Grafton Common Historic District - Grafton, MA
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member nomadwillie
N 42° 12.382 W 071° 41.096
19T E 278352 N 4676179
(added 1988 - District - #88000707) Also known as Central Square;See Also:Grafton Inn Roughly Worcester, Oak, Millbury, Church, South, Upton, and North Sts., Grafton
Waymark Code: WM580M
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 11/25/2008
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member silverquill
Views: 7

in 1728, the original 40 proprietors of Grafton set aside 4 acres in the center of town as common land. In 1730 Grafton’s first meetinghouse was built here. Over the next century, a large town center grew up around the common, and in 1845 a small portion of the original common was fenced in and planted with trees. Today the common is still a site for recreation and relaxation. The town Common is a site so quintessentially small town New England that it attracted Hollywood’s attention.The bandstand at the center of the common was built in 1935 by MGM who came to Grafton to film parts of Eugene O’Neill’s Ah Wilderness. They left it behind for the people of the town to continue to use. The bandstand is built on the site of
Grafton’s first meetinghouse. An earlier bandstand was also located here.

There is an excellent write up on Grafton and Grafton Center at the NPS site. (visit link) is the URL , then select Walking Tour Brochures,then Grafton.
County / Borough / Parish: Worcester

Year listed: 1988

Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering

Periods of significance: 1700-1749, 1900-1924, 1925-1949

Historic function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Religion

Current function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Religion

Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2008 To: 12/31/2008

Hours of operation: From: 9:00 AM To: 5:00 PM

Primary Web Site: [Web Link]

Street address: Not listed

Privately owned?: Not Listed

Secondary Website 1: Not listed

Secondary Website 2: Not listed

National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.
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nomadwillie visited Grafton Common Historic District  -  Grafton, MA 11/23/2008 nomadwillie visited it

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