Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, United States. A suburb of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, its population was 32,091 in the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

U.S. Census. It is the home of Olin College.

History

Early settlement

Needham was first settled in 1680 with the purchase of a tract of land measuring by from Chief Nehoiden for the sum of 10 pounds, of land, and 40 shillings worth of corn. It was officially incorporated in 1711. Originally part of the North Parish of Dedham, Needham split from Dedham and was named after the town of

Needham Market Needham Market is a small town in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, set in the Gipping Valley. Nearby villages include Barking, Suffolk, Barking, Darmsden, Badley and Creeting St Mary. The town is located just east of the A14 road ( ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England. Just 15 months after asking for their own church, 40 men living on the north side of the Charles River suddenly asked the General Court to separate them from Dedham. Their petition cited the inadequate services provided, namely schools and churches. They also said that, if they were simply to be made a precinct instead of a separate town, that they would suffer political reprisals. Dedham agreed that the services were inadequate and did not oppose the separation, but did try to reduce the amount of land the separatists were seeking. Dedham also asked for a delay of one year. The General Court agreed with the petitioners, however, and created the new town of Needham with the original boundaries requested. Those who remained in Dedham still held rights to the unallotted lands in Needham, however, and any decrease in taxes would be offset by a decrease in expenditures. There may have also been some satisfaction in separating themselves from those on the other side of the 1704 power struggle. By the 1770s settlers in the western part of the town who had to travel a long distance to the meeting house on what is now Central Avenue sought to form a second

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in the town. Opposition to this desire created conflict, and in 1774 a mysterious fire destroyed the existent meeting house. Some time afterwards the West Parish was formed.

Growth and industry

In 1857, the City of

began a project to fill in the Back Bay with landfill by filling the tidewater flats of the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

. The fill to reclaim the bay from the water was obtained from Needham, Massachusetts from the area of present-day Route 128. The firm of Goss and Munson, railroad contractors, built of railroad from Needham and their 35-car trains made 16 trips a day to Back Bay. The filling of present-day Back Bay was completed by 1882; filling reached Kenmore Square in 1890, and finished in the Fens in 1900. The project was the largest of a number of

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

projects, beginning in 1820, which, over the course of time, more than doubled the size of the original Boston peninsula. In 1865, William Carter established a knitting mill company in Needham Heights that would eventually become a major manufacturer and leading brand of children's apparel in the United States. The site of Mill #1 currently houses the Avery Manor assisted living center, while Mill #2 stood along the shores of Rosemary Lake. By the 1960s, the company owned seven mills in Massachusetts and the south. The Carter family sold the business in 1990, after which Carter's, Inc. moved its headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia. In the late 1860s William Emerson Baker moved to Needham. A notably wealthy man due to his having improved the mechanical

sewing machine Diagram of a modern sewing machine Animation of a modern sewing machine as it stitches A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolutio ...

, Baker assembled a parcel of land exceeding and named it Ridge Hill Farm. He built two man made lakes on his property, including Sabrina lake near present-day Locust Lane. Baker turned part of his property into an amusement park with exotic animals, tunnels, trick floors and mirrors. In 1888 he built a sizable hotel, near the intersection of present-day Whitman Road and Charles River Street, called the Hotel Wellesley which had a capacity of over 300 guests. The hotel burned to the ground on December 19, 1891. In 1891, George Walker, Boston owner of a lithograph company, and Gustavos Gordon, scientist, formed Walker-Gordon Laboratories to develop processes for the prevention of contamination of milk and to answer the call by enlightened physicians for better babies' milk formulas. This plant was located in the Charles River Village section of Needham with another large facility in New Jersey. The scientific dairy production facilities of the Walker-Gordon Dairy Farm were widely advertised and utilized modern advancements in the handling of milk products.

Incorporation of Wellesley

In 1881, the West Parish was separately incorporated as the town of Wellesley. The following year, Needham and Wellesley high schools began playing an annual

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

game on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

, now the second-longest running high school football rivalry in the United States (and longest such contest on Thanksgiving). Also the longest running public high school rivalry. In 2013, Wellesley broke a three-year Thanksgiving game losing streak to the Needham Rockets, defeating them 22–6. The Wellesley Raiders now hold a 60–57–9 advantage in the historic rivalry. With the loss of the West Parish to Wellesley, the town lost its town hall and plans to build a new one began in 1902 with the selection of a building committee. The cornerstone was laid by the Grand Lodge of Masons on September 2, 1902, and the building was dedicated on December 22, 1903. The total cost for the hall was $57,500 including furnishings. Because it was located on the town common, the cost did not include land as none was purchased. In 2011, the town hall was extensively refurbished and expanded. In the process, the second-floor meeting hall was restored to its original function and beauty.

