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    Lunenburg
    Lunenburg
    Lunenburg
    Ebook191 pages1 hour

    Lunenburg

    By Lunenburg Historical Society, Inge H. Hunter and G. Barry Whitcomb

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    About this ebook

    The name "Luneburg" was coined for King George II of England, who was also the duke of Luneburg, Germany, in 1727. The final name, Lunenburg, was probably a result of misspelling in the early records of the town. On August 1, 1728, Lunenburg was officially granted township but, as early as 1726, a variety of industries had been started and twenty-six houses had been built. In the late nineteenth century, the town returned to predominately agriculture and, today, is a rural residential community for industries in neighboring cities. Through a diverse collection of vintage images, Lunenburg will take you on a historical journey through the town's engaging past. Within these pages, you will see photographs of the early businesses that were established, such as bookbinders, blacksmiths, furniture makers, and shoe manufacturers; you will visit many homes, churches, schools and government buildings; and you will experience the daily lives of residents during this exciting time in history.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439628270
    Lunenburg
    Author

    Lunenburg Historical Society

    Author Inge H. Hunter is a former chair of the Lunenburg Historical Commission and a member of the Lunenburg Historical Society. Coauthor G. Barry Whitcomb has been curator of the Lunenburg Historical Society for fourteen years. Whitcomb's family has lived in Lunenburg for nine generations. The authors have brought together more than two hundred photographs portraying the history of Lunenburg for its two-hundred-seventy-fifth anniversary of incorporation in 2003.

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      Book preview

      Lunenburg - Lunenburg Historical Society

      process.

      INTRODUCTION

      The Great and General Court of His Majesty’s Providence of Massachusetts Bay at Boston on Monday, December 7, 1719, voted that two new townships be granted: North Town, now Townsend, and South Town, known as Turkey Hills.

      The soil was excellent for vegetable crops and pastureland. Our three ponds were originally known as Unkechewhalom, Massapoag, and Catacoonamug. Mulpus Brook had the greatest flow of water and 8 to 10 mills located along its banks.

      Historians know this area to be sparsely populated by Native Americans. Prior to the Pilgrims landing, nine tenths of the Native Americans died of a great pestilence. No documented accounts show any permanent residences in this area.

      During the 1720 survey of the grant, the family of Samuel Page was found occupying a log cabin on Clark’s Hill, where they had previously settled. By May 1721, all the land had been granted. There is no sure record of the sequence of the first houses. We know a letter sent to the Massachusetts General Court in March 1726 stated that 26 houses had been raised and 10 were inhabited. The best source we have suggests the Houghton House, so called, is one of the original houses built c. 1726 by Samuel Bennett. It is a saltbox style with a chimney base of 10 feet across and may have had five fireplaces. The names of other early house builders may have been Edward Hartwell, Philip Goodredge, Jonas Gillson, Joseph Page, Walter Beeth, Nathaniel Harris, Phineas Richardson, and Hilkiah and Benoni Boynton.

      Lunenburg was officially granted a township on August 1, 1728. The name Lunenburg was a title that King George of England derived from a German dominion he owned. The first town meeting was called on August 19, 1728. The elected town residents assumed management of the town’s affairs.

      Highways in the early settlements in the wilderness were rough bridle paths through the woods. Travel was only by horseback until trees were cut, allowing an oxcart through. Trees on the edge were barked (cut into by an ax) to prevent people from getting lost.

      In 1756, settlers in the western part of town decided they were sufficient in knowledge to run their affairs. They felt a ride of 5 to 10 miles to attend church or do business was an unnecessary burden. They filed petitions to be set off as a separate township. It was granted on February 3, 1764, and called Fitchburg. There were 44 families and about 250 people at this date.

      In the years 1763, 1764, and 1765, the English Parliament claimed the right to bind the colonies in all cases whatever. This was the point on which dispute turned.

      With greater oppression and taxation by the acts of Parliament, the fateful day of April 19, 1775, came. At 9 a.m., the alarm was fired in Lunenburg to alert the two companies of minutemen. They had been organized in October 1774. Twenty-seven men under a command of Capt. John Fuller appeared in arms at the parade field on the lower common. Before leaving, Fuller planted a buttonwood tree, which became known as the Liberty Tree. They then took up the march to Concord and arrived in the evening. All action was over, and there was no need for their services. All returned home. State records show that 194 Lunenburg men saw service during the Revolution.

      When the Civil War was declared, 102 Lunenburg residents enlisted. Two memorial tablets in memory of those who died in service were procured and may be seen on the wall of the upper room of the Lunenburg Town Hall.

      The first church was built in 1728 at the location of the present Congregational church. The second church was built on the lower common in 1752 and torn down in 1830. The third church, built in 1830 on the upper common, was used as such until 1867, when the town bought the building, moved it 200 feet north, and remodeled it as the Lunenburg Town Hall we have today.

      The first schoolhouse was built on the lower common in 1740. Schooling was also carried on at private homes. In 1738, the town voted to build five schoolhouses at $100 each. At later dates, they added four more schoolhouses. The last district school, known as the West School, closed in 1956. In 1892, the new No. 1 schoolhouse was built. It became a 12-year school in 1894.

      Industrial activities were many and varied. First under way was a sawmill as early as 1726. Mills were built on all brooks in town. The last closed in 1926.

      Printing and binding of books was active from 1820 until 1843. In 1837, 16,000 books were shipped. Blacksmith shops were many and busy from 1754 to 1932. Baskets of oak bands were made in a shop at the corner of Leominster Road and West Street. Straw hat making was a very big cottage industry. Ninety thousand hats were made in Lunenburg. By 1850, agriculture and farming predominated. Poultry, vegetables, and fruit farms were plentiful.

      At the end of World War II, Lunenburg became a bedroom town for industries in the surrounding towns.

      —G. Barry Whitcomb

      Curator

      One

      OUR TOWN

      Early-18th-century houses in Lunenburg were generally copies of English-type houses, modified by the local ingenuity to meet the conditions of this new country. Three styles used during the period of time of our earliest development (1719–1760) were Colonial, saltbox, and Cape Cod.

      Our Town introduces the reader to Lunenburg. In this chapter, we have included pictures of churches, schools, and municipal buildings. Also featured are K houses—a house or portion of an original house identified on the 1833 Cyrus Kilburn map of Lunenberg. These are the earlier houses still standing today, exhibiting some architectural integrity of the original house. Sometimes only one room remains. The remainder has been changed or remodeled over time. Other houses were built during later years.

      Churches of different faiths are included, as the photographs will illustrate. Some have lasted long enough to have a photograph in

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