Wakefield is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in Middlesex County,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in the Greater

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

, incorporated in

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege of ...

and located about north-northwest of

Downtown Boston Downtown Boston is the central business district of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The city of Boston was founded in 1630. The largest of the city's commercial districts, Downtown is the location of many corporate or regional headquarters; ...

. Wakefield's population was 27,090 at the 2020 census. Wakefield offers an assortment of activities around the local lake,

Lake Quannapowitt Lake Quannapowitt is a lake in Wakefield, Massachusetts. It is one of two large lakes in Wakefield, the other being the man-made Crystal Lake. The lake is named for Quonopohit, the Naumkeag Native American who signed a deed to the town that w ...

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 Saugus River is a river in Massachusetts. The river is long, drains a watershed of approximately , and passes through Wakefield, Lynnfield, Saugus, and Lynn as it meanders east and south from its source in Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield ...

. Thomas Parker (1609–1683) was one of the founders of Reading, and his home was in what is now downtown Wakefield (on the east side of Crescent Street where it intersects Princess Street). He also was a founder of the 12th Congregational Church (now the First Parish Congregational Church), and served as deacon there. He was a selectman of Reading and was appointed a judicial commissioner. There is evidence that Parker was "conspicuous in naming the town" and that he was related to the Parker family of

Little Norton Norton-sub-Hamdon is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of the English county of Somerset, situated five miles west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 743. The village of Chiselborough is to the south, and the v ...

, England, who owned land by the name of Ryddinge. 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 Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

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

. 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

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 The Wakefield Rattan Company was the world's leading manufacturer of rattan furniture and objects in the second half of the 19th century. Founded by Cyrus Wakefield in 1851 in South Reading, Massachusetts (now Wakefield), it perfected machinery f ...

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, is located at 1 Lafayette Street.Agenda – March 23, 2009 (verifies address)
Retrieved May 5, 2012. In 1856 the South Reading Public Library was established, which later became the Beebe Town Library. In 1923, the

Lucius Beebe Memorial Library The Lucius Beebe Memorial Library is the main library for the town of Wakefield, Massachusetts. The building that currently holds the town's main library was opened in 1923 and is named after the first library commissioner. History Originally, t ...

was built and established by Junius Beebe, the son of Lucius Beebe (1810–1884). The first weekly newspaper in Wakefield was established in 1858. One of the oldest and largest manufacturers of flying

model airplane A model aircraft is a small unmanned aircraft. Many are replicas of real aircraft. Model aircraft are divided into two basic groups: flying and non-flying. Non-flying models are also termed static, display, or shelf models. Aircraft manufactur ...

toys in the world, Paul K. Guillow, Inc. is located in Wakefield. The company is particularly notable for its extensive line of

balsa wood ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' bei ...

model airplane kits.

Route 128 The following highways are numbered 128: Canada * New Brunswick Route 128 * Ontario Highway 128 (former) * Prince Edward Island Route 128 Costa Rica * National Route 128 India * National Highway 128 (India) Japan * Japan National 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 Comverse Technology, Inc., often referred to as simply Comverse, was a technology company located in Woodbury, New York in the United States, that developed and marketed telecommunications software. The company focused on providing value-added ...

, a digital telecommunications equipment manufacturer, which later bought the building; Wakefield became headquarters of its eventual spinoff,

Comverse Comverse Technology, Inc., often referred to as simply Comverse, was a technology company located in Woodbury, Nassau County, New York, Woodbury, New York in the United States, that developed and marketed telecommunications software. The company ...

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 due to unseasonably cold weather that brought diminishing returns among tourists. 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". The bicentennial of the incorporation of Wakefield took place in 2012, whereas 2018 was the

sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saint ...

of the 1868 town name change from "South Reading" to "Wakefield."

2000 shooting spree

On December 26, 2000, seven workers at

Edgewater Technology Alithya is a North American digital strategy and technologies company. The company employs over 3,900 people in Canada, the United States and internationally. History Alithya was established in 1992 by Ghyslain Rivard, with the help of a doz ...

