Randolph, Massachusetts, United States

🇺🇸 The town of Randolph is a suburban city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Randolph adopted a charter effective January 2010 providing for a council-manager form of government instead of the traditional town meeting. Randolph is one of thirteen Massachusetts municipalities that have applied for, and been granted, city forms of government but wish to retain "The town of" in their official names.

History Before European colonization the area that is now Randolph was occupied by the Massachusett, Wampanoag, and Pokanoket tribes. It was called Cochaticquom by the local Cochato and Ponkapoag tribes. The town was incorporated in 1793 from what was formerly the south precinct of the town of Braintree. According to the centennial address delivered by John V. Beal, the town was named after Peyton Randolph, first president of the Continental Congress.

Randolph was formerly the home of several large shoe companies. Many popular styles were made exclusively in Randolph, including the "Randies". At the time of Randolph's incorporation in 1793, local farmers were making shoes and boots to augment household incomes from subsistence farming. In the next half century, this sideline had become the town's major industry, attracting workers from across New England, Canada and Ireland and later from Italy and Eastern Europe, each adding to the quality of life in the town. By 1850, Randolph had become one of the nation's leading boot producers, shipping boots as far away as California and Australia.

The decline of the shoe industry at the beginning of the twentieth century led to Randolph's evolution as a suburban residential community. Boot and shoe making has been supplanted by light manufacturing and service industries. The town's proximity to major transportation networks has resulted in an influx of families from Boston and other localities who live in Randolph but work throughout the metropolitan area.

Starting in the 1950s, Randolph saw significant growth in its Jewish community with the exodus of Jews from Boston's Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods. In 1950, fifteen or twenty Jewish families lived in the town; by 1970, Randolph had about 7,000 Jewish residents, and about 9,000 in 1980, the largest such community south of Boston. At its peak, Randolph had a kosher butcher, Judaica shop, kosher bakery, and two synagogues. By the early 1990s, the population shrank to about 6,000.

The inspiration for the nationally observed Great American Smokeout came from a Randolph High School guidance councilor, who observed in a 1969 discussion with students that he could send all of them to college if he had a nickel for every cigarette butt he found on the ground. This touched off an effort by the Randolph High School class of 1970, supported by the Randolph Rotary Club, to have local smokers give it up for a day and put the savings toward a college scholarship fund. The event went national in 1977.

Registered historic places Randolph is home to four Nationally Registered Historic Places: • Jonathan Belcher House, 360 N. Main St. (Listed April 30, 1976)

Home of Jonathan Belcher (1767–1839), built in 1806, home to the Randolph Womens Club (formerly Ladies Library Association) since 1911. • Stetson Hall, 6 S. Main St. (Listed December 7, 2011)

Former Town Hall, built in 1842. • Ponkapoag Camp of Appalachian Mountain Club (Listed September 25, 1980) • Gills Farm Archaeological District (Listed October 4, 1983)

Geography Located fifteen miles south of Boston, at the intersection of Routes 128 and 24, Randolph's location has been an important factor in its economic and social history. Randolph is located in eastern Massachusetts, bordered by Milton and Quincy on the north, Braintree and Holbrook on the east, Canton on the west, and Avon and Stoughton on the south and south-west. Randolph is 15 miles south of Boston and 211 miles from New York City.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.5 square miles (27.2 km²), of which 10.1 square miles (26.1 km²) is land and 0.4 square mile (1.1 km²) (4.10%) is water. It is drained by the Cochato River and Blue Hill River, which flow into the Neponset River.

Transport Randolph is situated in the Greater Boston Area, which has excellent rail, air, and highway facilities. State Route 128 and Interstate Route 495 divide the region into inner and outer zones, which are connected by numerous "spokes" providing direct access to the airport, port, and intermodal facilities of Boston.

Major highways The principal highways are the concurrent Interstate 93 and U.S. Route 1, which clips the northern edge of the town; parallel north–south State Massachusetts Route 24 (the Fall River Expressway) and Massachusetts Route 28. Massachusetts Route 139 runs east–west through the town.

Transport: Rail Commuter rail service to South Station, Boston, is available on the Middleboro line from the Holbrook/Randolph Rail Station located on the Holbrook/Randolph Town line and Union Street (Route 139). The MBTA Red Line is accessible in Braintree and Quincy.

Transport: Bus Randolph is a member of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) which provides fixed route service to Quincy Adams, Quincy Center and Ashmont Stations. Randolph is served by Bus 240 from Ashmont Station and the 238 Bus from Quincy Center Station. The MBTA also provides THE RIDE, a paratransit service for the elderly and disabled.

The Brockton Area Transit Authority (BAT) provides bus service to Brockton from Ashmont and vice versa.

Transport: Air Most area residents use Logan International Airport for air transportation. Locally, Norwood Memorial Airport is easily accessible; it has two runways, each approximately 4,000 feet (1,200 m) in length.

Government Randolph was originally governed by an open town meeting form of government. In an annual town meeting held on March 11, 1947, attendees voted unanimously to adopt a representative town meeting form of government. Under the representative town meeting, the town would be divided into four precincts that would elect 60 town meeting members each. The new form of government went into effect March 7, 1949.

In a special election on April 7, 2009, the town adopted a new charter that became effective in January 2010, changing the town's form of government to a council-manager system.

Education Randolph has a high school serving grades 9–12 (Randolph High School), a middle school serving grades 6, 7, and 8 (Randolph Community Middle School), and four elementary schools serving grades K–5: • John F. Kennedy Elementary School • Margaret L. Donovan Elementary School • Martin E. Young Elementary School • Elizabeth G. Lyons Elementary School.

Pre-elementary education (kindergarten) is provided at the respective home schools, the Charles G. Devine Early Childhood Center having been closed in 2007. As part of the Blue Hills Regional School District, Randolph students entering the ninth grade may opt to attend the Blue Hills Regional Technical School, commonly referred to as "Blue Hills" or the Norfolk County Agricultural High School, known as "Aggie", instead of Randolph High School. The school system is run by the School Committee.