Walpole, Massachusetts

Walpole is a small census-designated place (CDP) located within the much larger town (21 square miles in size) of Walpole in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Walpole Town as it is called by the US Census Bureau, also includes a much larger population (24,070 in 2010). The population of the Census Designated Place was 5,918 at the 2010 census.

Walpole Town Hall is a historic town hall building at 972 Main Street in Walpole, Massachusetts, USA. The two-story brick building was designed by J. Williams Beal and completed in 1881. The building exhibits Classical Revival with Romanesque elements. Its most prominent feature is its 70-foot (21 m) square clock tower, topped by a pyramidal roof. The entrance is recessed at the base of the tower, under a large round-arch opening trimmed in brownstone.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Walpole High School (WHS) is a four-year public high school in Walpole, Massachusetts, United States, within Norfolk County. The school educates students grades 9 through 12 and is the only high school in the Walpole Public School district. As of 2013, the school has about 1,300 students and over 90 faculty and staff members. The campus is located one mile from downtown Walpole on Common Street. The school is mainly focused on college preparatory subjects, with over 90 percent of its graduates typically going on to higher education. It is accredited is by the New England Association of Secondary Schools. WHS was founded in 1870; the current building was originally built in 1907 and underwent a major renovation/addition in 2000-2002 thereby adding many new classrooms, labs, a new library, and cafeteria as well as a general modernization of the interior.

The Deacon Willard Lewis House is a historic house at 33 West Street in Walpole, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was built c. 1826 by Horatio Wood. In 1863 it was purchased by Willard Lewis, owner of the Kendall Company. The house has a roughly five-bay facade, although instead of paired windows on either side of the center entry, it has bay windows on the first floor. The house is now owned by the Walpole Historical Society.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Union Station, also known as Walpole station, is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Walpole, Massachusetts. It is located at the crossing of the Franklin Branch and Framingham Secondary just west of downtown Walpole. The station has one side platform on the Franklin Branch serving the Franklin/Foxboro Line service. Unlike most MBTA stations, Walpole station is not accessible. Railroad service to Walpole began with the Norfolk County Railroad on April 23, 1849. Walpole became a railroad junction when the Mansfield and Framingham Railroad opened in 1870, and an interlocking tower was built in 1882 to control the junction. The next year, the separate stations on the two lines were replaced with a union station at the junction. The structure burned in 1893 and was rebuilt as a Victorian eclectic depot with Richardsonian influences—one of the few such buildings in the state constructed from wood rather than stone. By 1898, both lines were controlled by the New Haven Railroad, with the ex-Norfolk County Railroad as the Midland Division. Passenger service on the Mansfield–Framingham line ended in 1933, and intercity service on the Midland Division ended in 1955. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began funding commuter rail service on the line in 1966, and increased service levels during the 1970s. The 1893-built signal tower was decommissioned in 1994. In 2016, Union Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Walpole Public Schools is a school district serving Walpole, Massachusetts. In 2012, voters approved a budget override. Jean Kenney, the assistant superintendent, stated in 2015 that the district would have closed its middle school foreign languages program if the override did not pass, and that parents who wanted foreign language instruction to remain had passed the override.

Plimptonville station was an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Walpole, Massachusetts. It was located near the Neponset River next to a small dirt parking lot between Plimpton Street and the tracks. It was a flag stop on the Franklin Line, and received the least service of any MBTA station, with just one round trip per day, consisting of an inbound morning train and an outbound evening train at the height of rush hour. Ridership on that round trip averaged just 12 passengers daily by a 2018 count.

Norfolk County Agricultural High School is a public high school in Walpole, Massachusetts, United States. The school offers specialty training to students who are interested in pursuing careers in Animal and Marine Science, Plant and Environmental Science, and Diesel and Mechanical Technology. The school is one of only three in Massachusetts to promote agriscience and agribusiness opportunities, as well as one of four in the nation. NCAHS has a low retention rate and a low dropout rate (0% in the 2015-2016 school year).

Francis William Bird Park is an 89 acres (36 hectares) landscaped and waterscape park located in Walpole, Massachusetts. The Trustees of Reservations owns and maintains the park. Features include over 3 miles (4.8 km) of walking and bicycle paths that wind through the park, traversing streams across granite bridges and passing through rolling lawns punctuated with mature shade trees, groves, and ponds. Facilities at the park include bike racks, benches, trash receptacles, public restroom (open seasonally), a "tot lot" with children's play equipment, four tennis courts, a basketball backboard, and an outdoor stage. As of June 2010, the "tot lot" no longer features a children's play area. A parking lot is located on Polley Lane in East Walpole.

Moose Hill Farm is a 347-acre (140 ha) open space preserve and historic farm complex located in Sharon, Massachusetts near the 450 feet (140 m) summit of Moose Hill. The property, acquired in 2005 by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reservations, includes farmland, woodlots, 21 farm buildings, hiking trails, stands of mature American Chestnuts, and scenic vistas of the Boston skyline. Moose Hill Farm is part of a larger area of protected open space including state land and the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary.

Windsor Gardens station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Franklin/Foxboro Line station in southern Norwood, Massachusetts. The station has a single side platform serving a single track; it is not accessible. The only entrance to the station is from an adjacent apartment complex; use of the station is not restricted to residents of the complex, though there is no public parking. A station serving the South Norwood area was opened on the Norfolk County Railroad in 1849, with two more added on a separate line in 1892. The three stations closed in 1938 as part of the 88 stations case. The line became part of the MBTA Commuter Rail system in the 1960s and 1970s. Windsor Gardens station opened on March 29, 1971, to serve the apartment complex, which opened in 1962.

Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary is a 1,971 acres (798 ha) wildlife sanctuary located in Sharon, Massachusetts. The property is the oldest property of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, established in 1916. It is adjacent to Moose Hill Farm, which is owned by the Trustees of Reservations. The nature center on Moose Hill Parkway was acquired in 1990. The center displays rotating exhibits throughout the year. The sanctuary consists of habitats including forest, freshwater marsh, meadow, eskers and kettle holes. Over 160 species of birds have been observed on the property.