Talk:Acton, Massachusetts

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Flag of Massachusetts Acton, Massachusetts is part of WikiProject Massachusetts, an effort to create, expand, and improve Massachusetts-related articles to a feature-quality standard.


Contents

[edit] NPOV

The Acton page contained sections that were not NPOV and sounded like an advertisement. I do not think that these have a place in an encylopedia and so removed them. User:pheon

[edit] "Notable" persons

That a person simply grew up in a town irrelevant to an encyclopedia article about that town; it is relevant instead to the article about that person. If the person had some effect on the town as it is, then that effect ought to be mentioned in itself, not indirectly implied in a list of former residents.

Robert Creeley, for example, apparently has an award in his name given by the town library, which may be appropriate to mention in the article about the town, though properly this ultimately might should be integrated into the article, rather than as a list at the end. If, as the article says, Caroll Spinney simply grew up in the town, it is not relevant to mention that in the article about the town. David Wolff, also, might should be removed, but at least his current residence here could possibly indicate that some business of the Esperanto League is conducted in the town, etc. - Centrx 20:49, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I am not particularly opposed to removing these names from the list of notable residents but I would like to understand how these decisions get made. Many towns have lists of residents - some of which seem pretty obscure. Look at Worcester, MA for example. Is this a question that we should bring to the WikiProject Massachusetts so that we all can agree on a consistent set of guidelines for who is 'notable' ?? --LWV Roadrunner 22:06, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
Yes, in order to agree on what is right for these articles, to spread good ideas and ensure by examination that they are good ideas, this should be brought up on the relevant Project pages and styleguides. I have brought up something similar on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Cities, but really at all levels where a policy is agreed it needs to be discussed and changed because they are all ultimately autonomous. At the lowest level here, also, Wikipedia:Be bold. - Centrx 19:20, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
The article for Steve Carell says he was born in Concord. Source?

[edit] Changes in progress

I have re-organized teh sections to correspond to the organization used in the Boston article. I am still filling stuff in so it looks a little sketchy right now. Bear with me... --LWV Roadrunner 04:19, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question about date of W. Acton fire

Youremyjuliet had a question about the date of the W. Acton fire.

There were quite a number of fires in Acton during the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries. According to 'A Brief History of Acton', one occurred just after the installation of the town wells. That is the one that is referenced in the article. I got the date from the 'Brief History' book. --LWV Roadrunner 20:08, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

(Copied from YoureMyJuliet's talk page)

  • No problem, Roadrunner. I used to live in the house in Acton center, adjacent to the phallic memorial in the center of town. That house was the house of the first Actonian, and was one of the houses burned on the Christmas Eve fire of 1913. It turns out the fire station was a few houses down on Main Street, and they were having a party when it happened. After that the town decided to move the station to its current location, where it overlooks my old house. ---You'reMyJuliet 00:45, 3 June 2006 (UTC)
  • What an interesting story! I am trying to nail down the dates of these various fires. The one I referenced in the article was in West Acton and it was fought with the newly installed water system that didn't yet go to Central Acton so it definitely was not the same fire that impacted your old house. I am looking at some pictures in the book 'Acton: A Second Look'. It shows pictures of the Fletcher Shoe Factory which was on the corner of Concord and Main. It burned twice - in 1862 and in 1893. The Acton Center firehouse now stands on that land. So I suspect that the fire you reference was either the 1862 fire or the 1893 fire and NOT the 1913 fire. --LWV Roadrunner 15:24, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Organization of article/town

First, is it appropriate to call North, South, and East Acton "town centers"? It seems that only West Acton and Acton Center really qualify as "centers" of anything, rather than general areas.

Second, should possibly places in a certain area, particularly Acton Center, be described according to their location, similarly to how it is said in the introduction (though it would be too much for the introduction) to give an idea of what the place itself is like. Such as:

Acton Center is the civic center of the town and is the site of the Town Hall, the main public library, a children's playground, an obelisk monument commemorating Acton deaths in "the Concord Fight" of the Revolutionary War, a Congregational church, an arboretum and conservation area, and the former post office. The modern post office is located about one-half mile away. Otherwise, Acton Center is generally a residential area.