Recent history

Needham's population grew by over 50 percent during the 1930s. In 2005, Needham became the first jurisdiction in the world to raise the age to legally buy

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

products to 21.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of 12.7 square miles (32.9 km²), of which 12.6 square miles (32.7 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km²) is water. Needham's area is roughly in the shape of an acute, northward-pointing triangle. The

forms nearly all of the southern and northeastern boundaries, the town line with Wellesley forming the third, northwestern one. In addition to Wellesley on the northwest, Needham borders Newton and the

West Roxbury West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the village of Chestnut Hill and the town of Brookline to the north, the city of Newton to the northwest, t ...

section of

on the northeast, and

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

, Westwood, and Dedham on the south. The majority of Cutler Park is in Needham and is located along the Charles River and the border with Newton and West Roxbury. Elevations in Needham range from 85 feet above sea level at Rosemary Meadows to 180 feet at Needham Square and 300 feet at Bird's Hill.

Climate

Needham has a

warm-summer humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfb'' under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system), with high

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

and

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

year-round.

Demographics

As of the 2020

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, there were 32,091 people, 10,801 households, and 8,480 families residing in the town. The population density was . The racial makeup of the town was 82.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.9%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.1% Native American, 8.9% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 3.2% of the population. There were 10,801 households, out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present and 21.5% were non-families. Of all households 23.4% were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.23. In the town, the population was laid out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males. According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $116,867, and the median income for a family was $144,042. Males had a median income of $76,459 versus $47,092 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $56,776. About 1.6% of families and 2.5% 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 ...

, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Needham uses the old style town government, with a representative town meeting. Also, the populace of Needham elects a Select Board, which is essentially the executive branch of the town government. The town is part of the

Massachusetts Senate's Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex district Massachusetts Senate's Norfolk, Worcester and Middlesex district, formerly Massachusetts Senate's Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex district, in the United States is one of 40 legislative districts of the Massachusetts Senate. Prior to redistricti ...

Economy

Needham is primarily a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

and

commuter Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

suburban district located outside of Boston. The northern side of town beyond the

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

/ Route 128 beltway, however, was developed for light industry shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Many restaurants and food companies are based in Needham. More recently, Needham has begun to attract high technology and internet firms, such as PTC and

TripAdvisor Tripadvisor is an American company that operates online travel agency, travel agencies, comparison shopping websites, and mobile apps with user-generated content. Its namesake brand, Tripadvisor.com, operates in 40 countries and 20 languages, and ...

, to this part of town.

Education

The Town of Needham operates one high school, Needham High School, which underwent a $62-million renovation that was completed in 2009; two middle schools: William F. Pollard Middle School, for seventh and eighth grade, and High Rock School, for sixth grade only; and five elementary schools for grades K–5: John Eliot Elementary School, Sunita L. Williams Elementary School, William Mitchell Elementary School, Newman Elementary School, and Broadmeadow Elementary School. Needham recently finished building the newest elementary school, Sunita L. Williams Elementary School, to replace the aging Hillside Elementary School. The newest school opened in the fall of 2019. Needham is also home to Catholic schools such as St. Joseph's Elementary School, and Monsignor Haddad Middle School, as well as St. Sebastian's School, a Catholic school for boys in grades 7–12. St. Sebastian's is part of the rigorous Independent School League. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering is also located in Needham.

Transportation

The

/ Route 128 circumferential highway that circles Boston passes through Needham, with three exits providing access to the town. Massachusetts Route 135 also passes through the town.

Commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

service from Boston's

South Station South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan I ...

is provided by the

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

with four stops in Needham on its

Needham Line The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just ...

: Needham Heights, Needham Center, Needham Junction and Hersey.

Media

Needham is part of the Greater

media market and acts as an

antenna farm An antenna farm, satellite dish farm or dish farm is an area dedicated to television or radio telecommunications transmitting or receiving antenna equipment, such as C band (IEEE), C, Ku band, Ku or Ka band, Ka Band (radio), band satellite dish ...

that houses many of the

transmitters In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna with the purpose of signal transmissi ...

for local media. In addition to ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' (and its Your Town Needham website) and ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'' newspapers, there are two local weekly newspapers, the ''Needham Times'' (published by Gatehouse Media, Inc.) and ''Needham Hometown Weekly'' (published by Hometown Publications, LLC), and a website owned by AOL called ''Needham Patch''. The studios of television stations

WCVB-TV WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue in ...

(5 Boston, ABC), WBTS-CD (15

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua () is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. It is on ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

), WUTF-TV (27

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

UniMás UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. ...

), WNEU (60

Merrimack, New Hampshire Merrimack is a New England town, town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 26,632 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. There are four villages in the town: Merrimack Village (formerly known as So ...

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...

), and WUNI (66

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

) are located in Needham, as are the transmitters of WCVB-TV,

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...

