8%
1890	431,167		35.7%
1900	565,696		31.2%
1910	669,915		18.4%
1920	778,352		16.2%
1930	934,924		20.1%
1940	971,390		3.9%
1950	1,064,569		9.6%
1960	1,238,742		16.4%
1970	1,397,268		12.8%
1980	1,367,034		−2.2%
1990	1,398,468		2.3%
2000	1,465,396		4.8%
2010	1,503,085		2.6%
[13][14][15]

As of the census^[16] of 2000, there were 1,465,396 people,^[1] 561,220 households, and 361,076 families residing in the county.^[17] The population density was 1,780/sq mi (687/km²). There were 576,681 housing units at an average density of 700 per square mile (270/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.88% White, 3.36% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 6.26% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.07% from other races, and 2.24% from two or more races. 4.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 20.0% were of Irish, 15.7% Italian and 8.0% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 79.6% spoke English, 4.3% Spanish, 2.7% Portuguese, 1.6% Italian, 1.6% Chinese or Mandarin and 1.5% French as their first language. Middlesex County has the largest Irish-American population of any U.S. county with a plurality of Irish ancestry.^[18]

There were 561,220 households out of which 30.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.30% were married couples living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.70% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.50% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 33.40% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $60,821, and the median income for a family was $74,194 (these figures had risen to $77,004 and $96,325 respectively as of a 2009 estimate^[19]). Males had a median income of $49,460 versus $36,288 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,199. About 4.30% of families and 6.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.20% of those under age 18 and 7.10% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2006^[update], Middlesex County was tenth in the United States on the list of most millionaires per county.^[4]

Politics

Presidential Election Results 1960-2008

Year	Democratic	Republican
2008	64.2% 462,226	34.1% 245,215
2004	63.99% 440,862	34.52% 237,815
2000	61.49% 404,043	30.27% 198,914
1996	63.41% 398,190	27.06% 169,926
1992	49.89% 343,994	28.10% 193,703
1988	54.57% 361,563	43.82% 193,703
1984	50.26% 325,065	49.42% 319,604
1980	42.46% 270,751	40.30% 256,999
1976	55.94% 359,919	40.42% 260,044
1972	55.91% 345,343	43.56% 269,064
1968	64.11% 370,310	32.60% 188,304
1964	76.25% 439,790	23.36% 134,729
1960	59.01% 356,130	40.78% 246,126

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 13, 2010[20]
Party		Number of Voters	Percentage
	Democratic	351,993	37.45%
	Republican	98,461	10.48%
	Unaffiliated	484,279	51.53%
	Minor Parties	5,156	0.55%
Total		939,889	100%

Cities and towns

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.

• Acton
• Arlington
• Ashby
• Ashland
• Ayer
  • Devens, a village of Ayer, Harvard and Shirley
• Bedford
• Belmont
• Billerica*
  • North Billerica, a village of Billerica
  • Pinehurst, a village of Billerica
• Boxborough
• Burlington
• Cambridge, a city and county seat
• Carlisle*
• Chelmsford*
  • North Chelmsford, a village of Chelmsford
• Concord
  • West Concord, a village of Concord
• Dracut*
• Dunstable*
• Everett, a city
• Framingham
  • Nobscot, a village of Framingham
  • Saxonville, a village of Framingham
  • South Framingham, a region of Framingham south of state rte. 9
• Groton
• Holliston
• Hopkinton
• Hudson
• Lexington
  • East Lexington, a village of Lexington
• Lincoln
• Littleton
  • Littleton Common, a village of Littleton
• Lowell, a city and county seat*
• Malden, a city
• Marlborough, a city
• Maynard
• Medford, a city
• Melrose, a city
  • Melrose Highlands, a region of Melrose
• Natick
• Newton, a city
  • Auburndale, a village of Newton
  • Chestnut Hill, a village of Boston, Brookline and Newton
  • Newton Centre, a village of Newton
  • Newton Highlands, a village of Newton
  • Newton Lower Falls, a village of Newton
  • Newton Upper Falls, a village of Newton
  • Newtonville, a village of Newton
  • Nonantum, a village of Newton
  • Thompsonville, a village of Newton
  • Waban, a village of Newton
• North Reading
• Pepperell
  • East Pepperell, a village of Pepperell
• Reading
• Sherborn
• Shirley
• Somerville, a city
• Stoneham
• Stow
• Sudbury
• Tewksbury*
• Townsend
• Tyngsborough*
• Wakefield
• Waltham, a city
• Watertown, officially called a town but legally a city
• Wayland
  • Cochituate, a village of Wayland.
• Westford*
  • Forge Village, a village of Westford.
  • Graniteville, a village of Westford.
  • Nabnasset, a village of Westford.
• Weston
• Wilmington*
• Winchester
• Woburn, a city

* denotes a municipality of Middlesex-North.^[21]

See also

• Middlesex, historic county of England
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
• Middlesex Fells
• Middlesex Community College (Massachusetts)
• Middlesex Turnpike (Massachusetts)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Corrected Census 2000 Counts
2. ^ Middlesex County, Massachusetts detailed profile - houses, real estate, cost of living, wages, work, agriculture, ancestries, and more
3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Sahadi, Jeanne (March 28, 2006). "Top 10 millionaire counties". CNN. http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/28/news/economy/millionaires/. 
5. ^ Davis, William T. Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, p. 44. The Boston History Company, 1895.
6. ^ Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) c.34B, s.1
7. ^ MGL c.34, s.4
8. ^ Middlesex County Directory: 1993-1995, (Cambridge: Middlesex County Commissioners Office, 1995)
9. ^ MGL c.34B, s.10
10. ^ MGL c.34B, s.2
11. ^ MGL c.36, s.1
12. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
13. ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/ma190090.txt
14. ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_QTPL&prodType=table
15. ^ http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/
16. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
17. ^ DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000
18. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
19. ^ S1901. Income in the Past 12 Months (In 2009 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)
20. ^ "Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 13, 2010" (PDF). Massachusetts Elections Division. http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele10/enrollment_count_regdt_10132010.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-14. 
21. ^ Middlesex-North Registry of Deeds

• History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume 1 (A-H), Volume 2 (L-W) by Samuel Adams Drake, published 1879 and 1880. 572 and 505 pages.
• Ancient Middlesex with Brief Biographical Sketches. By Levi Swanton Gould, published 1905, 366 pages.

External links

• Middlesex County Sheriff's Department
• Walling & Gray. 1871 Map of Middlesex County Plate 44-45 from the 1871 Atlas of Massachusetts.
• National Register of Historic Places listing for Middlesex Co., Massachusetts
• Middlesex County entry from Hayward's New England Gazetteer of 1839
• Map of cities and towns of Massachusetts
• Massachusetts County Map
• History of Middlesex County by Samual Adams Drake, 1880. Contains histories of each town in the county.
• History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, edited by Duane Hamilton Hurd. J. W. Lewis & Co., Philadelphia. 1890.
• Middlesex North District Registry of Deeds
• Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds
• League of Women Voters, Massachusetts: County Government

Coordinates: 42°29′N 71°23′W / 42.49°N 71.39°W / 42.49; -71.39