Dedham is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest by Westwood, and on the southeast by Canton. The town was first settled by European colonists in 1635.
Norfolk County is located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 725,981. Its county seat is Dedham. It is the fourth most populous county in the United States whose county seat is neither a city nor a borough, and it is the second most populous county that has a county seat at a town. The county was named after the English county of the same name. Two towns, Cohasset and Brookline, are exclaves.
This is a list of properties and districts in Massachusetts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are over 4,300 listings in the state, representing about 5% of all NRHP listings nationwide and the second-most of any U.S. state, behind only New York. Listings appear in all 14 Massachusetts counties.
The history of Dedham, Massachusetts, from 1800 to 1899 saw growth and change come to the town. In fact, the town changed as much during the first few decades of the 19th century as it did in all of its previous history.
The Colburn School–High Street Historic District is a linear historic district encompassing the village center of Westwood, Massachusetts. It extends along High Street roughly between Conant Street in the north and Gay Street in the south. It is largely residential in character, with 37 houses, most of which date from the 18th to the mid-19th centuries. The rural character of the area is captured by a number of preserved 19th-century barns. The district also includes Westwood Town Hall, a 1910 Classical Revival building, and the 1874 Second Empire Colburn School. The school was named for Warren and Dana P. Colburn who both attended the school. They authored a book on arithmetic. Prior to being named for them in March 1867, it was known as the Clapboardtrees School, the West Dedham School and District Number Eight.
The Norfolk County Courthouse, also known as the William D. Delahunt courthouse, is a National Historic Landmark at 650 High Street in Dedham, Massachusetts. It currently houses the Norfolk County Superior Court. It is significant as a well-preserved Greek Revival courthouse of the 1820s, and as the site a century later of the famous Sacco-Vanzetti trial. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1972, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It replaced an earlier courthouse, built in 1795.
The Stony Brook Reservation Parkways are a group of historic parkways in Boston and Dedham, Massachusetts. They provide access to and within the Stony Brook Reservation, a Massachusetts state park. The roadways and the park are administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, a successor to the Metropolitan District Commission, which oversaw their construction. The roads consist of the Dedham, Enneking, and Turtle Pond Parkways and West Boundary Road. Two roads within the park, Smithfield Road and Reservation Road, are listed as non-contributing properties. The park roads were built between 1894 and 1956, and were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway is a historic parkway in Boston, Massachusetts. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Washington Street at the Dedham-West Roxbury border, from where it travels north and then east, ending at a junction with Centre Street, near the Arnold Arboretum. The highway is almost entirely contained within the West Roxbury neighborhood, although it passes through part of the Chestnut Hill neighborhood near its junction with the West Roxbury Parkway. Most of its length, from Spring Street in West Roxbury to its eastern end, is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), a successor to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) which oversaw the road's construction. The parkway was built in stages between 1930 and 1942, and was designed to provide a parkway connection from the Upper Charles River Reservation to other MDC parks via the West Roxbury Parkway. The DCR portion of the road was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. The road formerly carried the designation for U.S. Route 1.
The Ames Schoolhouse is a historic school building at 450 Washington Street in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was originally part of the Dedham Public Schools. It currently serves as the town hall and senior center for the Town of Dedham.
The Millis Center Historic District is an historic district on Curve, Daniels, Exchange, Irving, Lavender, Main, and Union Streets in Millis, Massachusetts. It encompasses the historic mid-to-late-19th century village center of the town, including the residential area north of Main Street, two 19th-century industrial complexes, and civic and institutional buildings. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Fisher School–High Street Historic District is a historic district at 748–850; 751-823 High Street in Westwood, Massachusetts. It includes a relatively short stretch of High Street south of Westwood's commercial heart, extending from just south of its junction with Hartford Street to the cemetery at High and Nahatan Streets. It is distinguished by its concentration of Federal and Greek Revival houses from the early 19th century. Prominent in the district is the First Baptist Church, which was built near its present location in 1809 using timbers from an earlier 1731 meeting house, and the 1845 Greek Revival Fisher School, which has been restored by the Westwood Historical Society. The school was named in honor of Daniel Fisher, the colonial Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Deputies, and Ebenezer Fisher, a 19th-century representative to the Great and General Court. The latter Fisher gave $1,000 to benefit the schools of West Dedham. It previously was known as the Clapboardtrees School and District Number Nine.
The Canton Corner Historic District is a historic district encompassing the historic town center of Canton, Massachusetts. Centered on the junction of Pleasant and Washington Streets, it includes more than 25 properties and 170 acres (69 ha), whose architectural history spans 250 years of occupation and include the town's major civic buildings. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 2009.
The Dedham Public School System is a PK–12 graded school district in Dedham, Massachusetts. It is the oldest public school system in the United States.
The Dedham Museum and Archive, is a historical society dedicated to preserving and establishing a greater sense of appreciation for the history of Dedham, Massachusetts. It consists of a museum and an archive. As of 2002, it had nearly 1,000 members.
The Rockwood Road Historic District encompasses a portion of the town center of Norfolk, Massachusetts that has retained significant 19th-century characteristics. It extends along Rockwood Road from the MBTA Commuter Rail line to Boardman Street. This area consists mainly of residential or former residential buildings, as well as the 1863 Norfolk Grange Hall, a former church, and is reflective of the center's growth as a railroad village. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
The Samuel Dexter House is a historic house at 699 High Street, Dedham, Massachusetts. It was built, beginning in July 1761, by Samuel Dexter, a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.
601-603 High Street is a historic Romanesque Revival building in Dedham Square, Massachusetts. Both the 1996 and 2009 Master Plans of the Town of Dedham have recognized the historic, aesthetic, and economic importance of the building.
The history of Dedham, Massachusetts from 1700 to 1799 saw the town become one of the largest and most influential country towns in Massachusetts. As the population grew and residents moved to outlying areas of the town, battles for political power took place. Similar battles were taking place within the churches, as liberal and conservative factions bristled at paying for ministers with whom they had differences of theological opinion. New parishes and preciencts were formed, and eventually several new towns broke away.
St. Paul's Church is an Episcopal Church in Dedham, Massachusetts
This is a timeline of the history of the town of Dedham, Massachusetts.
