It was not long before the water power of the Charles River and Chicken Brook stimulated the formation of cotton and paper mills, straw and boot factories, and a variety of cottage industries.

Medway demonstrates the central importance of the Charles River and the thriving town that grew alongside it.

Today, the one-room schoolhouses are gone and the country stores have moved to the mall, but the open town meetings continue.

After nearby Medfield was established as a town in 1651, an increasing number of newcomers settled on the land west of the Charles River.

By 1712, this settlement west of the Charles had grown large enough to petition the Massachusetts General Court for the creation of a separate new town.

At its founding by Henry Garnsey, and for 170 years afterward, the town of Medway included the land that is now Millis.

Had the land been developable, this would have been the ideal location for a central meeting house, as well as churches and schools.

Medway is the geographical center between Boston, Worcester, and Providence, which is purported by some to explain the origin of the name.

In 2006, the New England Intensity of the Independent Women's Football League began playing its home games at Medway's Hanlon Field.

In 2008, the Bay State Renegades, of the New England Football League, began playing their home games at Hanlon Field.

In 2008, approximately 217 10th grade students participated in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam.

The average composite score was 1,614; of these students, 85.8% chose to attend a four-year college education program.

The closest MBTA Commuter Rail service is at Forge Park/495, Franklin/Dean College, and Norfolk stations on the Franklin/Foxboro Line.