Walpole, MA 02081
East Walpole 02032
The
town of Walpole
is located in Norfolk County, 19 miles southwest
of Boston. It has a population of approximately
23,000 in a total area of 21 square miles.
Over
time Walpole has become a bedroom community with a stable mix of commercial and industrial land uses.
It attracted industy with its natural resources of the Great Cedar Swamp and the Neponset
River which runs through the southeast of Walpole.
The original route of the first Post
Road (Old Post Road) traversed
Walpole and into Sharon near the town line. This
was the first trail traveled from Boston to Providence. Weekly
postal service began on Old Post Road in 1693 between New Hampshire and Baltimore,
then later the first stagecoach line in New England which began in 1718. It was eventually replaced by the second Post Road
and Route 1 (the Boston-Providence Highway).
Interstate Route 95 runs through
the northeast corner of town and forms an interchange with Route 1 in neighboring Sharon. MBTA Commuter Rail and bus service are available in Walpole, and Conrail provides freight rail service.
Norfolk County Agricultural
High School is located in Walpole. Known to local residents as “Norfolk
Aggie”, it offers academic and vocational training in careers for Animal and Marine Science, Plant and Environmental
Science, and Diesel and Mechanical Technology. It’s one of three such schools
in Massachusettts promoting agriscience and agribusiness opportunites.
There are several parks for recreation
in Walpole, including Adams Farm, which has over 700 acres open to the public for hiking, picnicking and horseback riding.
There’s also the Town Forest, 625 acres of mixed forest and wetlands with extensive trails and a scenic route along the banks of the Neponset
River and Francis William Bird Park, 89 acres of privately owned trust land open to the public.
