| Westford, Massachusetts | |
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
| Old Westford Academy, now the Westford Museum |
|
| Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| County | Middlesex |
| Settled | 1635 |
| Incorporated | September 23, 1729 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Open town meeting |
| Area | |
| • Total | 31.3 sq mi (81.1 km2) |
| • Land | 30.6 sq mi (79.3 km2) |
| • Water | 0.7 sq mi (1.9 km2) |
| Elevation | 406 ft (124 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 21,951 |
| • Density | 712.1/sq mi (274.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 01886 |
| Area code(s) | 351 / 978 |
| FIPS code | 25-76135 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0618244 |
| Website | http://www.westford-ma.gov/ |
Westford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,951 at the 2010 census.
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Originally a part of neighboring Chelmsford, West Chelmsford soon grew large enough to sustain its own governance, and was officially incorporated as Westford on September 23, 1729.[1]
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Westford primarily produced granite, apples, and worsted yarn. The Abbot Worsted Company was the first company in the nation to use camel hair for worsted yarns. Citizens from Westford also had some notable involvement in the Revolutionary War.[1] It's been alleged that the town was along the path of Paul Revere's Ride on the eve of April 19, 1775, but Revere's path is well documented, and he did not travel to Westford. Westford Minutemen were alerted by efforts of Samuel Prescott who alerted Acton, to the southeast towards Stow.
Paul Revere's son attended Westford Academy and a bell cast by Revere graces its lobby today.[2]. A weather vane made by Paul Revere sits atop the Abbot Elementary school.
By the end of the American Civil War, as roads and transportation improved, Westford began to serve as a residential suburb for the factories of Lowell, becoming one of the earliest notable examples of suburban sprawl. Throughout the 20th century (and with the invention of the automobile), Westford progressively grew, continuing to serve as residential housing for the industries of Lowell, and later, Boston.
In the 1960s, the town was home to one of the research sites supporting Project West Ford.
By the 1970s, with the advent of the 128 Technology Belt, Westford began to act as a suburb for high-tech firms in Burlington, Woburn, and other areas, and later became a center of technology itself.
By the 1990s, Westford was home to offices for Red Hat, Samsung, Seagate, Iris Associates, Visual Solutions, and many other technology firms, most located along Massachusetts Route 110, parallel to I-495. It is also the North American headquarters for Puma, which holds a road race in town [3]. The leading manufacturer of EEG electrodes, HydroDot Inc., located here in 2007.
Today, Westford's agricultural past has given way to rapidly expanding high technology industries, suburban retail, and upper-middle class residential areas.
Although discredited by many historians and archaeologists, some townspeople continue to claim that Westford was once a stopping point for Scottish Earl Henry Sinclair's surverying expedition to Greenland, Iceland, Nova Scotia, and Massachusetts which is said to have occurred in 1398, nearly 90 full years before Columbus made his discovery of The Americas. The primary evidence for this tale is a burial marker in the form of a sword chiseled into a granite slab near the center of town, (known by residents and historians as the Westford Knight),[4][5][6]which some claim is the gravestone of Sir James Gunn of Scotland, who traveled with Sinclair. The marker is generally accepted to be the result of 19th Century residents, but continues to be an integral part of Westford folklore.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 31.3 square miles (81 km2), of which 30.6 square miles (79 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (2.30%) is water.
The town is bordered by Chelmsford to the east, Tyngsborough to the north, Groton to the west, Littleton to the southwest, Acton to the south, and Carlisle to the southeast.
Regionally, it is on the edge of the Merrimack Valley, Northern Middlesex County, and the Metrowest regions of Massachusetts.
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1850 | 1,473 | — |
| 1860 | 1,624 | +10.3% |
| 1870 | 1,803 | +11.0% |
| 1880 | 2,147 | +19.1% |
| 1890 | 2,250 | +4.8% |
| 1900 | 2,624 | +16.6% |
| 1910 | 2,851 | +8.7% |
| 1920 | 3,170 | +11.2% |
| 1930 | 3,600 | +13.6% |
| 1940 | 3,830 | +6.4% |
| 1950 | 4,262 | +11.3% |
| 1960 | 6,261 | +46.9% |
| 1970 | 10,368 | +65.6% |
| 1980 | 13,434 | +29.6% |
| 1990 | 16,392 | +22.0% |
| 2000 | 20,754 | +26.6% |
| 2001* | 21,168 | +2.0% |
| 2002* | 21,294 | +0.6% |
| 2003* | 21,338 | +0.2% |
| 2004* | 21,514 | +0.8% |
| 2005* | 21,561 | +0.2% |
| 2006* | 21,579 | +0.1% |
| 2007* | 21,913 | +1.5% |
| 2008* | 22,275 | +1.7% |
| 2009* | 22,642 | +1.6% |
| 2010 | 21,951 | −3.1% |
| * = population estimate. Source: United States Census records and Population Estimates Program data.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] |
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As of the 2000 census[17] there were 20,754 people, 6,808 households, and 5,807 families residing in the town. The population density was 678.0 people per square mile (261.8/km²). There were 6,941 housing units at an average density of 226.8 per square mile (87.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 93.69% White, 0.30% African American, 0.06% Native American, 4.79% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.10% of the population.
