Town Edition
Essex County
Wenham, Massachusetts
Your town owns an estate. In 1909 the steel magnate Henry Clay Frick bought the Iron Rail on Grapevine Road so his daughter Helen could run it as a country home for young women working New England’s mills. The Girls’ Clubs of America took it over in 1954, and in the 1970s Wenham bought the whole property outright. Today the Iron Rail carries the town public works garage, the water department’s storage, soccer fields, and public trails, and the choice to buy it was made the way Wenham has settled its biggest questions since 1643: at an open Town Meeting, where any registered voter can stand up, speak, and vote on the budget. On April 16, 2026, 553 residents cast ballots to fill two seats on the Select Board. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Wenham at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Essex. Wenham is a small, largely residential town of about 7.7 square miles on the North Shore, roughly 22 miles north of Boston, bordered by Beverly, Danvers, Topsfield, Hamilton, and Manchester, with Wenham Lake and the southern edge of the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary inside its bounds.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Steve Poulos.
- Schools: the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District, about 1,706 students, led by Superintendent Eric Tracy.
How Wenham’s Government Works
Wenham runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Wenham is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Administrator to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Administrator.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Wenham is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
5 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Administrator.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
7 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Administrator and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm in Town Hall, 138 Main Street. Meetings are open to the public and are carried on HWCAM cable and YouTube; the agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is set by town bylaw for the first Saturday in April, at Bessie Buker Elementary School, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: Wenham votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on April 16, and 553 residents turned out to fill two seats on the Select Board. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Wenham Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Wenham HistoryEnon, the ice trade, and 1643
- DemographicsWho lives in Wenham
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataHamilton-Wenham schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Essex County, and that includes Wenham. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Wenham
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and police or fire go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm in Town Hall, 138 Main Street, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. Five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 138 Main Street, Wenham, MA 01984. Select Board office 978-468-5520 ext. 1.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-468-5520 ext. 1, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at wenhamma.gov.
- Public schools: the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District, led by Superintendent Eric Tracy, at hwschools.net.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.