Wellesley (pronounced /wlzli) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 26,613 at the time of the 2000 census. It is well known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College. The Hunnewell Arboretum abuts the Wellesley campus, and the Elm Bank Horticulture Center has its entrance in Wellesley, although it is located across a small private bridge over the Charles River and is therefore in the neighboring town of Dover. The public education services of the town are well regarded, especially Wellesley High School; in 2007 it was ranked 70th best public high school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, earning a Gold Medal.
Wellesley was settled in the 1630s as part of Dedham, Massachusetts. It was subsequently a part of Needham, Massachusetts called West Needham, Massachusetts. On Oct. 23, 1880, West Needham residents voted to secede from Needham and the town of Wellesley was later christened by the Massachusetts legislature on April 6, 1881.
Wellesley is located in eastern Massachusetts. It is bordered on the east by Newton, on the north by Weston, on the south by Needham and Dover and on the west by Natick. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.49 square miles (27,200 km), of which, 10.18 square miles (26,400 km) is land and .32 square miles (830 km) is water.
The town's historic 19th century inn was demolished to make way for condominiums and mixed-use development in 2006.[7] The Wellesley Country Club clubhouse, which is the building where the town was founded, was demolished in 2008. The town's pre-World War II high school building is being torn down & replaced, and the entire 1960s-style Linden Street strip-mall has been replaced by "Linden Square" - a shopping district that includes a flagship Roche Brothers supermarket, restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, along with a mixture of national chains and local shops.