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 Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

. However, the prosecution asserted that the killings were motivated by his employer's garnishing of his wages to the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

, as he failed to pay back taxes. He was found guilty of seven counts of

first degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

and sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

. In 2008 this case was studied on the psychology program ''

Most Evil ''Most Evil'' is an American forensics television program on Investigation Discovery, first aired in 2006, presented by forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael H. Stone of Columbia University during the program's first three seasons, and by forensic ...

''.

2021 incident on Interstate 95 (I-95)

On July 3, 2021, armed members of the group " Rise of the Moors" were approached by police resulting in a standoff, blocking traffic along a section of

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

that runs through Wakefield. Eleven individuals were peacefully detained, ending the incident.

Geography

Wakefield is located at (42.501345, −71.071324).

Reading, Massachusetts Reading ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of central Boston. The population was 25,518 at the 2020 census. History Settlement and American independence Many of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's original settle ...

(northwest), Melrose, Massachusetts (south),

Stoneham, Massachusetts Stoneham ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, nine miles (14.5 km) north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offer convenient access to Bos ...

(southwest),

Lynnfield, Massachusetts Lynnfield is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 13,000. Lynnfield initially consisted of two distinct villages with a single governing body. Lynnfield Center comprises mostly ...

(northeast), and

Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron works in North America. History Native Americans ...

(southeast) border Wakefield.

Route 129 The following highways are numbered 129: Canada * Ontario Highway 129 * Prince Edward Island Route 129 Costa Rica * National Route 129 India * National Highway 129 (India) Japan * Japan National Route 129 United States * Interstate 129 * ...

runs through Wakefield as its Main Street.

skirt the northwestern border of Wakefield as one road known as the "Yankee Division Highway". Wakefield Common

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 5.56%, is water. Wakefield has two lakes, Crystal Lake and

. 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 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,"

covers an area of . Its outlet is the

to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Wakefield Common The Common District encompasses the main civic center of Wakefield, Massachusetts. It is centered on the historic town common, just south of Lake Quannapowitt, which was laid in 1644, when it became the heart of Old Reading. The area was separ ...

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.

Climate

Wakefield harbors a climate typical to the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

, with cold, snowy winters, cool, rainy springs, cool, sunny autumns, and hot, humid summers. During the summers, many droughts occur, and lakes and other means of water often go down a couple of inches. ; Notable recent storms The town received, along with many other parts of Massachusetts, of snow during a January 2011

Nor'Easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use ...

. Wakefield also received or of snow during the February 2013 Nor'Easter known as Winter Storm Nemo, and snowfall in Wakefield was unofficially reported as or following the January 2015 Nor'Easter known as Winter Storm Juno. In 2020, Wakefield suffered significant impacts from two major storms: firstly, on August 24, 2020, the town took the brunt of an exceptionally severe thunderstorm cell that included a microburst. Downed power lines, snapped trees, and a house fire caused by a lightning strike were reported, with damage being especially heavy in the town's Greenwood section. Then, two months later on October 30, 2020, Wakefield was hit by a “Snowtober”—an unseasonable October snowstorm. The storm pelted much of Greater Boston with record setting snowfall for the month of October, exceeding the previous October high snowfall, in October 2011, by about 2 inches.

Demographics

2010 U.S. Census demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 24,932 people, 9,994 households, 10,500 housing units, and 6,547 families residing in the Town of Wakefield.American FactFinder – 2010 United States Census Results for Wakefield, Massachusetts
/ref>

Racial makeup, 2010

The racial makeup of the Town in 2010 was: *94.5% (23,573)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

*0.9% (229) Black or African American *0.1% (30) Native American and Alaska Native *2.6% (660)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

(the leading Asian nationalities being

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

with 1.1% or 267 people and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

with 0.7% or 174 people) *0.0% (0)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

*0.6% (150) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

*1.2% (290) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 2.3% (575) of the population.

Household statistics, 2010

In the town in 2010, there were 9,994 households, out of which: *28.3% (2,825) had children under the age of 18 living with them *52.7% (5,265) were a husband and a wife living together *3.2% (323) had a male householder with no wife present *9.6% (959) had a female householder with no husband present. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.07.

