The sleepy town of Assabet Village woke up very quickly when the Assabet Mills was built in 1847. Dams were constructed on the river, millponds were created, and large mills began producing yarn and carpets. Soon the village was turning into a town with stores, churches, schools, and government. As the mill grew, so did the town; the population grew to 7,000 people by 1905. During good times, the mill prospered, but during bad times, it faltered and had to re-invent itself. It had almost as many lives as
the proverbial cat. The carpet mill faltered in 1857, but in 1862, the Assabet...

More than 300 years ago, 25 men from the neighboring towns of Sudbury, Marlborough, and Stow crossed over the hills to a wide expanse of rolling hills and valleys crossed by countless brooks, each pouring into the rivers tranquil current that wound its way into the sea. It is little cause for wonder that these pioneers petitioned to the General Court of the New England Colonies in 1685 to appoint them proprietors of the rich territory that would become Maynard. As the settlement grew, industry prospered along the river: first a gristmill, then a paper mill, and later a carpet mill, which...