-- Centrx 05:22, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

The phrase used in Acton is 'village center' which is much less than a 'town center'. West Acton, South Acton and Acton Center are generally recognized as having their own identity. East Acton is a little less recognized but has its own history as a village center (train station, etc) and it considered a village center by the town government. It has been zoned to permit village style (i.e. more dense) development. North Acton is purely residential at this point but there are plans to create some kind of 'village center' feel there, too.
I like your idea of re-working the intro paragraph to discuss each of the village centers (briefly) before getting into the town as a whole. However, I am about to go away for a week so I won't be able to do much with this article right now. Feel free to take a stab at it yourself or else I will do something when I get back.
Another thought - I have been planning on moving all of the 'history' stuff to a 'History of Acton' article and putting a brief summary of the history in this article. What do you think of that idea?
Then I was hoping to add a section on the economy of the town. Finally I plan to do some polishing of the article as a whole and then ask for feedback from the 'Massachusetts Project' folk. I would like to make this article a featured article in the Massachusetts Project, at least.

--LWV Roadrunner 18:35, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I just saw a sign by the side of the road, now they're calling it the "Acton Historic District". —Centrx→talk • 20:15, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
I haven't noticed the sign yet. Presumably in Acton Center? Acton Center is one of several 'Historic Districts' in Acton. That particular nominclature can be used to describe several areas in Acton. It doesn't replace the name of the place as Acton Center. --LWV Roadrunner 01:24, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Request for feedback

I have done some extensive work on this article over the last month and would appreciate feedback on it. I would like this article to be a 'recommended article' for Wikiproject Massachusetts. Please put feedback on this page so others can comment, too. Thank-you.

--LWV Roadrunner 12:58, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Overall, I like what you have done. The structure and information content is great. My only gripe is that there is some content with a residual POV character. Examples are Economy: "As a result, the residential tax burden is higher than comparable communities with a larger commercial / industrial sector." (suggests an opinion on what is high). Education: The school philosophy bit. (sounds too much like mission statement, marketing blab.) School Choice Program for Elementary Schools: This whole section sounds like a marketing job. "Parents also make friends with the parents of the children in their schools as well as with neighbors and others with shared interests." (..?..)

I would suggest an edit to tone down the POV tone.

pheon 13:42, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

I think it looks pretty good. I edited the section about MBCR service a little (I used to ride that line daily, in fact). If you wouldn't mind taking a look at the article on Marlborough, Massachusetts, which is where I live and an article I've worked on quite a bit, I'd appreciate it.--Caliga10 16:46, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

I don't follow the Acton page although I made a change or two related to the revolution. I did read the older article and have read the newer and I am quite impressed with the newer (BTW: I'm a Billerica resident.) A number of things that I thought that I would like to see I found were incorporated already. Some small changes I make make on my own later (commas, italics, slight rewording.) Here are my broader comments:

  1. Native Americans: Rivers are mentioned but not listed.
  2. 19th century: Nothing from 1865 to 1900. Fill with at least a sentence.
  3. Civil war: Short list of where units were sent?
  4. 20th century: A lot of jumping between early, mid and late decades in the discussion. I'm not sure if a sub-topic breakdown (health, education, etc.) is better than a cronological order though.
  5. Superfund: I definitely recommend references for this portion.
  6. Economy: I think your POV is OK but only if you mention that the tax rates are different for the different properties and how. Then people can see the logic behind the opinion.
  7. Sites of interest: Split to make a section for "recreation areas." Add monument list? Early cemeteries?
  8. Conservation areas: Who owns the areas? Name. Town, state, private land trusts, colleges, etc. Maybe not important to most but just a few words gives quite a bit of info to those interested.
  9. Schools: I generally hate coming across school article when viewing random liks. Your listing is OK since most info is on other linked pages (I wish those pages would disappear.)
  10. Notable residents: I think this is OK. Some aren't important but they will be added by that person's relatives sometime in the future anyway. (I do follow a poet's article and any two words he wrote that also appear in a garage band's lyrics gets mentioned under "Popular Recognition.")