Age classifications, 2010

In the town in 2010, the population was spread out agewise with: *5.6% (1,401) under the age of 5 years *5.9% (1,478) between the ages of 5 and 9 *6.2% (1,534) between the ages of 10 and 14 *5.5% (1,365) between the ages of 15 and 19 *4.7% (1,176) between the ages of 20 and 24 *6.1% (1,530) between the ages of 25 and 29 *6.2% (1,534) between the ages of 30 and 34 *6.8% (1,705) between the ages of 35 and 39 *7.9% (1,981) between the ages of 40 and 44 *8.6% (2,137) between the ages of 45 and 49 *8.3% (2,066) between the ages of 50 and 54 *7.3% (1,816) between the ages of 55 and 59 *6.2% (1,538) between the ages of 60 and 64 *4.2% (1,039) between the ages of 65 and 69 *3.3% (811) between the ages of 70 and 74 *2.5% (633) between the ages of 75 and 79 *2.4% (607) between the ages of 80 and 84 *2.3% (581) aged 85 years or older. The median age was 41.9 years, 40.6 for males and 43.0 for females.

2007–2008 demographics

The population of Wakefield was 24,915 as of July 2007. The town's population was composed of 11,814 (47.4%) males and 13,101 (52.6%) females. The median resident age was 38.9 years, higher than the Massachusetts median age of 36.5. In 2008, the

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

was $85,011, about $20,000 above Massachusetts as a whole. The estimated income per capita was $39,918. The estimated median property value in 2008 was $416,592, up from $240,300 in 2000, representing a $176,292 increase.

Racial makeup, 2007–2008

Racially, Wakefield broke down as: * 96.4%

* 1.4%

* 0.8%

* 0.4%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

* 0.01% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander * 0.8% from

two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

Ancestry breakdown, 2007–2008

Ancestries in Wakefield broke down thus * 33%

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

* 28.5%

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

* 13.4%

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

* 6.3% French * 5.5%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

* 4.8% French Canadian The

cost of living index A cost-of-living index is a theoretical price index that measures relative cost of living over time or regions. It is an index that measures differences in the price of goods and services, and allows for substitutions with other items as pric ...

was listed as 121.4, 21.4 points above the U.S. average.

2000 U.S. Census demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 24,804 people, 9,747 households, and 6,608 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 3,321.6 people per square mile (1,282.0/km). There were 9,937 housing units at an average density of 1,330.7 per square mile (513.6/km). The racial makeup of the town was 96.94%

, 0.45%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

, 0.08% Native American, 1.43%

, 0.01%

, 0.20% from

, and 0.90% from two or more races.

of any race were 0.82% of the population. There were 9,747 households, out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.1% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% 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 3.09. In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.6% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $66,117, and the median income for a family was $77,834. Males had a median income of $51,591 versus $39,327 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $30,369. About 1.7% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Wakefield holds yearly major

town meeting Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...

s to discuss the budget. As it is a

, not a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, Wakefield's main decisions are made, in the New England style, by a Board of Selectmen, which works in collaboration with a

town administrator A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief exec ...

. Stephen Maio is the

as of 2022. Administrator Maio hosts a "Town Administrator's Report" monthly on the

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

cable TV station, WCAT-TV"Town Administrator's Report Going Live" – WickedLocal
. Retrieved March 21, 2013. (about which more below). A number of other matters are handled by different committees in the town, such as the Finance Committee, or FinCom, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the

School Board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

. The Town Hall houses the office of the Town Administrator and the Finance Committee, as well as other town boards and offices. Board of Selectmen/Town Council meetings, formerly held at the Town Hall, have in recent years moved to the studios of WCAT-TV.

List of Wakefield Governmental Positions

Town Council ( Board of Selectmen)

The Board of Selectmen was the name of Wakefield's primary governing body until it changed its name to the "

Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...

