Milton Real Estate

Milton

Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, and part of the Greater Boston area. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of residents per capita citing Irish heritage of any town in the United States; 38%. In 2007 and 2009, Money Magazine listed Milton 7th and 5th, respectively, on its annual list of the "Best Places to Live" in the United States.

Milton is located between the Neponsent River and the Blue Hills. It is bordered by Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood to the north and its Hyde Park neighborhood to the west, Quincy to the east and south, Randolph to the south and Canton to the west. It has water access to Boston Harbor through the Neponset Estuary.

Milton was settled in 1640 as part of Dorchester. Referred to as "Unquity", the term used by the Neponset Tribe of the Massachusetts Indians meaning "Lower Falls," which was translated into "Lower Mills" after the establishment of the Stoughton Grist Mill in 1634. In 1662, "that part of the Town of Dorchester which is situated on the south side of the Neponsett River commonly called 'Unquatiquisset' was established as an independent town and named Milton in honor of Milton Abbey, Dorset, England."

A powder mill established in 1674 may be the earliest in the colonies, taking advantage of the town's water power sites. Boston investors, seeing the potential of the town and its proximity to the city, provided the capital to develop 18th century Milton as an industrial site with an iron slitting mill, paper and sawmills, and the first chocolate factory in New England (the Walter Baker Chocolate Factory) in 1764, which was converted from the old Stoughton Grist Mill. Laying of streetcar lines fueled the rapid expansion of residential development. Between 1870 and 1915, Milton grew into the community it is now: a streetcar suburb with some chocolates, biscuits and market produce to remind residents of the past. By 1929, many of the big estates were broken into subdivisions as the town's residential growth continued.

The Suffolk Resolves were signed in Milton in 1774, and were used as a model by the drafters of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The Suffolk Resolves House, where the Resolves were passed, still stands and it is maintained as the headquarters of the Milton Historical Society. The house was moved to a new location at 1370 Canton Avenue in West Milton in order to save it from demolition at its previous location in "Milton Village" at Lower Mills. They were the "Suffolk Resolves" because Milton was part of Suffolk County until 1793, when Norfolk County split off, leaving only Boston and Chelsea in Suffolk County.

Two royal governors of Massachusetts, Jonathan Belcher and Thomas Hutchinson, had houses in Milton. The Governor Belcher House dates from 1777, replacing the earlier home destroyed in fire in 1776, and it is privately owned on Governor Belcher Lane in East Milton. Although Hutchinson's house is gone, Governor Hutchinson’s Field, owned by the Trustees of Reservations today is a wide expanse of greenery on Milton Hill, with a view of the Neponset River estuary and the skyscrapers of Boston six miles away. Both Governor Belcher's house and Governor Hutchinson's field are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The town was home to America's first piano factory. Revolutionary Milton is the setting of the opening of the 1940 bestselling historical novel Oliver Wiswell by Kenneth Roberts. The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory is located in the town, home of the nation's oldest continuously kept meteorological records.

The Granite Railway passed from Quincy to the Neponset River in Milton, beginning in 1826. It is often called the first commercial railroad in the United States, as it was the first chartered railway to evolve into a common carrier without an intervening closure. A centennial historic plaque from 1926 and an original switch frog and section of track from the railway can be found in the gardens on top of the Southeast Expressway (Interstate 93) as it passes under East Milton Square. The frog had been displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

East Milton Square developed as a direct result of the Granite Railway. Four sheds there were used to dress the granite stone prior to it being brought by rail to the wharf for transfer to boats. East Milton Square was originally termed the "Railway Village" and a train station was located there after 1871 when the Granite Railway became a passenger line of the Old Colony Railroad. The Blue Bell Tavern, which was also a hotel, served as the headquarters of the Granite Railway and it was later named the Russell House. It was located on the site of the current United States Post Office in East Milton Square.

In 1801 Josiah Bent began a baking operation in Milton, selling "water crackers" or biscuits made of flour and water that would not deteriorate during long sea voyages from the port of Boston. The crackling sound occurred during baking, hence the name. This is where the American term "cracker" originated. His company later sold the original hardtack crackers used by troops during the American Civil War. The company, Bert’s Cookie Factory, is still located in Milton and continues to sell these items to Civil War reenactors and others.

Robert Bennet Forbes was a noted China Trade merchant, sea captain, and philanthropist during the Irish Famine. He built a Greek Revival mansion in 1833 at 215 Adams Street on Milton Hill. The Captain Robert Bennet Forbes House is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is open for tours. In addition to artifacts from the China Trade period, the museum's grounds include a log cabin replica and a collection of Lincoln memorabilia.

George Herbert Walker Bush was born at 173 Adams Street on Milton Hill on June 12, 1924. He became the 41^st President of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993, and his son would become the 43rd President. Coincidentally, Adams Street is named for the family of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, who lived on the same street just a few miles southeast in Quincy, Massachusetts. The Bush Family moved from Milton to Greenwich, Connecticut in 1925. The Victorian house where President Bush was born is now privately owned and is not open to the public.

There are six public schools in Milton, including four elementary schools: Collicot, Cunningham, Glover, and Tucker; one middle school, Charles S. Pierce; and the Milton High School. There are also private high schools and elementary/middle schools, including the girls' school Fontbonne Academy, St. Mary of the Hills, St. Agatha's, Thacher Montessori, and Delphi Academy.

Milton is also home to the prep school Milton Academy and Curry College, a small liberal arts institution.

Milton lies within the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority district. Fixed-route service includes the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line, a light rail extension of the Red Line. Milton has 4 stops: Milton, Central Avenue, Valley Road, and Capen Street. This was originally a steamrailway prior to becoming a trolley line. Automobile routes 28 and 138 run north and south across Milton, and Interstate 93, which is also U.S. 1, loops around the town near the southern and eastern borders.

Cycling is a popular form of transportation and recreation in Milton. The opening of the Neoponset River Greenway reconnected Milton with Boston Harbor via Port Norfolk, Dorchester. Other cycling routes and locations include Turner's Pond, Brook Road, Blue Hills Parkway, Milton Cemetery, and the Pine Tree Brook greenway.

The Milton Yacht Club began in 1902, with a small building in the Lower Mills area beside the Neponset River that was formerly the police department for the town of Milton. Various boats continue to be anchored there or stored on the dock during the winter.

Source: Wikipedia.org

More information on Milton homes:

Number of properties currently on the market in Milton:

Single Family: 111 Properties
Mobile Home: 0 Properties
Condo: 18 Properties
Multi Family: 14 Properties

Number of new Milton Real Estate listings in the last month:

Single Family: 20 Properties
Mobile Home: 0 Properties
Condo: 0 Properties
Multi Family: 5 Properties

Average sale price for Real Estate sold in Milton over the last 6 months:

Single Family: $685,573
Mobile Home: $0
Condo: $385,178
Multi Family: $490,479

143 Properties Found

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Milton Real Estate

More information on Milton homes:

143 Properties Found

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