Westford Town

Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Westford Town Hall is located at 55 Main Street, Westford, MA 01886.
Phone: 978‑692‑5500.

Neighborhoods

Westford [1] developed as a series of individual villages surrounded by large amounts of undeveloped land. The building fabric of each village is unique. Westford's villages evolved in association with different aspects of the town's history: mill construction along a water source; seasonal recreation on the lakes and ponds; transportation patterns; and agricultural development. Today, the villages are not as clearly defined as they once were because much of the surrounding land has been subdivided. However, they still contribute significantly to Westford's visual identity. Westford has six historic villages and all but one (Nabnasset) are listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. The National Register villages are identified with street signage at their entrances.

Westford as described in 1937 [2]

Westford is the scene of the Nashoba Apple Blossom Festival in which, in 1935, thirty-eight towns participated with an attendance of some 50,000 persons. The present town comprises about 20,000 acres of land, chiefly hills and valleys of glacial origin. The soil of its hills contains the slowly disintegrating feldspar rocks brought from Canada by the glacial sea, which yield the vital plant element, potassium, in just the right proportion for the growth of trees and fruits. The Old Fletcher Tavern (1713) faces the Town Green on Fletcher Hamlin Circle. This fine structure is one of the most carefully preserved in Massachusetts. The clapboards are a creamy white and the blinds, which adorn the windows and door, are green. The roof is slate and the brick chimneys are painted white. The old oven in one of the fireplaces, where for over 200 years the Saturday rite of baking beans has been observed, is sure to delight even the most enthusiastic supporter of modern culinary methods. It was at this inn that Daniel Webster courted Grace Fletcher.

1. Westford Planning Board, Westford Comprehensive Master Plan, 2009. www.westfordma.gov, accessed February, 2016.
2. Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for Massachusetts, Massachusetts: A Guide to Its Places and People, American Guide Series, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1937.

Nearby Towns: Acton Town • Chelmsford Town • Dunstable Town • Tyngsborough Town •