Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Littleton, Massachusetts
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===19th century=== During the 1800s, Littleton grew at a slow pace. It became known for its apple orchards and the cider produced in town. The Warren Gristmill changed over to operating as a sawmill in the second decade. In 1822, Baptists in town decided to create their own society and build a church at the corner of King Street and Goldsmith Street. This was influenced by Unitarianism beginning to take hold in New England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fculittle.org/history/|title = History}}</ref> The [[lyceum movement]], a Scottish and English means of spreading education; especially in the sciences to the masses came to Littleton when, following the example of Millbury, Salem, and Concord, Littletonians on December 21, 1829, decided, in their words, "to promote mutual improvement" through the formation of the Littleton Lyceum. By the time of its 25th anniversary, the Littleton Lyceum took the form and operation it would have for almost a century of lectures followed by questions and debate. During the Civil War or shortly thereafter, most lyceums petered out, but not in Littleton. Besides bringing about a brief return to public debating, the War was also long a subject for Lyceum, a venue where veterans lectured about their experiences and travel. In 1840, the community fractured on sectarian lines. As a result the remaining members of the town meetinghouse, now Unitarians, realized that they needed a larger building and funded it by selling pews to the members. The Orthodox Congregational Society funded their building in the same manner the same year, 1841. The two churches have occupied their locations on Foster and King Streets to the present day. The industrial revolution continued in Littleton with the arrival of the Fitchburg Railroad in 1844. The original [[Littleton/Route 495|station]] was built in 1845. A new train station was erected in 1879 and was used until it closed in 1970. This line served to be influential in the development of the town. Commuter service into North Station along this line began in the 1880s. The Fitchburg was not the only railroad to arrive and serve Littleton in the Nineteenth Century. The [[Stony Brook Railroad]] line running from present day Ayer to Chelmsford maintained a station in North Littleton by Forge Pond. Just over the line in North Acton, there was also a passenger station with service on the [[Framingham and Lowell Railroad]] beginning in 1871. With the railroads, local farmers grew in response to the availability of transport for their produce to markets in Boston. Some of the local farmers located along the rail line began to diversify their crops for sale in Haymarket, a few farms began to concentrate on dairy production, but Littleton became known for the number of orchards producing apples. [[Abolitionism]] and [[Transcendentalism]] became popular movements in Littleton during the 1800s and were much discussed at Littleton Lyceum. Several Littleton men served in the Federal forces during the Civil War and are memorialized on a plaque on either side of the Houghton Memorial Building. Further development of stores, shops, and business centered on the Common and the now growing Depot. By the common, the [[Conant Houghton Co. Mill]] was erected in 1880. Initially, it processed apple products, but moved into the production of clothing and military equipment in the late 1890s. In 1885, the quarantine station for the Port of Boston moved from Waltham to a farm on the Fitchburg railway line on the south west side of Mill Pond. Used to clear wild and domestic animals and made Littleton a center for horse-dealing and training. In 1894-95, the Houghton Memorial Building was designed by Perkins & Betton and built to house the municipal library. It was a gift from Elizabeth and Clement S. Houghton, he was the son of one of Boston's wealthiest merchants, William S. Houghton. The elder Houghton, a Littleton native, had in 1884 made a bequest to the town for the establishment of a library collection in honor of Reuben Hoar, who had financially assisted his father in a difficult time.
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Littleton, Massachusetts
(section)
Add topic