Waltham, Massachusetts

Waltham, Massachusetts
City
City Hall
Seal
Nickname:  The Watch City
Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts
Waltham Show map of Greater Boston area Waltham Show map of Massachusetts Waltham Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 42°22′35″N 71°14′10″W / 42.37639°N 71.23611°W / 42.37639; -71.23611
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Middlesex
Region	New England
Settled	1634
Incorporated as a Town	1738
Incorporated as a City	1884
Government
• Type	Mayor-council city
• Mayor	Jeannette A. McCarthy
Area [1]
• Total	13.76 sq mi (35.64 km2)
• Land	12.74 sq mi (33.01 km2)
• Water	1.02 sq mi (2.63 km2)
Elevation	50 ft (15 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	65,218
• Density	5,117.95/sq mi (1,975.99/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern)
ZIP Codes	02451–02454
Area code	339/781
FIPS code	25-72600
GNIS feature ID	0612400
Website	www.city.waltham.ma.us

Waltham (/ˈwɔːlθæm/ WAWL-tham) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning, spawning what became known as the Waltham-Lowell system of labor and production. The city is now a center for research and higher education, home to Brandeis University and Bentley University as well as industrial powerhouse Raytheon Technologies. The population was 65,218 at the census in 2020.^[2]

Waltham has been called "watch city" because of its association with the watch industry. Waltham Watch Company opened its factory in Waltham in 1854 and was the first company to make watches on an assembly line. It won the gold medal in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. The company produced over 35 million watches, clocks and instruments before it closed in 1957.^[3]