Wellesley, Massachusetts 2024

Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb west of Boston. The population was 28,915 at the time of the 2020 census. Nearly 100% of Wellesley's students attend their public schools, which are funded by the town's high property taxes. In 2018, Wellesley was named the best community in Massachusetts to live in by Niche, an American review and ranking website.

Wellesley is home to Wellesley College, a private women's liberal arts college. It is also home to Babson College, a private business college.

Wellesley was first settled by European colonizers in 1638 as a hamlet known as "West Framingham," and was connected to the town of Framingham by a narrow strip of land. The settlement was eventually incorporated as the town of Wellesley on April 6, 1881, when Framingham was divided into two towns. Arthur Gilman, a local businessman and benefactor of the town, suggested the name Wellesley, which was chosen because it contained the letter "W" and was easy to pronounce and remember. In 1881, Wellesley consisted of the land that now makes up Wellesley, Weston, and part of Natick. Since then, Natick has separated and turned into a town of its own, leaving Wellesley and Weston as two separate towns.

The town was built on a street grid plan beginning at the Boston Post Road. In 1926, Henry Fowle Jenks, a former resident of Wellesley, donated a set of red brick gates to the town to mark the official entrances to town at Weston, Natick, and Dover.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.5 square miles, of which 10.4 square miles is land and 0.1 square miles (1% of the total area) is water. Several railroad stations on the Fitchburg Line and the Needham Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail are located in Wellesley.

Over 40% of the town's land is devoted to conservation and recreation areas. It is home to many public parks, including the 440-acre Wellesley Open Space.