|Middlesex County, Massachusetts|
Middlesex South Registry of Deeds
Location in the state of Massachusetts
Massachusetts's location in the U.S.
|Founded||May 10, 1643|
|Seat||Lowell and Cambridge|
847 sq mi (2,194 km²)
818 sq mi (2,119 km²)
29 sq mi (75 km²), 3.5%
1,838/sq mi (710/km²)
|Congressional districts||3rd, 4th, 5th|
|Time zone||Eastern: UTC-5/-4|
Middlesex County is a county in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. At the 2010 census, the population was 1,503,085, making it the twenty-third most populous county in the United States and the most populous county in New England. For administrative purposes the county held two regions, Middlesex-North with its county seat in Lowell, and Middlesex-South with its county seat in Cambridge.
The county government was abolished in 1997, but the county boundaries continue to describe a state district for court jurisdictions and for other administrative purposes, such as an indicator for elections. Massachusetts counties also define locations for National Weather Service weather alerts (such as severe thunderstorm warnings).
As of 2006, Middlesex County was tenth in the United States on the list of most millionaires per county.
The county was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four sheires". Middlesex initially contained Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, Wayland, and Reading. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Boston annexed several adjacent cities and towns including Charlestown and Brighton from Middlesex County, resulting in an enlargement of Suffolk County.
Law and governmentEdit
On July 11, 1997, the Massachusetts State Legislature abolished Middlesex County as a governmental entity due primarily to the county's insolvency. Middlesex County continues to exist as a geographic boundary.
Immediately prior to its abolition, the government of Middlesex County consisted of three County Commissioners elected at-large to staggered four-year terms, a County Treasurer elected to a six-year term, a County Sheriff elected to a six-year term and two Registers of Deeds, one for the Northern District at Lowell and the other for the Southern District at Cambridge, both elected to six-year terms. Middlesex County owned and operated the Superior Courthouses in Cambridge and Lowell and the Middlesex County Hospital in Waltham. Besides the employees of the Sheriff's Department and the two Registries of Deeds, the county had a Maintenance Department, a Security Department, small administrative staffs in the Treasurer's and Commissioners' Offices, and the employees at the hospital. Budgets proposed by the County Commissioners were approved by a County Advisory Board that consisted of a single representative of each of the 54 cities and towns in the county. The votes of the individual members of the Advisory Board were weighted based on the overall valuation of property in their respective communities. The county derived its revenue primarily from document filing fees at the Registries of Deeds and from a Deeds Excise Tax, a transfer tax assessed on the sales price of real estate that was also collected by the Registries of Deeds.
The legislation abolishing Middlesex County retained the Sheriff and Registers of Deeds as independently elected officials and transferred for administrative purposes the Sheriff's Department to the state Department of Public Safety and the two Registry of Deeds offices to the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office. Additionally, all county maintenance and security employees were absorbed into the corresponding staffs of the Massachusetts Trial Court. The legislation also transferred ownership of the two Superior Courthouses to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The hospital was closed. Finally, the office of County Commissioner was immediately abolished and the office of County Treasurer was abolished as of December 31, 2002.
Besides the Sheriff and the two Registers of Deeds, the Middlesex District Attorney, the Middlesex Register of Probate and the Middlesex Clerk of Courts (which were already part of state government before the abolition of Middlesex County government) are all elected countywide to six-year terms. In Middlesex County (as in the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts) governmental functions such as property tax assessment and collection, public education, road repair and maintenance, and elections are all conducted at the city and town level and not by county government.
Records of land ownership in Middlesex County are maintained at the two Registries of Deeds. The first Middlesex County Registry of Deeds was created in 1649 in Cambridge. In 1855, the Massachusetts State Legislature created a Registry of Deeds for the Northern District of Middlesex County in Lowell. The Northern District consists the city of Lowell and the towns of Billerica, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford and Wilmington. The remaining 44 cities and towns of Middlesex County are in the Southern District which remained in Cambridge.
Even after the abolition of county government in Middlesex, communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services.
|Clerk of Courts:||Michael A. Sullivan|
|District Attorney:||Marian T. Ryan|
|Register of Deeds:|| Richard P. Howe, Jr. (North at Lowell)|
Maria C. Curtatone (South at Cambridge)
|Register of Probate:||Tara E. DeCristofaro|
|County Sheriff:||Peter J. Koutoujian |
|State Representative(s):||37 Representatives: |
|State Senator(s):||16 Senators: |
|U.S. Representative(s):|| John Olver (D-1st District)|
James P. McGovern (D-3rd District)
Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-4th District)
Niki Tsongas (D-5th District)
John F. Tierney (D-6th District)
Katherine Clark (D-7th District)
Michael Capuano (D-8th District)
|U.S. Senators:||Elizabeth Warren (D), Ed Markey (D)|
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 847 square miles (2,190 km2), of which 818 square miles (2,120 km2) is land and 29 square miles (75 km2) (3.5%) is water. It is the third-largest county in Massachusetts by land area.
The MetroWest region comprises much of the southern portion of the county.
- Hillsborough County, New Hampshire (north)
- Essex County (northeast)
- Suffolk County (southeast)
- Norfolk County (south)
- Worcester County (west)
National protected areasEdit
- Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge
- Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
- Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
- Lowell National Historical Park
- Minute Man National Historical Park
- Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge (part)
As of the census of 2010, there were 1,503,085 people, 580,688 households, and 366,656 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,780/sq mi (687/km²). There were 576,681 housing units at an average density of 700 per square mile (270/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 80.0% White, 4.7% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 9.3% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 3.3% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. 6.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 20.0% were of Irish, 15.7% Italian and 8.0% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 79.6% spoke English, 4.3% Spanish, 2.7% Portuguese, 1.6% Italian, 1.6% Chinese including Mandarin and other Chinese dialects and 1.5% French as their first language. Middlesex County has the largest Irish-American population of any U.S. county with a plurality of Irish ancestry.