" in 2018 in an effort to maintain gender neutrality. Since that time, "Selectmen" have been called "Councilors." A single Councilor term lasts for three years; barring special elections, annual town elections take place each April. The Town Council consisted of, as of August 2022, Chair Julie Smith-Galvin, Vice-Chair Mehreen N. Butt, Anne P. Danehy, Edward F. Dombroski, Jr., Jonathan Chines, Michael J. McLane, and Robert E. Vincent. with Sherri A. Dalton as clerk to the Town Council,Board of Selectmen Minutes – 2013
and Thomas Mullen as town counsel.

Recent Selectmen Elections

=2012–2016

= 2012 Brian Falvey replaced Albert Turco, who did not seek re-election, in a Selectmen's seat in town elections of April 24, 2012,One Stop Election Info: Selectman Candidates – Wakefield, MA Patch
Retrieved May 5, 2012. and Paul R. DiNocco renewed a term for three years. 2013 In 2013, Selectmen John B. Encarnacao and James E. Good announced that they would not seek reelection. Vice Chair Tiziano Doto was reelected to a three-year term while former Board of Health member Ann Santos won a seat. Former Selectwoman Phyllis Hull returned to the Board with a term lasting through 2016. 2014 In 2014, Selectmen Patrick S. Glynn and Betsy Sheeran ran in a three-way election against one challenger, Roland A. Cote. Both Glynn and Sheeran renewed their terms through 2017. 2016 (April) Phyllis Hull and Ann Santos both ran for re-election on April 26, 2016, in a field of five. Santos renewed her term; Hull lost out to new Board of Selectmen add-on Anthony J. Longo and Peter J. May. 2016 Special Election (July) A vacancy on the Board of Selectmen was filled by a Special Town Election held on July 19, 2016. The candidates to fill the vacancy were announced as Daniel L. Benjamin, Jr., Mehreen N. Butt, Christopher J. Callanan, Nathaniel David Gayman, Allyson Gael Houghton, and Phyllis J. Hull. Hull won the election by 31 votes, avenging her defeat of three months prior and filling a vacant seat on the Board of Selectmen. Hull's new term lasted through April 2017.

=2017–2020

= 2017 The 2017 town election was held Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The only incumbent Selectperson on the ballot in this election cycle was Phyllis J. Hull, who was defeated by the two top vote getters, Edward Dombroski Jr. and Mehreen N. Butt. 2018 In the 2018 town election, held on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, two seats were up for election. Paul R. DiNocco renewed his Selectman's seat while a newcomer to the Wakefieldian political scene, Julie Smith-Galvin, defeated incumbent Selectman Brian Falvey. 2019 Three seats for Town Councilors were to be decided in 2019. Ann Santos and Peter J. May, both incumbents, renewed their terms through 2022. However, Anthony Longo was voted off of the Board of Selectmen/Town Council after receiving fewer votes than the only new member to be elected in 2019, Jonathan Chines. 2020 In 2020, Councilors Mehreen N. Butt and Edward F. Dombroski, Jr., held the only open seats. Both cruised to re-election in a race in which each ran virtually unopposed, with no competition except for write-in candidates, and renewed their terms through 2023.

=2021–2022

= 2021 2021 featured a three-way race between one incumbent, one Finance Committee member, and one newcomer. Town Councillor Julie Smith-Galvin and Finance Committee member Anne P. Danehy received a plurality of votes, knocking hopeful Brandon Flanagan out of the race. The 2021 election also featured a heated ballot question over whether or not to keep the Wakefield Warriors logo and mascot; voters chose to maintain the status quo, 2,851–2,337. 2022 Newcomer Robert E. Vincent was voted onto the Town Council in 2022, and incumbents Jonathan Chines and Michael J. McLane were re-elected, renewing their terms through 2025. Aspirant Katie Dolan, the lone woman in the race, finished fourth.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee, colloquially abbreviated FinCom, is responsible for matters of finance in the town and for setting a budget for the town and its various departments to follow. The fifteen-member committee is composed of, as of j August 2022,Town of Wakefield, Massachusetts – Finance Committee
Retrieved April 1, 2016, February 2, 2017, June 27, 2018, March 22, 2019, April 23, 2020, January 26, 2021, and August 14, 2022. Chairman James Sullivan, Vice Chairman Douglas S. Butler, Zachary Sletterink, Joseph Bertrand, Tarae Howell, Edward Bean, Brian Cusack, Dennis Hogan, William J. Boodry, Jr., Stefan Chase, David Mastroianni, Gerard Leeman, Donald Ravenelle, Joseph Tringale, and Evan Kenney.

