Millis is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Norfolk County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. It had a population of 8,460 at the 2020 census. The town is approximately southwest of downtown

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 ...

and is bordered by

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, Sherborn, Holliston,

Medfield Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,799 according to the 2020 United States Census. It is a community about southwest of Boston, Massachusetts, which is a 40-minute drive to Downtown Bost ...

, and

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

. Massachusetts state routes

109 109 may refer to: * 109 (number), the integer following 108 and preceding 110 * AD 109, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century AD * 109 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 109 (department store), a department store in Shi ...

and 115 run through Millis.

History

Millis was first settled in 1657 and was officially incorporated in 1885. Millis was originally part of Dedham, until that town granted the lands of Millis, and other present day surrounding towns, to Medfield in 1651. In 1713, pioneers of

applied for a grant to create a new town and, when approved, named this new land Medway. This new town consisted of West Medway (the present day town of Medway) and East Medway (present day Millis). Lansing Millis, the founder of the town of Millis, successfully incorporated Millis in the

Commonwealth of 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 ...

on February 24, 1885. Lansing Millis was successful in turning the small town of Millis into an important area of Massachusetts. Lansing Millis, who was widely known as a railroad entrepreneur, built up a strong rail system in Millis. This was arguably his most important accomplishment, as the rail system is regarded as the most significant factor in its independence from Medway. In addition, the railroad system was a major factor in the early promotion of economic growth in the town and the integration of Millis to the larger cities of Dedham,

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 ...

. Currently, this old railroad that formerly began in Medway is known as the

Bay Colony Railroad The Bay Colony Railroad was a shortline railroad (STB Class III) operating in Massachusetts. Formerly operating along most of the south coast region (including all lines on Cape Cod), Bay Colony's final operations ceased in late 2023, when the ...

. The Medway tracks have since been dismantled, making Millis the railroad's western terminus. The railroad is now mostly defunct, but several miles of the Bay Colony tracks in Millis are owned by the MBTA and are leased by the Bay Colony Railroad line. The

merges with the present day

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track on 12 lines to 142 stations. It ...

in Needham. Aside from the tremendous contribution of the rail system to Millis' integration with the major Massachusetts cities, another important moment in the town's history is the construction of the

Hartford and Dedham Turnpike Route 109 is a state highway in eastern Massachusetts. It runs from Route 16 in Milford east to the VFW Parkway in Boston. Most of Route 109 runs along a portion of the Hartford and Dedham Turnpike. Route description Route ...

, known today as Massachusetts Route 109. The road was constructed in 1806 and officially accepted by the town of Millis in 1896. The Hartford and Dedham Turnpike connected Millis, Medway, Medfield, and several other towns directly to Dedham and Boston. Today, Route 109 still serves as a major road connecting

Metrowest MetroWest is a cluster of cities and towns lying west 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 Financia ...

Boston communities to the city of Boston. Millis was the home of the "Millis Wonderland", a display of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

decorations and lights on the Causeway Street estate of Kevin Meehan, the owner of several car dealerships. In 2004,

Al Roker Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the weather anchor on NBC's ''Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has a lapsed Ameri ...

traveled to Millis for a segment centered on the "Millis Wonderland". After the publicity on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'', an estimated 6,000 cars traveled to the "Millis Lights" daily during the Christmas season. The display was permanently closed after the 2014 holiday season.

Industrial history

The industrial history of Millis is long and varied, beginning with the water power of a small establishment named Hinsdell's mill. Soon, Millis grew from a small new town with a mill to a successful industrial society. Numerous industries opened up in the town and stimulated employment and growth. Some of these industries include the Holbrook factories, which included a bell foundry, organ manufactory, and organ pipe manufactory, Clicquot Club, and Herman Shoe Company; the latter two being the most notable industries in the town's history. Today the prominent employers in the town are Tresca Brothers Sand & Gravel and Roche Bros. Supermarket. Millis was also home to a thriving automobile recycling industry located in the western, industrial section of town.

Herman Shoe Company

The Herman Shoe Company was an extremely important industry in town. The Herman Shoe Company, a result of several private buyouts, produced large amounts of material, specifically boots and other equipment, during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. In addition, it produced most of the boots worn by the troops during

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 ...

