Stoneham, Massachusetts

Stoneham is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, nine miles north of downtown Boston. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offers convenient access to Boston and the North Shore coastal region and beaches of Massachusetts. The town is the birthplace of Olympic figure skating medalist Nancy Kerrigan and is also the home of the Stone Zoo.

The earliest documented mention of the territory now called Stoneham dates to the year 1632, when on February 7 Governor Winthrop and his party came upon this area. They found Spot Pond and ate their lunch on a place they called Cheese Rock, now known as Bear Hill. Stoneham was first settled in 1634 and was originally a part of Charlestown. The town’s first meeting-house was erected in 1726 and the first church was organized in 1729.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town occupies a total area of 6.7 square miles (17.4 km²), of which 6.2 square miles (15.9 km²) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.5 km²), is water. Stoneham has two exits off Interstate 93, Route 28 and Winchester Highlands. Stoneham is inside the Route 128 belt that delineates the core of metropolitan Boston. Public transportation is available in several modes. The Oak Grove subway station is 3.8 miles from Stoneham Center, in Malden, while the MBTA’s 132 bus route travels through Stoneham Center, offering transportation to the Orange Line at Oak Grove and Malden Station.