Acton Center Historic District | |
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Location | Main St., Wood and Woodbur Lanes, Newton, Concord, and Nagog Hill Rds. Acton, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°29′11″N71°25′58″W / 42.48639°N 71.43278°W |
Area | 33.5 acres (13.6 ha) |
Architect | Hartwell and Richardson; Taylor, Moses |
Architectural style | Greek Revival, Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 83000780 [1] |
Added to NRHP | March 10, 1983 |
The Acton Center Historic District encompasses the historic heart of the once-rural, now suburban, town of Acton, Massachusetts. The district includes properties on Main Street, Wood and Woodbury Lanes, Newtown, Concord, and Nagog Hill Roads, and has been the town's civic heart since its establishment in the 1730s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. [1]
The area that is now Acton was granted to English colonial settlers in 1643, but was not settled until 1680 as part of Concord. It was separately incorporated in 1735. The town's early civic buildings and common area were located near its geographic center, which for much of the colonial period remained a small agricultural settlement. It remained so due to the absence of water power for industrial growth, which led to the growth of West Acton and South Acton. It was also bypassed by the railroad, but remained of civic importance due to the presence of churches and civic buildings. Most of the housing stock in Acton Center is Federal or Greek Revival in style, although there are some houses that have later Italianate and Queen Anne styling, and there are several Colonial Revival houses. [2]
The historic district extends along Main Street (Massachusetts Route 27) from the triangular common in the west to Nagog Hill in the east, and includes a few buildings on adjacent roadways. The common is the remnant of the town's original common, established in 1731, and houses the town's monument to the American Revolutionary War. It was here that the town's militia company mustered for the Battles of Lexington and Concord that sparked the conflict. The town's main civic buildings are in the district: the Congregational Church (1846, later restyled with Queen Anne details), the Town Hall (1863, Italianate), and Acton Memorial Library (1889, Romanesque Revival). [3]
Acton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, approximately 21 miles (34 km) west-northwest of Boston along Massachusetts Route 2 west of Concord and about ten miles (16 km) southwest of Lowell. The population was 24,021 in April 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau. It is bordered by Westford and Littleton to the north, Concord and Carlisle to the east, Stow, Maynard, and Sudbury to the south and Boxborough to the west. Acton became an incorporated town in 1735. The town employs the Open Town Meeting form of government with a town manager and an elected, five-member select board. Acton was named the 11th Best Place To Live among small towns in the country by Money Magazine in 2015, and the 16th best in 2009 and in 2011. The local high school, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, was named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009.
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