Board of Appeals

The Wakefield Board of Appeals, alternately known as the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), holds hearings on the second and fourth Wednesday of every monthTown of Wakefield, Massachusetts – Board of Appeals
Retrieved November 10, 2012, April 30, 2014, January 29, 2015, February 2, 2017, March 22, 2019, January 26, 2021, and October 30, 2021. and as of January 2021 consisted of five members, James H. McBain, Ami Wall, Chairperson David Hatfield, Charles Tarbell, and Joseph Pride, with Michael Feeley, Thomas Lucey, and Gregory McIntosh as alternates.

Fence Viewers

Although a somewhat antiquated position, the town of Wakefield, in accordance with other towns in the state of Massachusetts, appoints townspeople to positions of fence viewers. Fence viewers serve advisory positions to property owners before a fence is built on or dividing properties. As of December 2020, Dennis M. Cloherty,Town of Wakefield, Massachusetts – Fence Viewers Committee
Retrieved August 24, 2018, March 22, 2019, and December 8, 2020. John Murray, and Amanda Abbott serve as fence viewers in Wakefield.

World War II Memorial Committee

The Town of Wakefield tasked a fifteen-member committeeTown of Wakefield – World War II Memorial Committee
. Retrieved November 10, 2012. headed by Selectwoman Phyllis Hull to oversee the construction of a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Veterans' Memorial on the Upper Common. The memorial includes the names of 72 Wakefieldians who lost their lives during World War II,Wakefield World War II Veterans Memorial
. Retrieved November 10, 2012. as well as names of all other Wakefieldians who served in the war. The creation of the committee overseeing the project was authorized in 2007, and the memorial was completed in 2011.

Health

MelroseWakefield Hospital MelroseWakefield Hospital is a 174-bed non-profit hospital located in Melrose, Massachusetts. MelroseWakefield Hospital is affiliated with Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford. MelroseWakefield Hospital provides many different areas of patient ...

(formerly Melrose-Wakefield Hospital), a Level II trauma center, is located to the south of Wakefield in nearby Melrose and serves both the town of Wakefield and city of Melrose.

Board of Health

The Wakefield Board of Health (BOH) legislates health policy within the town. As of January 2021, the three-member board is composed of Chair Elaine M. Silva, Vice-Chair Candace Linehan, and Secretary Laurel Skinder Gourville. The BOH works in concert with the Health Department and Health Director Ruth L. Clay.

Wakefield and COVID-19

;Cases As of March 10, 2022, Wakefield had reported 5,795 cases of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

over the course of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. These numbers are indicative of a winter surge exacerbated by the

Omicron variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has spread to become the ...

. 1,205 student cases are reported since Wakefield Public Schools reopened in September.Wakefield, Massachusetts – COVID-19 Dashboard
at ''wakefield.ma.us''. Retrieved October 30, 2021, January 11, 2022 and March 13, 2022. Likely as a result of some individuals getting tested multiple times, the number of tests administered in the town is now more than double the population (26,399 ) of the town itself. ;Vaccinations As of March 10, 2022, 21,425 Wakefieldians, or about 79% of the town population, had been fully

vaccinated A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.< ...

against COVID-19. An additional 2,044 townspeople had received one dose of a two-dose vaccine. In total, as of March 10, 2022, 23,469 Wakefieldians had been at least partially inoculated against COVID-19.

Education

Northeast Metro Regional Vocational School, Wakefield MA

Wakefield is home to two high schools: one public school ( Wakefield High School), and one regional vocational school ( Northeast Vocational). Wakefield contains one middle school, Galvin Middle School, and four elementary schools, Greenwood, Walton, Woodville, and Dolbeare. Doyle School serves as the town's public preschool. The Little Red School House is a former one-room school house building that was last used by kindergarten students on the West Side until the 1990s. It has been preserved and now houses the Wakefield Historical Society.

