 medford is a city in middlesex county, massachusetts, in the united states, on the mystic river, five miles northwest of downtown boston. in the 2010 u.s. census, medford's population was 56,173. it is the home of tufts university. ==history== ===1600s=== medford was settled in 1630 as part of charlestown, when thomas dudley referred to it as "mistick" (a name which persisted for many decades), which his party renamed "meadford".history of the town of medford, p. 30 in 1634, the land north of the mystic river became the private plantation of former governor matthew cradock; across the river was ten hills farm, which belonged t
1630_establishments_in_Massachusetts Cities_in_Massachusetts Medford,_Massachusetts Populated_places_established_in_1630