Acton

Acton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, approximately 21 miles (34 km) west-northwest of Boston. It is bordered by Westford and Littleton to the north, Concord and Carlisle to the east, Stow, Maynard, and Sudbury to the south and Boxborough to the west. The town employs the Open Town Meeting form of government with a town manager and an elected, five-member select board. Acton was named the 11th Best Place To Live among small towns in the country by Money Magazine in 2015, and the 16th best in 2009 and in 2011. The local high school, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, was named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009. Almost all of Acton is forested, except for where it has been cleared for residential or agricultural use, and some forested areas have been put aside for special use by corporations. The current geography was created when the last wave of glaciers retreated approximately ten thousand years ago. It has nine drumlinshills which are composed of glacial till. In addition, Wills Hole and Grassy Pond are kettle ponds which were formed in depressions in the till formed by large blocks of ice. The five village centers earned their nomenclature from the names of their corresponding railroad station. The South Acton (MBTA station) is the only rail station still active in Acton.

Geography

Acton is located at 42°29N 71°27W. Almost all of Acton is forested, except for where it has been cleared for residential or agricultural use. Acton has nine drumlinshills which are composed of glacial till. Nagog Pond in the north, forms Acton's border with the Town of Littleton and provides drinking water to the town of Concord. The town has a total area of 20.3 square miles (53 km²), of which 20.0 sq mi (52 km²) is land and 0.3sq mi (0.78 km1) is water. The current Master Plan for the town encourages development in the village centers in an attempt to prevent further sprawl and preserve open space in the rest of the town. It also includes the Village of Nagog Woods, a housing development accessible from Route 2A/119 which is large enough to merit its own ZIP code: 01718. It has five village centers: Acton Center, West Acton, South Acton and East Acton. The four other village centers earned their nomenclature from the names of their corresponding railroad station. The village center is the civic center and is the site of the main public library (Acton Memorial Library), a children's playground, an obelisk monument commemorating Acton deaths in "the Concord Fight" of the Revolutionary War, a fire station, the Acton Congregational Church, and a 64-acre arboretum and conservation area.

Demographics

According to the 2010 census, there were 21,924 residents, a 7.84% increase from 2000 and 5,958 families residing in the town. There were 8,530 total housing units, 96% of which were occupied, at an average density of 384.6 per square mile (148.5/km²) The racial makeup of the town was 77.3% White, 18.6% Asian, 1.1% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1,2% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. The median income for a household in theTown was $133,532, and the median income. for a family was $156,388. In 2014, 25% of the residents of Acton were born outside of the United States. In 2000 this percentage was 14%. In 2010, Acton had 2,041 Chinese Americans in 2010, a 151% rise from 2000. It is the ninth largest Chinese population in Massachusetts. The town has a mean commute time of 31.0 minutes. In the town, 98.0% were employed with a mean commuters' time of 30.5 minutes. The average household income in Acton is $133.532. About 2.9% of residents are below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 3.3%) of those age 65 or over. In 2010 the town had a median income of $109,371 versus $48,113 for females and $61,034 for males.

History

Acton was first settled by Native Americans who used the Assabet, Sudbury and Concord rivers for transportation and the fields for farming seasonal crops. There is evidence of Native American settlements in Acton which go back 7,000 years. In 1775, a company of minutemen from Acton responded to the call to arms initiated by Paul Revere and fought at the North Bridge in Concord as part of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. In Acton they refer to "the battle of Lexington, fought in Concord, by men of Acton." By the mid-19th century, Acton was an industrial center for the production of barrels (cooperage) There were also a powder mill, three gristmills and four sawmills in town. The American Powder Mills complex manufactured gunpowder from 1835 to 1940. In 1890, the Memorial Library was completed and given to the town by William A. Wilde as a memorial to the Acton soldiers who fought in the Civil War. In 1874, the population of the town was almost 1700. The town established its first newspaper, The Acton Patriot, and the residents of West Acton formed the first library, The Citizen's Library. On October 1, 1844, the railroad came to Acton so that it could serve the Fitchburg Railroad. South Acton became a busy rail center and was the division point for the Marlborough Branch Railroad. With the railway came increasing development in those areas.