School Committee

The Wakefield School Committee oversees Wakefield Public Schools,Town of Wakefield, Massachusetts – School Committee
Retrieved January 22, 2021.School Committee — Wakefield Public Schools
Retrieved June 25, 2018. which is currently headed by superintendent Doug Lyons as of January 2021. Lyons chosen as Wakefield school superintendent – WickedLocal Wakefield
Retrieved June 26, 2018. Lyons' Assistant Superintendent is Kara Mauro. The School Committee, as of August 2021, is composed of the following elected members: Chairman Susan Veilleux (2022), Vice-Chair Thomas Markham (2022), Amy Leeman (2024), Kevin Piskadio (2024), Stephen Ingalls (2024), Mike Boudreau (2023), and Ami Wall (2022). The School Committee controls the majority of municipal spending.

Neighborhoods

Wakefield is roughly composed of the following neighborhoods: MBTAGreenwood4

USPS-Satellite Branch-Greenwood, Wakefield, MA 09-05-20

*Greenwood consists of nearly all of Southern Wakefield, bordering the Melrose Highlands neighborhood of Melrose to the south, the Horace Mann neighborhoods of Melrose and Saugus to the south and east, and Stoneham to the west. Although a part of Wakefield, Greenwood is often labeled as a town separate from Wakefield on maps and in atlases, and a satellite U.S. Post Office exists on Main Street in southern Greenwood. *Woodville consists of much of central-eastern Wakefield. *The Downtown/Wakefield Square area extends from just north of the immediate north shore of Crystal Lake (an area known as Wakefield Junction, where North Avenue merges into Main Street) to the southern shores of

. *The West Side encompasses nearly all of Wakefield which is west of Lake Quannapowitt and Crystal Lake. *The East Side, in spite of the name, is not in extreme Eastern Wakefield. Rather, the East Side is about the geographical center of the town, bordering the northeastern shore of Crystal Lake. Woodville is in fact to the east of the "East Side". *Lakeside encompasses northern-central Wakefield and borders the entire eastern shore of Lake Quannapowitt. Lakeside borders

to the north. *Montrose consists of much of northeastern Wakefield, bordering Lynnfield. Aside from Lake Quannapowitt and Crystal Lake, many of Wakefield's smaller ponds and lakes, such as Heron Pond, can be found in the Montrose region.

Points of interest

is a popular recreation area for walkers, joggers, bikers, and rollerbladers. *

. *The

town common Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a ...

is the central park of Wakefield, on the southern edge of

. Events such as summer concerts,

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

festivities, Festival by the Lake, and Festival Italia take place there. *

Breakheart Reservation Breakheart Reservation is a public recreation area covering in the towns of Saugus and Wakefield, Massachusetts. The reservation features a hardwood forest, two freshwater lakes, a winding stretch of the Saugus River, and scenic views of Bos ...

, 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; adjacent to Wakefield Lower Common) *Emmanuel Episcopal Church (Downtown/Wakefield Square) *Unitarian Universalist Church of Wakefield (Main Street) *Most Blessed Sacrament Church (southern Greenwood, on Main Street near the Melrose line) *Restoration Road Church (formerly

Greenwood Union Church Greenwood Union Church is a historic church at 4 Oak Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts. The church was built in 1884 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. History and description The early beginnings of the Greenwood U ...

) (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 as well as on the site of the Baptist Church building. Plans are currently being made to rebuild the church.

Transportation

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track to 141 different stations, with 58 statio ...

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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. 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 Haymarket may refer to: Places Australia * Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia Germany * Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market) Russia * Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...

in downtown Boston stops on Farm Street in front of Wakefield High School; this bus route runs express to Haymarket. Rt. 128/

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 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making ...

runs through nearby Saugus and Lynnfield, while

I-93 Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...

