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Medfield Attractions

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

With its rich history and abundant conservation land, Medfield offers a variety of activities to both residents and visitors alike. This list provides some of the area highlights.

Historic Sites

Peak House Heritage Center – 347 Main St.
The Peak House is one of the earliest surviving examples of post-medieval English (Elizabethan) architecture and is the only free-standing structure of its kind in the United States.  Its exceptionally steep pitched roof is the highest on record in Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. https://peakhouseheritagecenter.org/

Dwight-Derby House – 7 Frairy St.
Located across from the historic First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church (the original town Meeting House), and adjacent pond and park, the Dwight-Derby House is a wonderful example of a mid-century 1700s home, resting in a setting that has withstood the ravages of time. This house was named for its two long-term families who lived amongst its walls. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. https://www.dwightderbyhouse.org/

Vine Lake Cemetery – 625 Main St.
Since 1651, the burial grounds and cemetery has been a destination for solitude, contemplation and reflection where families come to honor and celebrate life in a peaceful environment. It is one of the last surviving remnants of Medfield’s beginnings, with an active cemetery that combines important social, historical, architectural, natural and archaeological environments in an outdoor museum. https://vinelakepreservationtrust.org/

Hannah Adams Homestead & Scenic Elm Street – 49 Elm St.
Hannah Adams was the first woman in the U.S. to have been able to earn a living as a writer. Author of numerous books, her birthplace on Elm Street is a private residence, but sits on a historic road. A wonderful driving tour, Elm Street was recently designated a Scenic Road, and rightfully so for its features that include Mine Brook bridge, old estates and historic homes, and connections with other Scenic Roads, including Philip Street (at Foundry Street intersection) where Red Gate Farm, and the old mill still stands. The entire area is considered a scenic corridor.
https://patch.com/massachusetts/medfield/hannah-adams-medfields-most-famous-female

Kingsbury Mill Pond – 111-127 Spring St.
Recently restored, this historic mill sits adjacent to Kingsbury Pond, stocked with fish and where otters and other wildlife have been spotted. It is a site frequented by portrait photographers and plein-air painters. 

Medfield State Hospital campus
Built in 1895 on nearly 500 acres of land along the Charles River featuring dozens of architecturally significant brick buildings, it opened as the Medfield Insane Asylum. Decades later, the town assumed ownership of the property, and is now in the planning phase of determining its re-use. The former Medfield State Hospital is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and offers Charles River trails for exploring, in addition to expansive grounds for a leisurely stroll. Several movies have been filmed on the campus, including Shutter Island.
https://www.lspa.org/assets/Blog_Photos/Medfield_Hosp_Tour/short%20history%20of%20medfield%20%20state%20hospital.pdf

Natural Beauty

Over the years, famous painters like George Innes and Dennis Miller Bunker have been drawn to Medfield’s natural beauty where the Charles River and ancillary streams flow past open meadows and through woodlands. Residents have worked hard to protect the town’s open space, and today the Town is known for its high percentage of conservation land, thanks in large part to The Trustees of Reservations which owns and stewards the vast majority of it. 

Trustees properties include Rocky Woods off Hartford Street, Fork Factory Brook Reservation and Shattuck Reservation along the Charles River, and the historic and ecologically significant Rhododendron Preserve tucked into the woods off Spring and Causeway Streets. 

Learn more about Trustees of Reservations Medfield properties: https://thetrustees.org/?s=medfield

More information about Medfield landmarks: https://www.medfieldfoundation.org/landmark-preservation