. The company is now out of business and the former factory was demolished in March 2020.

Clicquot Club

Cliquot Club was started by Henry Millis, using funds from his father and founder of Millis, Lansing Millis. The company, which distributed the first brand of

ginger ale Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavoured with ginger. It is consumed on its own or used as a mixer, often with spirit-based drinks. There are two main types of ginger ale. The golden style is credited to the Irish doctor Thomas Joseph ...

in the United States for about eighty years, was located on Main Street and is the namesake for the village of Clicquot in Millis. The ginger ale produced by Clicquot Club was made using local Millis ginger. Later, the company produced several different sodas and was the first company in the nation to can drinks. Clicquot Club owned more than 100 factories throughout the United States and sold its beverages internationally. As sales declined in the 1960s, however, the company went bankrupt and was bought by the

Cott Primo Water Corporation (formerly Cott Corporation) is an American-Canadian water company offering multi-gallon bottled water, water dispensers, self-service refill water machines, and water filtration appliances. The company is headquartered in ...

company, which in turn was acquired by

Canada Dry Canada Dry () is a Canadian-American brand of soft drinks founded in Toronto, Ontario, in 1904, and owned since 2008 by the American company Dr Pepper Snapple (now Keurig Dr Pepper). For over 100 years, Canada Dry has been known mainly for its g ...

Causeway Street and the Brickyards

An area of land around Causeway Street, although now a rural street in the west of town, was once a huge industrial hub for the early town of Millis. This area of Causeway Street was used for clay excavation for the manufacture of bricks, as well as sand excavation. The clay excavations were turned into bricks that built many large estates and buildings in the immediate area and beyond. The remnants of clay pits today look like small ponds. In fact, one of the clay pits is so large that it is now a body of water named Heather's Pond. These abandoned pits are home to many species of wildlife and are protected along with the Great Black Swamp. Historically, the sand from the pits was used to fill in the most recent runway at

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...

. Today, the remnants of old sand pits lie vacant. The several large brickyards around Causeway Street were owned by a few wealthy families. One of these estates, the Clark Family estate, was later the home to former Massachusetts

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

and

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

Christian Herter Christian Archibald Herter (March 28, 1895December 30, 1966) was an American diplomat and Republican politician who was the 59th governor of Massachusetts from 1953 to 1957 and United States Secretary of State from 1959 to 1961. He served as p ...

Notable sites

One of the most important sites in Millis is Richardson's Tavern, which was built . This tavern accommodated

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

for lunch on his way to

in 1775. It is rumored that

Nathan Hale Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 – September 22, 1776) was an American Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot, soldier and spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an Military intelligence, intelligence ...

and the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

also stopped at the tavern to dine. Millis' cemetery, called Prospect Hill Cemetery, is home to the grave of

, the

under President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

. Secretary Herter lived on a large farm on Causeway Street in Millis and, it is rumored, when summoned to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, he left his farm directly by helicopter to

. Prospect Hill Cemetery is listed on the

National Historic Register The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

King Philip's War

The history of Millis is closely tied with

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

of 1675 to 1676. On February 21, 1676, Native Americans killed 17 Medfield citizens and destroyed half of the town (32 houses, two mills, and many barns). Immediately after this attack, the Native Americans under King Philip (

Metacom Metacomet (c. 1638 in Massachusetts – August 12, 1676), also known as Pometacom, Metacom, and by his adopted English name King Philip,Palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

s at Boggestowe Farms, which are in present-day Millis. This attack was repulsed, as well as a second attack, which occurred on May 6.

Geography

There are many areas of town-administered land, which helps to protect the environment and limit development. In addition, Millis has several wells and is home to various large farms. 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 ...

runs through Millis and the town has other smaller streams and brooks; most notably Bogastow Brook. Bogastow Brook, named after the Indian tribe formerly inhabiting the area, rises in East Holliston and runs through Millis, emptying in Millis' South End Pond. Millis is also home to the Great Black Swamp. This swamp, covering hundreds of acres, is a very important characteristic of Millis. This swamp geographically divides Millis from its neighboring town

, and is a significant factor in the separation of the two towns in 1885. 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 . Of this, is land and (0.90%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, there were 8,472 people. The racial makeup of Millis is 92.3%

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 ...