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

Veterans Field (Wakefield, MA) Softball 07 17 12

Wakefield has a strong local sports fan base and a robust youth sports culture. Wakefield High School has popular

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

programs. Wakefield High's football team earned a Division II "Super Bowl" title in 1999,Valachovic, Adam. "Kicking Off the Holiday Gridiron Course Comes Before Turkey as Local Football Foes Continue Tradition", ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', November 24, 2002. pg. 13. and its men's and women's basketball teams won Division II state championships in 1997.

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

is a popular spring and summer sport in the town, with two men's

semiprofessional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consi ...

teams: the Wakefield Merchants, a member of Boston's Intercity Baseball League (and champions of that league in 1978 and 1994), and a team representing the local

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

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.

Annual events

* Town Day * Independence Day Parade / Home Town March (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)

Photo gallery

:''See the top of the page for additional photos.'' File:Lake Quannapowitt.jpg, Lake Quannapowitt File:Main Post Office, Wakefield MA.jpg, Wakefield Post Office File:Massachusetts State Armory, Wakefield MA.jpg, Massachusetts State Armory File:West Ward School, Wakefield MA.jpg, The West Ward School File:Wakefield Common, Wakefield MA.jpg, Wakefield's Upper Common File:Item Building, Wakefield MA.jpg, The headquarters of ''

The Wakefield Daily Item ''The Wakefield Daily Item'' is an independent weekday daily newspaper published in Wakefield, Massachusetts, with issues published Mondays through Fridays. History Fred W. Young printed the first ''Item'' on May 7, 1894, running the paper unti ...

'' File:Flanley's Block, Wakefield MA.jpg, Flanley's Block File:E. Boardman House, Wakefield MA.jpg, E. Boardman House File:House at 7 Salem Street, Wakefield MA.jpg, 7 Salem Street File:Unitarian Universalist Church of Wakefield, MA.jpg, Unitarian Universalist Church of Wakefield

Notable people

* Lucius Morris Beebe, author, gourmand, photographer, railroad historian, journalist, and syndicated columnist born December 9, 1902 in Wakefield (died 1966) * Elizabeth Boit, textile manufacturer Bruce Brown Jr

* William Brewster, ornithologist, born in Wakefield in 1851. * Bruce Brown, born in Dorchester but moved to Wakefield to attend

Wakefield Memorial High School Wakefield Memorial High School is a public school located in Wakefield, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2007-08 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,006 students and 83 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teac ...

, where he starred in basketball for two seasons. He was selected by the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

in the 2018 NBA Draft following a successful college basketball career with the Miami (FL) Hurricanes. Brown currently plays for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

, having previously played with the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

and

. *

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...

, Massachusetts State and US Senator (2010–2013) preceded by Ted Kennedy; defeated in 2012 reelection bid by

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

and in 2014 bid in New Hampshire by

Jeanne Shaheen Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American retired educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Shaheen served as the 78 ...

Joe Cannata Joe Cannata (born January 2, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing with Löwen Frankfurt in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Cannata was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round, 173rd overa ...

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a private Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. Its campus has grown to a campus with nearly 40 ...

goalie and 2009

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

draftee, current

Colorado Eagles The Colorado Eagles are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League. The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hoc ...

goaltender * Carleton S. Coon, anthropologist *

David Dellinger David T. Dellinger (August 22, 1915 – May 25, 2004) was an American pacifist and an activist for nonviolent social change. He achieved peak prominence as one of the Chicago Seven, who were put on trial in 1969. Early life and schooling Delli ...

, radical pacifist and member of the

Chicago Seven The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants—Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner—charged b ...

, born in Wakefield and graduated from Wakefield Memorial High School in 1932 *

Anthony Fabiano Anthony Fabiano (born July 13, 1993) is a scouting assistant for the Cleveland Browns and former American football center. He played college football at Harvard and was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2016. He also ...

, NFL center for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. Attended

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

prior to entering the NFL * John Galvin, US Army general and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander *

Kayla Harrison Kayla Jean Harrison (born July 2, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist and former Olympic and world champion judoka, currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Harrison competed in the weight category in jud ...