(4 Boston,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS List of PBS member stations, member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Affiliated stations and facilities WGBH-TV is the Flagship (broadcasting), ...

(2 Boston,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

WGBX-TV WGBX-TV (channel 44), branded GBH 44, is the secondary PBS member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation alongside WGBH-TV (channel 2) and originates from studios on Guest St ...

(44 Boston,

), WBTS-CD (15

WFXT WFXT (channel 25) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its studios are located on Fox Drive (near the Boston-Providence Turnpi ...

(25 Boston, Fox),

WSBK-TV WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS outlet WBZ-TV (channel 4). The two stations share studios on Soldiers Field R ...

(38 Boston,

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

), WUTF-TV, WNEU (60

), and

WFXZ-CD WFXZ-CD (channel 24) is a Class A television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The station is owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation. WFXZ-CD's studios are located in Woburn. Under a channel sharing arrangement, WFXZ-CD sha ...

(24 Boston, Biz TV). The television towers are also the sites of FM radio stations

WBUR-FM WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. Its programming is also known as WBUR News. The station is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and W ...

WKLB-FM WKLB-FM (102.5 Hertz, MHz, "Country 102.5") is a country music, country radio station licensed to Waltham, Massachusetts, and serving Greater Boston. WKLB's studios are located in Waltham. The transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts, ...

, and several backup facilities for other stations. NBC also opened up 160,000 square foot studio facility and operations center in Needham, in 2020. In addition to the stations listed above, the facility is also home to

New England Cable News New England Cable News (NECN) is a regional 24-hour cable news television network owned and operated by NBCUniversal (as part of the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division, both ultimately owned by Comcast) serving the New England reg ...

and NBC Sports Boston. The Needham Channel provides

public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...

subscribers in Needham. PEG

Public, educational, and government access Public-access television (sometimes called community-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 special ...

programming is produced and delivered through three channels—a community channel, a municipal channel and an educational channel. The three channels are available on the channel lineups of each of the three franchised cable TV providers provided—

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

, RCN, and

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

. Selected content is also available for streaming through The Needham Channel's web site. Programming on The Needham Channel includes: * Municipal meetings – Board of Selectmen, School Committee, Zoning Board of Appeals, Town Meeting * News, Public Affairs and Education – The Needham Channel News (a weekly live local news program), Needham Schools Spotlight * Sports – High school sporting events * Locally produced programs – Inside Talk, Clelia's Cucina Italiana, The Language of Business, What's My House Worth, services from Needham houses of worship * Programs from other Public Access Stations * Community Bulletin Board * Men of Constant Sorrow

radio station WEEI (850 AM) transmits from a three-tower site south of the town recycling transfer station. Needham has two radio station studio locations, that of Concord-licensed WBNW (1120 AM) located at 144 Gould Street, and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

licensed WNTN (1550 AM) located at 31 Fremont Street, across I-95 from WCVB-TV. Needham High School also released several forms of media to its students and members of the town, including its student newspape
The Hilltopper
the students news video broadcast NHSN, and "NHS News from the Hill", which is released by members of the administration.

Notable people

Academics

* Ananda Coomaraswamy, art historian, philosopher, and Indologist *

Nelson Goodman Henry Nelson Goodman (7 August 1906 – 25 November 1998) was an American philosopher, known for his work on counterfactuals, mereology, the problem of induction, irrealism, and aesthetics. Life and career Goodman was born in Somerville, Ma ...

, philosopher * Thomas Huckle Weller, a Nobel Prize-winning virologist

Actors

* Edwin McDonough, actor *

Harold Russell Harold John Avery Russell (January 14, 1914 – January 29, 2002) was an American World War II veteran and actor. After losing his hands during his military service, Russell was cast in the epic drama film ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (1946 ...

, actor *

Sarah Saltzberg Sarah Saltzberg is an American actress and singer. Personal Saltzberg is a native of Needham, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Boston University's theatre performance program. Her brother, Adam Saltzberg, is a reality television producer. She al ...

, actress/singer and star of Broadway's ''

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, with a book written by Rachel Sheinkin, created by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional ...

'' *

Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''

Tom Virtue Tom Virtue (born November 19, 1957) is an Americans, American actor. He is known for his roles in the television series ''Even Stevens'' (2000–2003) and ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (2008–2013). Filmography Film Television ...

, actor

Artists

* Alvan Fisher, landscape artist * Edmund H. Garrett, prolific 19th- and 20th-century book illustrator * Pietro Pezzati, portrait artist * Michael John Straub, artist * Walter E. Ware, architect *

N.C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was a student of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

, artist

Business

* Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com

Music

* Niia Bertino, Columbia recording artist featured on

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

's "Sweetest Girl" single * John Boecklin, drummer/guitarist/songwriter for the metal band DevilDriver * Robert Freeman, pianist, musicologist, and longtime director of the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

* Mia Matsumiya, violinist of the

avant-rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...

band Kayo Dot *

Joey McIntyre Joseph Mulrey McIntyre (born December 31, 1972) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He is best known as the youngest member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. He has sold over one million records worldwide as a solo artist and work ...

