Dedham MA Real Estate & Dedham Massachusetts Homes for Sale

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Our Dedham MA real estate website provides a wealth of information for home buyers and home sellers. Below, you will find information on the history and culture of the community as well as links to more detailed information such as demographics and schools. You may view a virtual tour, search homes for sale, access information on different types of properties such as condos, farms, foreclosures, and vacation homes. We also offer valuable reference materials for home buyers and home sellers. This website will give you everything you need to buy or sell a home in Dedham, MA.

Dedham MA Community Profile & History

Dedham, Massachusetts is a historic suburban industrial town on the principal southern corridor of metropolitan Boston, and is the site of the earliest surviving timber frame house in the nation, the handsome 1637 Fairbanks House. The town received its grant as a town from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, making it one of the oldest communities in the state. On January 1, 1643, by unanimous vote, Dedham authorized the first taxpayer-funded public school, "the seed of American education." Its first teacher, Rev. Ralph Wheelock, was paid 20 pounds annually to instruct the youth of the community. Descendants of these students would become presidents of Dartmouth College, Yale University and Harvard University.

Its colonial agricultural economy was expanded by industry only after the town, in 1639, built one of the earliest water power canals connecting the Charles River with a tributary of the Neponset River and creating sufficient water power for grist and fulling mills. The character and future of the community changed drastically when it became the county seat for Norfolk County and the court house was built in 1796.

As local historians point out, this brought in lawyers and officials, trained, educated and ambitious men who changed the face of the community by investing in and supporting industrial development. Notable residents have included Samuel Dexter, third United States Secretary of the Treasury; education reformer Horace Mann; Louis D. Brandeis, the nation's first Jewish Supreme Court Justice and the namesake of nearby Brandeis University; and U.S. Congressman Fisher Ames. Woolen mills sprang up as innovations such as powerbroadlooms were introduced. The town's factories manufactured everything from pianos to furniture and the famed Dedham crackleware pottery.

The town shows a rich and diverse architectural face to the world, with its monumental granite court house of Greek Revival design, its Victorian prison, its limestone Neoclassical Registry of Deeds, Romanesque Revival public library and Renaissance and Georgian Revival schools. In addition, the community has a remarkably well preserved town center, with many handsome, historic houses dating back nearly 400 years. Centrally located along Boston's major rail transportation networks, the community offers gorgeous natural and historic scenery, a bounty of cultural and recreational attractions, excellent schools and a close-knit rural atmosphere within easy reach of the city.

Dedham Massachusetts Community Information

Dedham MA Community Information
Dedham MA Request for Market Analysis on My Home
Dedham MA Schools
Dedham MA Area Newspaper

Dedham MA Real Estate Information

Dedham MA Condominiums
Dedham MA Farms
Dedham MA Foreclosures and Short Sales
Dedham MA Land for Sale
Dedham MA Real Estate and Homes for Sale
Dedham MA Retirement and Adult Living Communities
Dedham MA Vacation Homes

Home Buyer Resources

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How to Buy Your First Home
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Home Seller Resources

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