Middlesex County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and the 22nd most populous county in the United States. Middlesex County is one of two U.S. counties to be amongst the top 25 counties with the highest household income and the 25 most populated counties. It is included in the Census Bureau's Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan Statistical Area. As part of the 2020 United States census, the Commonwealth's mean center of population for that year was geo-centered in Middlesex County, in the town of Natick.
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.
Westford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was at 24,643 at the time of the 2020 Census.
Westford Academy is the public high school for the town of Westford, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1792 and is one of the oldest public high schools in the United States.
The Chelmsford Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing the historic heart of the town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. It extends from the town's central square in the east, where the intersection of Billerica Road and Chelmsford Street is located, west beyond the junction of Littleton and North Roads with Westford Street, and from there north along Worthen Road. It includes the area that was the 17th-century heart of the town, including its common and first burying ground, and has been the town's civic heart since its founding.
Wright Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Groton Road near Lynwood Lane in Westford, Massachusetts. The cemetery was formally established in 1836 as a private cemetery for the locally numerous Wright family, although its earliest documented burial dates to 1819. Maintenance and operation of the cemetery was taken over by the town in 1909. The half-acre plot has approximately 150 marked grave sites, and remains in use. The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Hillside Cemetery, also known as the North Burying Ground, is a historic cemetery on Depot and Nutting Roads in Westford, Massachusetts. The cemetery was established in 1753, and is the burial site of a number of people important in local history. It contains approximately 300 burials, and continues in active use. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Russian Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Patten Road in Westford, Massachusetts. The cemetery was established in 1918 by the Russian Brotherhood, a social organization that served as a focal point for Belorussian immigrants who had been recruited by agents for the Abbot Worsted Company to work in its Westford mills. These primarily Russian Orthodox Christians were not allowed to have burials in some of the town's other cemeteries, prompting the creation of this one, which is distinctive in the town as the only cemetery catering to a specific ethnic group. It has approximately 300 burials, with a significant number of early burials marked with gravestones bearing Cyrillic lettering. The cemetery remains open to members of the local Russian-American community.
Fairview Cemetery is a cemetery on Main Street in Westford, Massachusetts. This cemetery is located on Main Street at the corner of Tadmuck Road. It was originally called East Burying Ground and Snow Cemetery. The oldest tombstone dates to 1702, making it one of the town's oldest cemeteries. The cemetery sits on 10.5 acres, a substantial enlargement that began in the 1860s, when new portions of the cemetery were laid out in the then-fashionable rural cemetery style.
Westlawn Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Concord Road at Country Road in Westford, Massachusetts. Established in 1761 as the West Burying Ground, it is one of the town's oldest cemeteries. It occupies a roughly triangular plot of 1.7 acres (0.69 ha). There are approximately 400 marked burials, generally laid out in rows running east–west. One of its most prominent burials is that of Colonel John Robinson, who led Westford's minutemen in the 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Shawsheen Village Historic District is a historic district in northern Andover, Massachusetts. Shawsheen Village was completed in the early 1920s as a planned corporate community. Conceived by William Madison Wood of the American Woolen Company, the village was designed a team of architects including Adden & Parker, Clifford Allbright and Ripley & LeBoutillier of Boston and James E. Allen of Lawrence. John Franklin, a civil engineer for the American Woolen Company was responsible for designing the village, under the direction of Wood. Buildings from the original Frye Village were also incorporated into the design which included a railroad station, shops, apartment buildings, factories, parks and numerous single-family dwellings. The village was located just up the road from the Company's main factories in nearby Lawrence.
The Brookside Historic District of Westford, Massachusetts encompasses surviving elements of the 19th century Brookside mill village, the smallest of the town's three 19th-century industrial villages. Developed between about 1860 and 1904, it includes surviving mill buildings and a variety of mill-related worker housing. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
The Forge Village Historic District of Westford, Massachusetts, United States encompasses one of the town's historic 19th century mill villages. The focal point of the district is the mill complex of the Abbot Worsted Company, around which the village expanded after its founding in 1854. Prior to its founding the area was the site of a number of blacksmithies and iron forging operations, and was the site of a fulling mill in the 18th century. The center of the district is at the junction of East and West Prescott Streets with Pleasant Street, radiating away to ballfields on West Prescott, Abbot Street at Pleasant, and just beyond Orchard Street on East Prescott. Worker housing occupies a number of adjacent streets in the area.
The Henry Fletcher House is a historic house at 224 Concord Road in Westford, Massachusetts. Built c. 1810–13, it is a rare example of very late Georgian style timber-frame construction, with a large central chimney characteristic of colonial-era houses. It is styled with a mix of late Georgian and Federal style woodwork. The property's barn was also built by Henry Fletcher using the same construction methods. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
The Shirley Center Historic District encompasses the original historic center of Shirley, Massachusetts. The district is centered on the 1753 town common area, from which five roads radiate away. The district includes the buildings that surround the common, as well as some that line these roads. The district includes Shirley's town hall and First Parish Congregational Church.
The Graniteville Historic District of Westford, Massachusetts, United States, encompasses one of the town's historic 19th century industrial villages. The area was, until the arrival of the railroad in 1847, primarily known for its granite quarries. The railroad's arrival prompted the construction of an industrial mill by Charles G. Sargent, and the area developed rapidly thereafter. A significant amount of housing stock, as well as civic institutional buildings, were built during the second half of the 19th century. The district is bounded on the east by River Street and on the south by Bridge Street and North Main Street. The western edge of the district runs just before North Main Street's junction with West Street, northward and then eastward to encompass a number of quarry sites, before meeting North Main Street at River Street.
Westford Center Historic District encompasses the historic village center of Westford, Massachusetts. It is centered on a stretch of Main Street between Graniteville and Leland Roads, extending away from this strip on a number of side streets. The area has been the town center since settlement of the town began in the 1720s. Prominent in the district are the Westford Academy building and the First Parish Church, two fine Federal style structures built in 1794, and the Italianate town hall, built in 1871.
The Wilder Street Historic District is a historic district in Lowell, Massachusetts. The section of Wilder Street between Westford Street and Branch Road contains a remarkable collection of large late 19th-century houses. About one dozen wealthy businessmen built elaborate houses in Queen Anne, Italianate, Stick, and Second Empire styles in this area, which was developed by its landowner, Charles Wilder, and it was considered one of the city's most fashionable addresses of the time.
The John Proctor House is a historic house at 218 Concord Road in Westford, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest houses in Westford. Its main block was probably built between 1720 and 1740 by John Proctor II, although deed evidence surrounding the house's construction is scanty. The main house is a two-story timber-frame structure with an asymmetrical facade, somewhat resembling a typical First Period half house, although the chimney was removed in the 19th century. Most of the building's interior finishes date to the 1820s or 1830s. A two-story bay was added to the house's west side between 1830 and 1850, and a real ell added c. 1900.
The Sandy Pond School is a historic school building at 150 Sandy Pond Road in Ayer, Massachusetts. Built in 1868, it is the only surviving district school building in the town. Now a local museum, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
