Medway, Massachusetts

Medway is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, first settled in 1657 and officially incorporated in 1713. Medway began as a farming community of just 253 hardy individuals. It was not long before the water power of the Charles River and Chicken Brook stimulated the formation of cotton and paper mills and straw and boot factories, as well as a variety of cottage industries. Medway demonstrates the central importance of the Charles River and the thriving town that grew alongside it. Today, the one-room schoolhouses are gone and the country stores have moved to the mall, but the open town meetings continue and Medway retains its small-town flavor.

The oldest road in Medway was laid out in 1670 and was known for years as Old Mendon Road. Since that time, this road has been known by many names including The Road to the Wilderness, The Old County Road, The Middle Post Road and most recently, Village Street. Village Street runs from the Millis boarder on the east and meanders along the Charles River before eventually joining Main Street just before the Bellingham border on the west.

In 1869, all of the streets in Medway were officially named, honoring influential townspeople of the present and past, with family names such as Adams, Barber and Clark. Though the origin of the town’s name is unknown, it is commonly believed to have originated from the city of Medway and the river of the same name in England.