Geography
The Sudbury River runs for ten miles through Wayland, and its banks have relatively unspoiled meadows and marshes full of wild life and scenic beauty. The river and its surrounding open spaces provide a natural, rural feeling and contribute to the attractiveness and uniqueness of this almost purely residential town. Wayland has a total area of 15.9 square miles.
Jobs
While Wayland is close to shopping, sightseeing, dining and entertainment, Wayland itself remains a quiet bedroom community with little industrial or commercial activity. Many urban professionals call Wayland home. They are able to enjoy the community’s peaceful setting and be just a short commute to the employment opportunities in the greater Boston-Metro area.
Industries providing employment in Wayland include educational, health and social services (25.7%), professional, scientific, management, administrative (22.2%), finance, insurance, real estate, and rental and leasing (11.4%).
Housing
Wayland is known for having a quiet, country feel, and the residents here enjoy a lot of scenic beauty and terrific, luxurious properties. This residential community features quaint, winding roads graced by some of the most gorgeous houses and impeccably landscaped gardens in Massachusetts. Wayland’s housing stock consists almost exclusively of single-family dwellings.
There are a variety of home styles in Wayland, including ranches, farms, Victorians, historic colonials, and some new construction. Also, lot sizes vary, so whether you are looking for a private estate on acreage or a family-oriented neighborhood with homes a bit closer together, you can find it here in Wayland. Residential real estate begins in the low $300,000´s while reaching over the $5 million mark. The median list price for a single-family home in Wayland is $729,000, and the average price is $982,147.
Recreation
Wayland offers amazing opportunities for outdoor recreation such as swimming, boating, fishing, golfing, and cross-country skiing.
Wayland has a public beach on Lake Cochituate that is open for swimming in the warm summer months. Lake Cochituate is a 614-acre lake that is divided into three major basins, which are connected by navigable culverts. Large portions of the immediate shoreline have been preserved as Cochituate State Park, providing beaches, parks and trails for the public to enjoy. Shoreline access is available, and a large boat ramp is located at the middle basin. Few lakes in Massachusetts offer as tremendous a variety of fishing opportunities as Lake Cochituate. This lake supports extremely diverse fish species, which vary from basin to basin. Species known to be present include white perch, largemouth bass, yellow perch, chain pickerel, black crappie, pumpkinseed, bluegill, yellow bullhead, white sucker, golden shiner, American eel and several others. Lake Cochituate is also stocked heavily with trout, usually rainbows, in both the spring and fall. Ice fishing is a very popular activity here in the wintertime.
The Sudbury River rises at Hopkinton, Massachusetts and flows past the towns of Framingham, Natick, Sudbury, Wayland and Lincoln to join the Assabet River at Concord. This river is recognized and protected as a National Wild and Scenic River for its outstanding ecology, history, scenery, recreation values, and place in American literature. The Sudbury River was featured prominently in the works of nineteenth century authors such as Hawthorne, Emerson, and Thoreau. This river is remarkably undeveloped and unobstructed. It provides recreational opportunities in a natural setting to people living throughout the greater Boston metropolitan area. For the lucky residents of Wayland, this gem is in their own neighborhood.
Wayland also boasts two golf courses. The Wayland Country Club golf course borders the gorgeous, protected lands along the Sudbury River. The greens are very large and spacious, and. the views are really wonderful. The course is quiet, and they have one of the best golf shops around. This 18-hole golf course is designed to be an enjoyable and challenging playing experience for novices and experts alike.
The Sandy Burr Country Club, established in 1922, has an excellent golf course. The fairways are lined with mature trees. The terrain is rolling and the greens are slow. The English Tudor Clubhouse is capable of seating 250 guests.
Special Attractions/Events
Each November, the Autumn Hills Orchard in Middlesex County is open for picking your own apples at this authentic, working farm. The orchard features 20 different varieties of apples, as well as some pears and plums. This is a fabulous place for a picnic lunch and the hilltop vistas from the orchard cannot be beat for taking in the fall colors and smells of autumn.
The Beatrice Herford Voke’s Theatre is a historic 150-seat theatre built in 1904. The story of this theatre is long and colorful, and the musicals and plays are fantastic. It is wonderful to have a landmark theatre located right in the community. The theatre is located on Route 20 in Wayland, just 4 miles past Route 128.
Although small local markets serve Wayland residents’ daily needs, Wayland is also located close to some of the best shopping in Middlesex County. The Natick stretch of Route 9 features literally hundreds of retail establishments, making it a premier shopping destination. Just a few minutes away is another premier shopping destination located in Wellesley, which offers a broad array of upscale dining and shopping, with many small shops and boutiques along Routes 135 and 116.
Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
In 1835, the little place known as East Sudbury became Wayland, a farming community, in honor of Dr. Francis Wayland, who was President of Brown University. In time, the farming community suffered as canals and railroads brought inexpensive produce from the mid-west.
The Industrial Revolution caused transportation patterns to drastically change. By 1881, a new train station was built that connected Wayland with Boston and Northampton. Wayland became a bustling commuter town.
Wayland’s clean air and country setting appealed as a summer home for well-to-do Bostonians. They purchased country estates, built new homes or remodeled older farmhouses, thereby providing an economic boom to Wayland.
In 1830, the Bent family started the shoe industry at the corner of Routes 27 and 30. The shoe manufacturing industry in Wayland reached its peak in the 1880’s when there were several shops employing over 600 workers in the area. The shoe manufacturing glory was short lived, however, because by 1910, the shoe industry declined and all of the shoe factories closed down.
Wayland became a more accessible and attractive place to live as industries began to spring up along the new Route 128 and the state began to construct the Massachusetts Turnpike. Many farms and large estates were replaced by housing developments. The population soared to 13,000 by 1968. Since then, the population has not grown by very much at all.
Some famous residents of Wayland, Massachusetts include Edmund Sears (1810-1876), a Unitarian parish minister and author who wrote a number of theological works influential to his contemporary liberal Protestants. Sears penned the words to "It Came upon the Midnight Clear" in 1849. Those words inspired the famous carol by the same name.
Alberto Salazar is now famous for winning three consecutive New York Marathons from 1980-1982. He was coached by former Wayland High School social studies teacher/track coach Don Benedetti.
Steven Tyler is from Wayland. His band, Aerosmith, held the first and only rock concert in the history of the Wayland High School field house before the band became known worldwide.
We have an abundance of information resources that will be of tremendous value to you! Use the links provided to find specific information on the areas listed below:
. COMMONWEALTH COMMUNITIES: This is a town-by-town information resouce! Copy the following link into the http address space above: http://www.state.ma.us/cc/index.html
. ENEIGHBORHOODS: Find out specific neighborhood information for any neighborhood in the United States! This information is updated monthly. Copy the following link into the http address space above: http://dougstamm.homelog.com/tp1/hlsite.asp
. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS WEB SITE: Lots of city, town and state information! Copy the following link into the http address space above:
http://www.mass.gov/portal/index.jsp
. MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SCHOOL INFORMATION: Information on Public Schools, Private Schools, Charter Schools, Collaboratives and Special Education Schools in Massachusetts. There is a wealth of school information on this site! Copy the information link into the http address space above: http://www.homeinfosearch.com/cPage/P1/SchoolInformation15911.asp
. MASSACHUSETTS MLS AND DAILY EMAIL UPDATES: This is a service that provides a daily morning email listing all new homes to-the-market within the past 24-hours that meet your minimum housing requirements! Copy the information link into the http address space above:
http://www.homeinfosearch.com/oaLogonRegister/SelfRegister.asp
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