There were 6,808 households out of which 48.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.2% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.7% were non-families. 11.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.31.
In the town the population was spread out with 31.8% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $98,272, and the median income for a family was $104,029 (these figures had risen to $113,160 and $120,410 respectively as of a 2007 estimate[18]). Males had a median income of $77,417 versus $45,095 for females. The per capita income for the town was $37,979. About 1.3% of families and 1.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.2% of those under age 18 and 1.0% of those age 65 or over.
Westford is run by a board of five Selectmen who are the chief policy making officials for the Town and who are responsible for the enforcement of all town Bylaws and regulations. The Town is managed on a day-to day basis by a Town Manager who is a town employee and who acts as the agent for the Board of Selectmen.
Residents contribute to their local government by volunteering for Town Boards and Committees and by participating at Town Meeting, which occurs in the spring, and occasional Special Town Meetings, with one usually occurring in the fall.
In Westford, as in many New England towns, voters participate directly in the major decisions that affect how the town runs itself and how it spends its money.
Town meeting is the legislative branch of Westford’s government, and all registered voters may attend, speak and vote at the open town meeting. Town meeting has two primary responsibilities: establishing an annual budget by voting to appropriate money for all Town departments, and voting on the Town’s local statutes, called bylaws.
All residents, renters as well as property owners, if registered to vote, may attend and vote at town meeting. A voter must attend in person as no absentee voting is allowed. The non-voting public may attend open town meetings as observers.
The Superintendent of Westford's Public Schools is Everett "Bill" Olsen, who has held that role since 1986. [2]
Nashoba Valley Technical High School draws students from Westford, as well as Chelmsford, Ayer, Groton, Littleton, Dunstable and Shirley.
Freight travels daily through Westford over the tracks of the historic Stony Brook Railroad. The line currently serves as a major corridor of Pan Am Railways' District 3 which connects New Hampshire and Maine with western Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York.[19] Interstate 495 (Massachusetts) also passes through the town, linking it to other parts of the state as well as New Hampshire.[20] US-3 passes through the town, although the nearest interchanges are located in neighboring Tyngsborough and Chelmsford.
Local routes passing through town are Massachusetts Routes 110, 40, 225, and 27.
The town has a largely suburban residential culture and like many New England towns, an active civic life. The Roudenbush Community Center and the Parish Center for the Arts are two notable places for residents to take classes or see concerts and art exhibitions. Westford is also home to the J.V. Fletcher Library, The Butterfly Place, The Westford Museum and Historical Society and the MIT Haystack Observatory.
Westford is home to Nashoba Valley Ski Area which also features a summer day camp and a Halloween theme park known as Witch's Woods. Westford is also home to Kimball Farm, an ice cream stand featuring miniature golf, bumper boats and other attractions.[3]
Westford has its own community television station, called Westford Community Access Television or Westford CAT, which broadcasts on channels 8, 9 and 10 on the Comcast cable network. It produces Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV programming for the residents and organizations of Westford.
Westford Community Access Television, Inc. (Westford CAT) is a non-profit corporation charged with the mission to promote and encourage the use of local Public-access television cable TV to enhance a free and diverse exchange of ideas and interests that foster community participation and educational opportunities.
Prior to January 1, 2006, the production facilities of Westford's PEG cable channels were operated by Comcast Corporation. This arrangement was carried out as part of the Town of Westford's previous cable license agreement. Beginning in 2006, Comcast would no longer be responsible to manage the PEG production facilities. As part of the current agreement, Comcast agreed to turn over control of PEG Access to the community. In the summer of 2005, a group of interested residents worked to create a new an independent PEG access management organization, and on July 12, 2005, Westford Community Access Television came into existence. In September 2005, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint Westford CAT as the Town's public access provider.
As an independent, non-profit organization, Westford CAT has the opportunity to expand the capabilities of the PEG access programs to meet the needs of the residents of Westford. Plans are currently being formulated to improve and expand the Westford CAT programming schedule to obtain these goals to the best of the corporation's ability.
In terms of newspapers, Westford is covered by The Westford Eagle, a weekly newspaper of the Gatehouse Media network, Westford Patch, a daily news website connected with Patch.com, and the Lowell Sun, a regional daily paper.
For most media, Westford is part of the large Greater Boston market.
