Stories from Acton

A project to identify early Black and mixed race Acton residents from 1735 through 1865.

Profiles of the six South Acton women who were the first female voters registered in Acton.

Acton's Old Chestnut Tree was apparently a favorite of Henry David Thoreau.

West Acton's barrel shop before and after the destructive fire of 1913.

A postcard with a "bird's eye view" of Acton center shows how undeveloped it was outside of the village.

John Fletcher influenced Acton through his boot and shoe business, advocacy for temperance and against slavery, and service to the town.

School upkeep needs, safety concerns, and budgetary pressures are nothing new, as research into Acton school conditions shows.

Acton's early schooling decisions and the history of the North Acton school district and its schoolhouses are described.

The house at the site of the Captain Isaac Davis farm is often mistakenly assumed to be the house he lived in.

Disagreements within the anti-slavery movement showed up in Acton in the 1830s-1850s, especially during the ministry of James. T. Woodbury.

Independence Day celebrations in Acton in the late 1800s and early 1900s could be surprisingly exciting.

The fate of Acton's WW1 memorial cannon was discovered in a collection of letters.

History of watering troughs in Acton, MA

Acton, MA hosted an ambitious Patriots' Day celebration on April 19, 1895.

"Five brave ladies" from South Acton registered to vote in 1895

In the early 1900s, school crowding became so severe and politics so divided, Acton sent its high school students to Concord.

A document at the Acton Historical Society reveals that two prisoners of war were in town during the Revolution.

Research into the origin of the cannons on the town common in Acton, MA.

Acton's high school, launched in 1883, faced numerous difficulties, including uneven levels of support, one teacher, and the lack of a building in which to meet.