There were 561,220 households out of which 30.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.30% were married couples living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.70% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the county the population was spread out with 22.50% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 33.40% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $60,821, and the median income for a family was $74,194 (these figures had risen to $77,004 and $96,325 respectively as of a 2009 estimate). Males had a median income of $49,460 versus $36,288 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,199. About 4.30% of families and 6.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.20% of those under age 18 and 7.10% of those age 65 or over.
Demographic breakdown by townEdit
The ranking of unincorporated communities that are included on the list are reflective if the census designated locations and villages were included as cities or towns. Data is from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
|Rank||Town|| Per capita|
|Population|| Number of|
|Chestnut Hill (02467)||ZCTA||$55,947||$114,140||$151,375||21,952||6,237|
|2012||62.6% 467,173||35.7% 266,307|
|2008||64.2% 462,226||34.1% 245,215|
|2004||63.99% 440,862||34.52% 237,815|
|2000||61.49% 404,043||30.27% 198,914|
|1996||63.41% 398,190||27.06% 169,926|
|1992||49.89% 343,994||28.10% 193,703|
|1988||54.57% 361,563||43.82% 193,703|
|1984||50.26% 325,065||49.42% 319,604|
|1980||42.46% 270,751||40.30% 256,999|
|1976||55.94% 359,919||40.42% 260,044|
|1972||55.91% 345,343||43.56% 269,064|
|1968||64.11% 370,310||32.60% 188,304|
|1964||76.25% 439,790||23.36% 134,729|
|1960||59.01% 356,130||40.78% 246,126|
|Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 13, 2010|
|Party||Number of Voters||Percentage|
Most municipalities in Middlesex County have a town form of government; the remainder are cities, and are so designated on this list. Villages listed below are census or postal divisions, but have no separate corporate or statutory existence from the cities and towns in which they are located.
- North Reading
- East Pepperell
- Forge Village
- Chestnut Hill
- Newton Centre
- Newton Highlands
- Newton Lower Falls
- Newton Upper Falls
- West Newton
- East Lexington
- Littleton Common
- Melrose Highlands
- North Billerica
- North Chelmsford
- West Concord
- Middlesex, historic county of England
- Registry of Deeds (Massachusetts)
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
- Middlesex Fells
- Middlesex Community College (Massachusetts)
- Middlesex Turnpike (Massachusetts)
- ^ a b "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25/25017.html. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Centers of Population by State: 2010". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/docs/cenpop2010/CenPop2010_Mean_ST.txt. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ Sahadi, Jeanne (March 28, 2006). "Top 10 millionaire counties". CNN. http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/28/news/economy/millionaires/.
- ^ Davis, William T. Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, p. 44. The Boston History Company, 1895.
- ^ Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) c.34B, s.1
- ^ MGL c.34, s.4
- ^ Middlesex County Directory: 1993-1995, (Cambridge: Middlesex County Commissioners Office, 1995)
- ^ MGL c.34B, s.10
- ^ MGL c.34B, s.2
- ^ MGL c.36, s.1
- ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_25.txt. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ "Middlesex: I. A N. E. county of Massachusetts". The American Cyclopædia. 1879.
- ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ma190090.txt. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Corrected Census 2000 Counts
- ^ DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000
- ^ 
- ^ http://www.census.gov/popest/data/counties/totals/2011/tables/CO-EST2011-01-25.csv
- ^ S1901. Income in the Past 12 Months (In 2009 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)
- ^ "SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_DP03&prodType=table. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
- ^ "ACS DEMOGRAPHIC AND HOUSING ESTIMATES 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_DP05&prodType=table. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
- ^ "HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_S1101&prodType=table. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
- ^ "Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 13, 2010" (PDF). Massachusetts Elections Division. http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele10/enrollment_count_regdt_10132010.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume 1 (A-H), Volume 2 (L-W) by Samuel Adams Drake, published 1879 and 1880. 572 and 505 pages.
- Ancient Middlesex with Brief Biographical Sketches. By Levi Swanton Gould, published 1905, 366 pages.
- Jedidiah Morse (1797). "Middlesex". The American Gazetteer. Boston, Massachusetts: At the presses of S. Hall, and Thomas & Andrews. http://www.archive.org/stream/americangazettee00mors#page/n329/mode/2up.
- Edwin P. Conklin, Middlesex County and Its People: A History. In Four Volumes. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1927.
- D. Hamilton Hurd, History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. In Three Volumes. Philadelphia, PA: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1890. Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3
- Middlesex County Sheriff's Department
- 1856 Map of Middlesex County by Henry F. Walling
- Walling & Gray. 1871 Map of Middlesex County Plate 44-45 from the 1871 Atlas of Massachusetts.
- National Register of Historic Places listing for Middlesex Co., Massachusetts
- Middlesex County entry from Hayward's New England Gazetteer of 1839
- Map of cities and towns of Massachusetts
- Massachusetts County Map
- History of Middlesex County by Samual Adams Drake, 1880. Contains histories of each town in the county.
- History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, edited by Duane Hamilton Hurd. J. W. Lewis & Co., Philadelphia. 1890.
- Middlesex North District Registry of Deeds
- Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds
- League of Women Voters, Massachusetts: County Government
|Hillsborough County, New Hampshire||Essex County|
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
|Norfolk County||Suffolk County|
|This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.|