, singer-songwriter and actor * Marissa Nadler, singer * Tiger Okoshi, jazz trumpet player * Richard Patrick, founder of industrial band Filter and former member of

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

Politics

Charlie Baker Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician serving as the sixth president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 72nd governor of Massa ...

, former governor of Massachusetts * Gary L. Daniels, member of the

New Hampshire General Court The General Court of New Hampshire is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The lower house is the New Hampshire House of Representatives with 400 members, and the upper house is the New Hampshire Senate with 24 me ...

* Peter DeFazio, United States congressman from

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

* Cheryl Jacques, first openly-lesbian member of the Massachusetts Senate and later president of the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American politician, diplomat, and financier serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected governor i ...

, governor of New Jersey

Sports

* Edward T. Barry,

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and coach * Dave Cadigan, offensive lineman in the NFL * Mike Condon, goaltender in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, was born in Needham * Robbie Ftorek,

coach and star player in both the NHL and WHA * Pete Gaudet (born 1942), college basketball coach * Mike Grier, retired player of the

* Noah Hanifin, defenseman with the

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

and

All-Star * Steven Hauschka,

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

kicker * Eric Johnson,

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

tight end * Mike Lalor, former defenseman and

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

winner with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

* Kristine Lilly, former US women's soccer player * Frank Malzone, former third baseman for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

* Rachel Mayer, US Olympic figure skater *

Mike Milbury Michael James Milbury (born June 17, 1952) is an American former professional ice hockey player and current sports announcer. He played for twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), all for the Boston Bruins. He helped the Bruins reach ...

, sportscaster and former member of the Boston Bruins * Tom O'Regan, former forward for the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Terriers and the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

* Aly Raisman, US women's artistic gymnast and six-time Olympic medalist * Karl Ravech,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

'' Baseball Tonight'' anchor *

Derek Sanderson Derek Michael Sanderson (born June 16, 1946), nicknamed "Turk", is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and two-time Stanley Cup champion who helped transform the culture of the professional athlete in the 1970s era. He set up the e ...

, former Boston Bruins player * Milt Schmidt, ice hockey player and manager for the Boston Bruins * Mac Steeves (born 1994), soccer player * Harry Swartz (born 1996), soccer player

Television

* Marsha Bemko, executive producer of ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

'' * Lee Eisenberg, writer for ''The Office'' *

Steve Hely Steve Hely is an American writer who is the co-creator of Common Side Effects, premiering on Adult Swim in February 2025. Hely has written for the television shows ''Late Show with David Letterman'' (receiving an Emmy nomination for Outstanding ...

, writer of ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...

'' * Allison Jones, who cast ''The Office'' and ''

The Good Place ''The Good Place'' is an American fantasy-comedy television series created by Michael Schur for NBC. The series premiered on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020, after four seasons consisting of 53 episodes. Although the pl ...

'' * Ben Karlin, executive producer of ''

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' and ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

'' *

Scott Rosenberg Scott Rosenberg (born April 24, 1963) is an American screenwriter, film producer, and actor. Life and career Rosenberg was born in Needham, Massachusetts, to a Jewish family. After high school graduation in 1981, he attended Boston Universit ...

, screenwriter

Literature

* Janet Tashjian, the author of '' The Gospel According to Larry'' and the '' My Life as a Book'' series

Other

* Khassan Baiev, a Chechen surgeon who treated

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

soldiers and Chechen rebels, most notably

Shamil Basayev Shamil Salmanovich Basayev (; ; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his '' kunya'' Abu Idris, was a Chechen guerrilla leader who served as a senior military commander in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He held the rank ...

and Salman Raduyev *

Jared Freid Jared Freid is an American comedian, podcaster, writer, and television host. He was the host of the 2018 NBC game show '' How Low Will You Go: Snapchat'', which aired on the social media platform Snapchat. He has performed stand-up comedy at Ju ...

, comedian * James S. Gracey,

commandant of the Coast Guard Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

* Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, a reformist member of the Iranian Parliament who teaches women's studies at the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

* Jen Kirkman, stand-up comedian, television writer, and actress * Chester Nimitz, Jr., a retired United States Navy rear admiral and World War II submarine hero * Sunita Williams,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut * William G. Young,

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose Jurisdiction (area), territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth (U.S. state), C ...

judge

Citations

Works cited

* *

External links

Town of Needham

Needham Free Public Library

Needham Historical Society
{{Authority control 1680 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Populated places established in 1680 Towns in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Towns in Massachusetts