Government

Acton uses the Open Town Meeting form of town government. A separate and independent branch of government, the Acton Water District, was established in 1912. The town services are primarily funded through the residential property tax. Acton is part of Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district, represented by Lori Trahan. The state's senior (Class I) member of the U.S. Senate is Elizabeth Warren. The junior (Class II) senator is Ed Markey. In 2001, Acton completed its first public sewer system, which serves approximately 10% of the town, primarily in South Acton. A betterment fee is charged to property owners whose property is sited proximate to the sewage lines, whether or not they connect to the system. Most homes and businesses in Acton (approximately 80%) use private on-site sewage systems (i.e. septic tanks). Higher density developments such as condominiums and apartment buildings use private sewers which go to small-scale private treatment plants. Residents of Great Road (Route 2A) obtain their water from the mains running down their street, that connect Nagog Pond to the Concord water system. The pond is both in North Acton and Littleton, but Concord apparently has the water rights. The district's system consists of 106 miles (171 km) of water main, four storage tanks, and water treatment facilities including aeration, activated granulated carbon (GAC), an advanced Zenon(R) filtration facility, plus fluoridation.

Town recreation areas

Acton Arboretum consists of 53 acres (210,000 m2) of woods, meadows, swamp, ponds, old apple orchards, a glacial esker, and a bog. The trails in this area are Acton's portion of the Bay Circuit Trail and Greenway which is a hiking path that encircles Bostonstarting in Ipswich and ending in Duxbury. NARA's name was changed in 2012 to honor Nathaniel M. Allen, an Acton resident who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Civil War. Acton has a total of over 1,650 acres (7 km 2) of town-owned conservation lands. These town conservation areas, and some smaller ones, are described and mapped in a website maintained by the town's volunteer Land Stewardship Committee. The town's July 4th Fireworks Celebration is held at the NARA Recreation Area (NARA Park) on July 4, 2013. The event is free and open to the public, but donations can be made at www.acton.org/4th-july-fireworks-celebration or by texting the word "4th" to 60570. The fireworks are held at 7:30 p.m. on the last day of July. The celebration is held in the parking lot of the North Acton Recreation Area, which is located on the north side of the town. The 4th of July fireworks are also held at NARA Park on the south side of Acton.

Education

The town has four elementary schools serving K6: CT Douglas, Gates, Luther Conant, and Merriam. The town has one public middle school serving 78, the R.J. Grey Junior High School. High school students then attend Acton-Boxborough Regional High School from grades 912 to 12. Acton is part of the Acton Boxborough Regional School District (ABRSD) along with Boxborough. ABRSD has an uncommon method of assigning students to elementary schools, called "Open Enrollment". First-time incoming kindergarten parents participate in a lottery-based selection process where the parents "choose" the school by listing their preferences in ranked order. Boxborough students have priority for attendance in the school in their own town, but participate in the lottery if they wish to attend an Acton school. School Choice also benefits the towns real estate market since home valuations are not impacted by the perceived desirability of given neighborhood's school. The high school consistently ranks highly among rankings of the best public high schools in the Greater Boston area (defined as within I-495); Most recently, the school was placed 1st in by Boston Magazine in 2020 and 2021. The schools and their philosophy of education are:Conant School. Douglas School. Gates School. McCarthy-Towne School. Merri am School. At MerriAm, teachers teach the same group of students for two years (i.e., a teacher will teach first grade one year, second grade the next and then wrap back to first). This practice is called "looping".