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

, two-time Olympic gold medalist (2012 and 2016) and world champion in judo. Kayla was the first American (man or woman) to win an Olympic medal in the sport. *

Israel Horovitz Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio an ...

, playwright and screenwriter born March 31, 1939 in Wakefield. His oeuvre includes several plays about Wakefield, collected in a book known as ''The Wakefield Plays''. Horovitz passed away on November 9, 2020 at the age of 81. Beastie Boy Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz is the son of Israel Horovitz * Mark Kumpel, member of the 1984 US Olympic ice hockey team and former NHL player with the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

, and the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

Dave Lapham Dave Lapham (born June 24, 1952) is a former professional football offensive lineman for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals from 1974 to 1983 and the United States Football League's New Jersey Generals (1984–1985). During hi ...

, former NFL player with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, former USFL player with the New Jersey Generals, current member of the Cincinnati Bengal radio broadcast team *

Rachel Levine Rachel Leland Levine (; born October 28, 1957) is an American pediatrician who has served as the United States assistant secretary for health since March 26, 2021. She is also a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service C ...

, pediatrician who served as Secretary of the

Pennsylvania Department of Health Pennsylvania Department of Health is a cabinet-level agency in Pennsylvania. Secretaries See also * Health department * List of Pennsylvania state agencies State related agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Agencies *Pennsylvania A ...

from 2017 to 2021, and who is currently

Assistant Secretary for Health The assistant secretary for health (ASH) is a senior U.S. government official within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The position is a statutory office () and the holder of the office serves as the United State ...

in the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

. Levine is the first openly transgender four-star officer in the nation's eight uniformed services *

John Lilley John Lilley (born March 3, 1954) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, guitar teacher and landscape gardener, best known for being a member of rock band The Hooters. Early life John Lilley learned to play the guitar at nine years ol ...

, member of the 1994 US Olympic ice hockey team and former NHL player with the

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *'' The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title * ...

* Buffy (Beverly) Sainte Marie, folksinger and composer, born in Canada but raised in Wakefield, graduating from Wakefield Memorial High School in 1958 * James Massone, former contestant on season 2 of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

program ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' *

A. David Mazzone A. David Mazzone (June 3, 1928 – October 25, 2004) served for twenty-six years as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. "He will forever be remembered by the people of Massachuset ...

, Judge for the U.S. District Court in Boston from 1978 until 2004. He is best known for the 1985 court decision mandating the cleanup of Boston Harbor, which ultimately cost $3.8 billion and resulted in the construction of the Deer Island wastewater treatment plant. Mazzone lived in Wakefield from 1959 until his death in 2004 * Charlie Moore, host of NESN's ''Charlie Moore Outdoors'' *

Marcia Pankratz Marcia Anne Pankratz (born October 1, 1964) is an American former field hockey forward and current head coach for the Michigan Wolverines. Pankratz participated in two Summer Olympics. In 1988 she finished in eighth position with ''Team USA'', in ...

, member of the 1988 and 1996 Olympic field hockey team and former head coach of field hockey at the University of Michigan *

Jimmy Pedro James A. Pedro (born October 30, 1970) is an American retired World Championship and Olympic judoka and current judo coach. Pedro currently holds a 7th degree black belt in judo. He is the coach of Kayla Harrison, the first American ever to w ...

, multiple Olympic medalist in judo and former world champion *

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...

, architect considered the father of modernism, born in Boston but lived in Wakefield with his grandparents during his school years *

Richard Tisei Richard R. Tisei (; born August 13, 1962) is an American politician and realtor from Massachusetts. A Republican, he served in both chambers of the Massachusetts General Court for a combined 26 years, eventually becoming Minority Leader in the M ...

, former Massachusetts State Senate Minority Leader and former candidate for Lt. Governor * John Anthony Volpe, three-time Republican governor of Massachusetts, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and Ambassador to Italy; born in Wakefield in 1908

Notes

References

External links

Town of Wakefield official website

{{authority control New England Puritanism Towns in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Towns in Massachusetts 1638 establishments in Massachusetts Populated places established in 1638