Boxford, a rural town about 30 miles north of Boston, has few residents and fewer businesses.
You can easily miss the town square, and Main Street — long, winding, and tree-lined — feels more like a forgotten side road than a central artery.
But Boxford holds a unique distinction: It’s the only community in Greater Boston that has voted Republican in every presidential election since backing Richard M. Nixon in 1972.
“There are, like, five Democrats here,’’ joked Jason Nicewicz, 23, a former Bernie Sanders supporter who plans to cast a vote for Hillary Clinton next month.
Yet despite Boxford’s voting history, many in town are hesitant to call themselves Republican. Many residents interviewed at Boxford Community Center’s Council on Aging said they are registered as unenrolled and view themselves as independent.
Indeed, as of September, Boxford had 961 registered Democrats, 1,324 Republicans, and 3,741 unenrolled voters. (The majority of voters in all but about 20 Massachusetts cities and towns are unenrolled, according to state data, and no community is majority Republican.)
“Independent’’ might, in fact, be the best way to describe Boxford’s preferences on Super Tuesday.
Donald Trump received 751 out of the 1,751 votes cast in the Republican primary, topping the ticket. But Bernie Sanders did just as well in the Democratic primary, beating out Hillary Clinton 751 to 658 among the 1,423 votes cast.
Kim Cosco, 49, said she notices a libertarian “take care of your own’’ view, which she thinks comes from the town’s farming roots.
“People move here because there’s the ability to get away from other people,’’ said Grid Losee, a retiree at the Council on Aging.
The town has no public water supply; residents must rely on their own personal wells. Each home is required to have at least2 acres of land, which Nicewicz said creates “a strong sense of privacy and seclusion.’’
The average single-family home in Boxford is valued at $590,183, according to the state Division of Local Services. The town’s median household income is $127,813, and there are few rental properties.
“It’s a very white-collar community,’’ said Neil Osgood, a retiree at the Council on Aging. “The average blue-collar worker couldn’t afford’’ a house in town.
Some voters said they don’t see any candidate as ideal but are voting with their usual preferred party.
“Trump people are Trump people, Hillary people are Hillary people,’’ said Suzanne Cox, a Democrat and Boxford transplant. “There’s a small group that can have their minds changed.’’
Vanessa Nason can be reached at vanessa.nason@globe.com