Cultural institutions

Acton has two public libraries: the Acton Memorial Library and the West Acton Citizens' Library. The Acton Historical Society owns the Jenks Library which contains historical maps, documents, photographs and drawings. Iron Work Farm: Settlement of South Acton; 'Iron Work Farm in Acton, Inc.' is a non-profit, historical corporation chartered in Massachusetts since 1964, that operates two historic houses: Jones Tavern and Faulkner House. Since 1957, Acton's Troop 1 of the Boy Scouts of America have organized an annual march along the Isaac Davis line of march. Each year on Patriots' Day (traditionally April 19; since 1969, observed on the 3rd Monday in April as part of a 3-day Patriots' day weekend), the ActOn Minutemen lead a march from Acton Center to the Old North Bridge in Concord. This route is known as 'The Isaac Davis Trail' and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 1976, the "Scouters of theIsaac Davis Trail" have organized the annual Isaac Davis Camporee. There are several theater groups in the town, the two eldest are Theatre III and Open Door Theater. It produces several plays and musicals each season in the historical old church building on Central Street. The Discovery Museum is a hands-on museum for families and is open to the public on the last Sunday of the month from May to October. It is located inside the R. J. Grey Junior High School.

Points of interest

The main part of the tavern, originally home to the Jones family of South Acton, was built in 1732 as a house for Samuel Jones, Jr. It is speculated to be the first store in Acton and holds the distinction of being the town's longest established business. The Faulkner House and Mills was built for Ephraim Jones (1679-1710), founder in 1702 of an early textile business and other mills that formed the nucleus of the present town of Acton. Six generations of Faulkners lived in the house over a 202-year period. The Acton Monument is the final resting place of Captain Isaac Davis, James Hayward and Abner Hosmer. The stone on which Captain Davis mortally fell is situated between the west side of the monument and Main Street. The main entrance to the Town Hall, around the rear of the building, contains Isaac Davis's plow which was used by Daniel Chester French for the statue he cast for North Bridge. The town center is marked by the civic center of town is marked. by the acton Monument which is the last resting place. of CaptainIsaac Davis. The Town Hall contains the plow that was used to cast the statue of Daniel ChesterFrench for the. North Bridge project. It was also the site of the remains of Captain Davis, who was killed in the Battle of North Bridge in 1793. The North Bridge is located at the base of the North Bridge, near the entrance of the town hall.

Transportation

Routes 2, 2A, 27, 62, 111, and 119 run through town. MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line train stops at the South Acton station. Bruce Freeman Rail Trail provides a paved bicycle commuter option north to Westford, Chelmsford and Lowell. Assabet River Rail trail provides a connection south to Maynard. The trails do not have lighting and are not snowplowed.Yankee Lines provides a commuter bus service to Copley Square in Boston from the "77 Great Road Mall" in Acton on MA-2A and MA-119. The town is five miles (8.0 km) from I-495 and ten miles (16 km)from I-95/Route 128. It is located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, which runs between Boston and New York City. It has a population of about 2,000 people (2,000 in 2010). The town has a history of violence against women and men. It was the site of the Battle of the Bulge, which took place in 1881. The city's name is derived from the town's name, which means "town of the bulge" or "bulge" in English. The name Acton is now used as a reference to the town of Acton, Massachusetts, which was founded in 1883. The Acton name is now known as "Acton" by the residents of the town and is used as the name of the Acton neighborhood.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Acton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts = 43.5. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 43. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Acton = 3.5 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 58,362 individuals with a median age of 39.8 age the population grows by 2.17% in Acton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,201.1 residents per square mile of area (464.6/km²). There are average 2.69 people per household in the 7,688 households with an average household income of $114,315 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 6.10% of the available work force and has dropped -4.07% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 25.76%. The number of physicians in Acton per 100,000 population = 389.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Acton = 45.5 inches and the annual snowfall = 56 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 130. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 199. 83 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 15.5 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 49, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Acton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts which are owned by the occupant = 72.46%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 36 years with median home cost = $367,290 and home appreciation of 0.03%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $11.70 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $6,631 per student. There are 18.2 students for each teacher in the school. 5135.25% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 35.32% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 34.15% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).