History of Medford, MA. Veteran-owned, Master Plumber, Mass Save registered, same-day service. Call (781) 242-2386 for a quote.
Settlement and Early History
Medford was settled by a small group from the Massachusetts Bay Colony along the Mystic River. The town’s location at a navigable spot on the Mystic gave it early commercial relevance — ships could carry goods from the river to the Atlantic. By the 1700s, Medford was known regionally for shipbuilding, and the town’s distilleries produced the famous ‘Medford rum’ that was traded throughout the Atlantic colonies and overseas.
The Royall House
The Royall House and Slave Quarters on George Street is one of the most historically significant sites in Medford. The Georgian mansion, built in 1737, was the home of one of the wealthiest families in colonial New England — the Royalls — whose fortune came from sugar plantations in Antigua worked by enslaved people. The slave quarters behind the main house are the only ones still standing in the northern United States, and the museum on the property tells the harder side of New England’s colonial history.
Tufts University
Tufts University was founded in 1852 on a 100-acre hilltop campus that straddles the Medford/Somerville line. The school began as a small Universalist liberal arts college and expanded over the next 175 years into a full research university with engineering, dental, and veterinary schools. Tufts is the largest non-municipal employer in the city today.
The Mystic River Industrial Era
Through the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Mystic River corridor in Medford supported brickyards, ice harvesting on the Mystic Lakes (a major export industry), and brewing. Medford was also a stop on the Underground Railroad — the Tufts campus and several private homes documented as safe houses for escaped slaves heading north to Canada.
20th Century to Today
The 20th century brought streetcar suburbanization, then Italian and Irish immigration that gave Medford its lasting working-class identity. The Orange Line extension in 2022 added a Medford/Tufts station, reconnecting the city to Boston’s rapid transit network for the first time since the original Boston Elevated cars stopped running. Medford today is a city of contrasts — historic colonial homes near the Royall House, dense triple-deckers in West Medford, and modern condo developments along the Mystic riverfront.
Plumbing & Heating in Medford
We service homes from every era of Medford’s history — Federal-era colonials with restored steam radiators, 1920s triple-deckers with copper that’s now a century old, mid-century ranches with original gas-fired furnaces, and the new condo conversions in old industrial buildings.
Need a plumber in Medford? Sedona Plumbing and Heating is licensed, insured, and dispatches same-day from our Winchester shop. See our Medford services hub, our Medford plumber page, or our Medford HVAC services. Call (781) 242-2386.
Local Resources & Things to Do in Medford
For ideas on what to see and do locally, see our Things to Do in Medford guide.