, 1.8%

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 ...

, 0.0% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 1.0% two or more races, and

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 2.5% of the population. 11.1% of the population is foreign born and 14.9% of people over 5 years old speak a language other than English at home. As of 2020 there are 3,110 households, with an average household size of 2.65 people. 82.7% of housing is owner-occupied with a median value of $446,200. 4.9% of the population is persons under 5 years old, 21.4% of the population is persons 18 years old and under, and 19.6% of the population is persons 65 years old and older. Female make up 52.5% of the population. The median household income is $114,255.. 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 $50,185. Approximately 1.2% of the population is impoverished. 96.5% of persons over 25 years old had a high diploma and 48.4% of persons over 25 years old had a bachelor's degree or higher. 96.2% of households had a computer and 94.2% of households had a broadband internet subscription.

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 ...

Education

The Millis school system is led by Superintendent Robert Mullaney, the former principal of Millis High School. The district consists of three schools: Clyde F. Brown Elementary School and Millis Middle/High School and has a student population of 1,175. As of the 2021-2022 school year 29.9% of students are high needs, 18.85 are low-income, 14.2% are students with disabilities, 6.4% have a first language other than English, and 2% are English language learners. The district had a student teacher ratio of 12:1. In 2007 Millis was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Of Excellence award by the Federal Government under the No Child Left Behind Act. In addition, Millis High School has been awarded Silver Medal status in ''U.S. News & World Report''s online ranking of U.S. high schools. In 2010, Millis earned Silver Medal status as one of America's Best High Schools in ''U.S. News & World Report''s latest ranking of public high schools. The magazine editors analyzed 18,743 high schools in the United States and ranked Millis High School in the top 3%. As of 2021, Millis High School is ranked #74 in Massachusetts by ''U.S. News & World Report''. The Millis Public Library is the only library in the town and is part of the

Minuteman Library Network Founded first as a cooperative, the Minuteman Library Network (MLN) is today a Library consortium, consortium of over 40+ public or academic library, academic libraries. The network consists of an aggregate collection of over sum 6 million items a ...

Notable people

Matthew Boldy Matthew Edward Boldy (born April 5, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 12th overall by the Wild in the first round of the 201 ...

, NHL Hockey player for the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

Haskell Curry Haskell Brooks Curry ( ; September 12, 1900 – September 1, 1982) was an American mathematician, logician and computer scientist. Curry is best known for his work in combinatory logic, whose initial concept is based on a paper by Moses Schönfin ...

, noted mathematician and logician and pioneer in the area of

functional programming In computer science, functional programming is a programming paradigm where programs are constructed by Function application, applying and Function composition (computer science), composing Function (computer science), functions. It is a declarat ...

Misha Defonseca Misha Defonseca (born Monique de Wael) is a Belgian-born impostor and the author of a fraudulent 1997 Holocaust memoir titled ''Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years'', initially presented as true. Background ''Misha'' became an instant success ...

(Monique De Wael), author. Misha claimed to be a

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivor. She is famous for her book ''Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years'', which she later admitted was fictitious *

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

under

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

, U.S. Senator. Senator Kerry lived at 359 Orchard Street in Millis until the age of seven, when the family moved to

On July 4, 2004, the

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 ...

show ''

CBS Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (frequently shortened to ''Sunday Morning'') is an American television newsmagazine that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and E.S. "Bud" Lamoreaux III, and originally hosted by Ch ...

'' aired a segment on the upcoming presidential election between

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and Kerry. In this segment, Millis was featured as John Kerry's hometown. Jeffrey Hardin, a Millis selectman, was interviewed *

John St. Cyr John F. St. Cyr (January 8, 1936 – January 27, 2022) was an American politician and judge. Biography St. Cyr was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, and graduated from St. Joseph High School in North Adams. He graduated from the College o ...

, politician, lawyer, and judge *

Isaac Kramnick Isaac Kramnick (March 6, 1938 – December 21, 2019) was an American political theorist, historian of political thought, political scientist, and the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government at Cornell University. He was a subject-matter expert ...

, American political theorist

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Towns in Massachusetts 1885 establishments in Massachusetts