The fourth oldest English settlement in America, Medford was incorporated in 1630. It was originally the plantation owned by the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company, Matthew Cradock. Medford’s name is believed to derive from the words, “the ford by the meadow,” or “Meadford,” commemorating the importance of the fordable part of the Mystic River located just west of present-day Medford Square.

Incorporated as a city in 1892, Medford was a leader in the clipper ship building industry as well as the manufacture of brick and tile. It was famous for its “Medford Rum” and “Medford Crackers.”

Paul Revere rode through Medford on his famous midnight ride, and it was home to Revolutionary War patriot Sarah Bradlee Fulton. Charles Tufts, descendant of Peter Tufts, founded Tufts University in 1852 with a donation of twenty acres on Walnut Hill, the highest point in Medford. Peter Tufts’ house in Medford is believed to be the oldest brick building in New England and is a National Historic Landmark. American classics “Jingle Bells” and “Over the River and Through the Woods” were composed by Medford residents James Pierpont and Lydia Maria Child respectively.