Living in Randolph
Randolph is a suburban community in Norfolk County, about 15 miles south of Boston, where Route 128 meets Route 24. It covers about 10.5 square miles and borders Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Holbrook, Canton, Avon and Stoughton. Settled in 1710, Randolph became a separate town in 1793, formed from the south precinct of Braintree, and it is named for Peyton Randolph, first president of the Continental Congress. By the mid-1800s boot and shoe making was the town’s main industry, including a style called “Randies” made only here. As that industry declined in the early 1900s, Randolph grew into a residential suburb. Since 2010 it has had a council-manager form of government.
Randolph Center is the historic heart of town, home to Stetson Hall, the Greek Revival former town hall built in 1842 and now an events venue, and the Turner Free Library, established in 1874.
Homes you will find
- Capes and Federal-era houses, especially along Main Street
- Greek Revival and Italianate houses and side-hall cottages from the 1800s, on streets such as Union, North and Main
- Victorian-era houses on Main Street north of Randolph Center
- Single-family homes from the 20th century, from bungalows to ranches
- Suburban subdivisions in North Randolph along Route 28 and around Oak and North Streets
Getting around
Holbrook/Randolph station, on the town line at Union Street (Route 139), has commuter rail service toward South Station. MBTA bus route 240 runs to Ashmont station and route 238 to Quincy Center, both on the Red Line, and Red Line stations in Braintree and Quincy are a short drive away. Brockton Area Transit provides bus service to Brockton. Route 24 and Route 28 run north to south through town, Route 139 runs east to west, and I-93 and U.S. Route 1 clip the town’s northern edge.
Parks and everyday life
The Blue Hills Reservation, about 7,000 acres, sits on Randolph’s edge. It includes Great Blue Hill, the highest point in the Boston area, the 7.5-mile Skyline Trail, Houghton’s Pond, Ponkapoag Pond and the Blue Hills Ski Area. In town, Powers Farm Community Park covers 22 acres with five-acre Norroway Pond, a boathouse and dock, a picnic pavilion, a playground and trails through meadows and an Atlantic white cedar swamp. Belcher Park, across from the 1806 Jonathan Belcher House, has a small pond, a climbing wall, a ropes course and sports courts, and Imagination Station is the town’s largest community playground. Randolph runs its own public school system, and families can contact Randolph Public Schools directly for school details. The town is also part of the Blue Hills Regional Technical School district.
Who Randolph suits
Randolph suits buyers who want a suburban setting with highway and commuter rail access to Boston, those who want trails and ponds close to home, and investors looking south of the city for single- and multi-family property.
Thinking about Randolph? Ask Suad about recent sales and what is on the market now, in English, Spanish (with Diana) or Bosnian.