WikiParker 23:47, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Hey, if nothing else, the old Sweeney house at 412 Arlington st. was built between 1865 and 1900, my dad lives there now.


  • Thank-you all for your feedback. I will re-work the economics and school sections and work on the other sections you have mentioned. I have gone back and forth on the 20th century section. Sometimes a list of event that is chronological doesn't read very well. I thought that breaking into related subjects might be better but that isn't ideal either. Please note that there is a lot more detail about all of the history in the 'History of Acton' article.

--LWV Roadrunner 13:25, 24 June 2006 (UTC)


I will make some minor changes unless the thunderstorm gets much worse.

  • settled (This paragraph may be for the Massachusetts or United States WikiProject.)


One surprise for me is that "Settled" in the box links to a general article on Massachusetts(which I didn't read) rather than to an article about settlement (event) that explains what is dated. Does it mean earliest known construction of a euroan residence? Or establishment of a church authorized by the Mass Bay colony? Was it a legal status? In contrast, "Incorporated" links to just what I prefer, although it is only a stub.

  • schools blurbs - these seem to me just the sort of points that make schools worth listing
  • territory - oops! you left out a lot --but note I am commenting without reference to the article on your county. I guess it is bad practice for me to do so and good practice for anyone writing a town article to edit the county article, a little, at the same time, rather than put everything in the town article. And I suppose that county articles should have maps showing the towns and rivers in some context, not for each town article to reinvent.
  1. map(s) - I guess some standard mapping project is in the works
  2. Sudbury, Assabet, Concord River whatever --is it a Wild & Scenic Wway? - should be covered
  3. any metropolitan or state district (Acton was outside MDC, i suppose) including state parks of course
  4. what status before 1735, eg part of town of Concord?
  5. any change in borders since 1735?

County Formation Maps for Southern New England may be stimulating although I mean town territory not county territory.

  • history - so what happened in 1874? a census, the Patriot, and the library? Is Acton Patriot in some sense the most important early paper? Was it published by the town, which was too small for one commercial paper? Did it survive for decades? For extreme example, if it survived as a weekly for three years and a rival was the paper of record from 1875 to 1975, say, then more certainly should be said.

(Does Wikipedia demand a comma in every four-digit numeral? Blech. But I won't change it. I will save page abruptly because of electrical threats. I am typing directly in the composition window on the web and might lose everything.) 64.48.73.24 00:12, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

The list of surrounding towns should probably be in some order, maybe there is a standard like clockwise from North, and that should be stated. Example: blah, blah, blah "Carlisle (clockwise from North)"

[edit] W.R. Grace Superfund site

"In the 1950s, ... In 1978, ... In 1983, ..." seems choppy to me. I tweaked it but I have second thoughts because the omission of what happened next is so glaring that choppy prose doesn't matter. Was the Superfund project completed? When and roughly how? 64.48.73.24 00:34, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Zip Codes

For zip codes it only lists 01720, shouldn't it also list 01718 as that is the zip code for the Village of Nagog Woods, which is in Acton. I didn't want to edit it as I assumed there was some reason for it not to include 01718, I was just curious why it was left out. --JetPack 16:19, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nagog Woods

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.
This article has been tagged since January 2007.

I have redirected "Village of Nagag Woods, Massachusetts" and various variations to this article. It should be explained here, and any other villages in Acton should also be listed. -- Beland 01:59, 6 January 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Photos

I'm pretty sure that's a picture of Boxborough Town Hall, NOT Acton Town Hall. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.119.68.88 (talk) 02:01, 7 March 2007 (UTC).

  • If you look at the image, it says "Acton Town Hall" on the front of the building. ---You'reMyJuliet 03:53, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Conservation Areas

Town owned conservation areas was located under Geography. After some consideration, I moved this since it really not a geographical description of the properties. They are described here as recreation locations. I created a recreation heading- under government (which may not be the ideal location) - and added playing fields and playgrounds. --TkerTimeSeeker 21:01, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

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