Westford Industrialization

1st mill in Westford- saw and grist mill-is erected near nab pond on Saw Mill Brook

Mar 27, 1630

Jonas Prescott given a land grant on Forge Pond and builds a corn/grist mill

Mar 27, 1680

First of 5 Iron forges erected in Forge Villiage (the 4th or 5th earliest in New England)

Mar 27, 1710

Fulling mill built at Brookside - stays in buisness for 140 years

Mar 27, 1724

Incorporation of Westford

Mar 27, 1729

Construction of Middlesex and Pawtucket Canals Finished

Mar 27, 1786

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, 1823

Boston and Maine Rail Road takes over the lease of the Stony Brook Rail Road

Mar 27, 1832

Opening of the Nashua and Lowell Rail Road

Mar 20, 1835

Abbot and Company comes into existence and begins the manufacture of carpet yarns in Graniteville

Mar 27, 1840

Opening of the Stony Brook Railroad

Mar 20, 1848

Opening of the Boston and Lowell Rail Road

Mar 20, 1848

Official opening of the Stony Brook Rail Road ( leased and used by the Nashua and Lowell Rail Road)

Mar 27, 1848

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, 1854

Thomas Hittinger buys the picnic area of Forge Pond and expands his ice buisness to Wesford

Mar 27, 1864

Forge Villiage Nail Company formed - buys land and water rights of iron forges (thus ending iron industry in Westford)

Mar 27, 1865

Opening of the Framingham and Lowell Rail Road

Mar 20, 1872

Opening of the Nashua, Acton, and Boston Rail Road

Mar 20, 1873

Forge Villiage Nail Company is brought out by the Abbot Worsted Company

Mar 27, 1879

Moore Brothers buy the main mill in Brookside and convert it to the manufacture of yarn

Mar 27, 1887

Opening of H.E. Fletcher Company Quarry

Mar 20, 1895

Opening of the HE Fletcher Rail Road

Mar 20, 1895

Closing of the Nashua,Acton,and Boston Rail Road

Mar 20, 1925

Closing of the Framingham and Lowell Rail Road

Mar 20, 1938

Final Local and Regional Passenger Trains on the Stony Brook Railroad

Mar 27, 1953

Abbot Worsted Mill land and buildings bought out by the Murray Printing Company

Mar 27, 1957