Waltham

Waltham , city (1990 pop. 57,878), Middlesex co., E Mass., a suburb of Boston , on the Charles River; settled c.1634, set off from Watertown 1738, inc. as a city 1884. It is an important high-technology and computer center. Electronic equipment and parts, precision instruments, medical diagnostic testing equipment, cameras, machinery, fabricated metals, and plastic products are among its varied manufactures. It was known as the seat of the Waltham Watch Company, which produced clocks and watches there from 1854 until 1954. Brandeis Univ. and Bentley College are in the city. Of note are the many colonial structures. The Charles River Museum of Industry is in Waltham, and the city is the New England headquarters of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Waltham, found in various counties, ‘homestead or village in a forest’ (probably indicating a royal hunting estate), OE w(e)ald + hām; examples include: Waltham NE. Lincs. Waltham 1086 (DB). Waltham Abbey Essex. Waltham 1086 (DB). Affix from the medieval Abbey of Holy Cross here. Waltham, Bishops Hants. Waltham 904, 1086 (DB). Affix from its early possession by the Bishop of Winchester. Waltham Cross Herts. Walthamcros 1365. ‘Cross near Waltham [Abbey]’. Named from the ‘Eleanor Cross’ set up here by Edward I in memory of Queen Eleanor in 1290. Waltham, Great & Waltham, Little Essex. Waltham, Waldham 1086 (DB), parua Waltam 1197, Waltham Magna 1238. Waltham on the Wolds Leics. Waltham 1086 (DB). See Wolds. Waltham St Lawrence & White Waltham Winds. & Maid. Wealtham 940, Waltham 1086 (DB), Waltamia Sancti Laurencii 1225, Wytewaltham 1243. Distinguishing affixes from the dedication of the church and from OE hwīt ‘white’ referring to chalky soil.