Westford Industrialization By tmariano Mar 27, 1630 1st mill in Westford- saw and grist mill-is erected near nab pond on Saw Mill Brook Mar 27, 1680 Jonas Prescott given a land grant on Forge Pond and builds a corn/grist mill Mar 27, 1710 First of 5 Iron forges erected in Forge Villiage (the 4th or 5th earliest in New England) Mar 27, 1724 Fulling mill built at Brookside - stays in buisness for 140 years Mar 27, 1729 Incorporation of Westford Mar 27, 1786 Construction of Middlesex and Pawtucket Canals Finished Mar 27, 1823 Benjamin Palmer comes from Maine-buys 80 acres of land-opens a quarry (stays in buisness for almost 100 years) Mar 27, 1823 Incorporation of Lowell Mar 27, 1823 Issac Carkin opens the Oak Hill Quarry - the first quarry in Westford Mar 27, 1823 Charles Hollis hews granite from boulders in town and hauls them to Boston - unofficial beginning of the granite industry in Westford Mar 27, 1832 Boston and Maine Rail Road takes over the lease of the Stony Brook Rail Road Mar 20, 1835 Opening of the Nashua and Lowell Rail Road Mar 27, 1840 Abbot and Company comes into existence and begins the manufacture of carpet yarns in Graniteville Mar 20, 1848 Opening of the Stony Brook Railroad Mar 20, 1848 Opening of the Boston and Lowell Rail Road Mar 27, 1848 Official opening of the Stony Brook Rail Road ( leased and used by the Nashua and Lowell Rail Road) Mar 27, 1854 Charles G. Sargent and Francis A. Calvert buy Thomas Richardson's saw/grist mill in Graniteville and open the C.G. Sargents and Sons Company Mar 27, 1864 Thomas Hittinger buys the picnic area of Forge Pond and expands his ice buisness to Wesford Mar 27, 1865 Forge Villiage Nail Company formed - buys land and water rights of iron forges (thus ending iron industry in Westford) Mar 20, 1872 Opening of the Framingham and Lowell Rail Road Mar 20, 1873 Opening of the Nashua, Acton, and Boston Rail Road Mar 27, 1879 Forge Villiage Nail Company is brought out by the Abbot Worsted Company Mar 27, 1887 Moore Brothers buy the main mill in Brookside and convert it to the manufacture of yarn Mar 20, 1895 Opening of H.E. Fletcher Company Quarry Mar 20, 1895 Opening of the HE Fletcher Rail Road Mar 20, 1925 Closing of the Nashua,Acton,and Boston Rail Road Mar 20, 1938 Closing of the Framingham and Lowell Rail Road Mar 27, 1953 Final Local and Regional Passenger Trains on the Stony Brook Railroad Mar 27, 1957 Abbot Worsted Mill land and buildings bought out by the Murray Printing Company
