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...