Pepperell
Massachusetts
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Town Of Pepperell
A Brief History of Pepperell:
On the 12th day of April, 1753, by act of the General Court, Groton West Parish, upon petition by its inhabitants, was made a district, and named Pepperell, in honor of Sir William Pepperell, the hero of the memorable capture of Louisbourg, in 1745. Rev. Mr. Emerson, who had been a chaplain in that expedition, probably suggested the name of his old commander as appropriate for the new district. Sir William acknowldged the compliment by the customary present of a bell, which, however, was never received by those for whom it was intended. Sir William always spelled his name with two "r's," and for many years the name of the town was so spelled.
Pepperell began with settlements from Groton on scattered farms and at river crossings on the Nashua and Nissitissit Rivers in the 1720s and 1730s. The community was given separate identity as Groton West Parish in 1742, with its boundaries described in the petition for the new community. It became a district in 1753 and a town in 1775.
While the town center began as a religious and governmental center, the eastern portion spread out from paper and shoe factories along the Nashua River, beginning there in the 1830s and reaching the Rotary by about 1900. This development and the building of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad in 1848 led to the expansion of the town in 1857 to include former Groton land to the east of the Nashua River.
A paper mill was established at Main Street and the Nashua River by And Emerson, grandson of Reverend Joseph Emerson in 1834 or 1835. Under his ownership and then that of H. M. Clark, the S. D. Warren Company, and the Fairchild Paper Company, the mill expanded considerably. The shoe industry began with small shops or "ten footers" in the 1830s. Then Albert Leighton and his sons expanded the size of the industry with the three shoe factories, each larger than the last, they built in 1868, 1879, and 1890. Employment in these factories rose from 70 in the first to 700 in the last. Their construction marked the climax of Pepperell's growth until the post-World War II years.
On the 12th day of April, 1753, by act of the General Court, Groton West Parish, upon petition by its inhabitants, was made a district, and named Pepperell, in honor of Sir William Pepperell, the hero of the memorable capture of Louisbourg, in 1745. Rev. Mr. Emerson, who had been a chaplain in that expedition, probably suggested the name of his old commander as appropriate for the new district. Sir William acknowldged the compliment by the customary present of a bell, which, however, was never received by those for whom it was intended. Sir William always spelled his name with two "r's," and for many years the name of the town was so spelled.
Pepperell began with settlements from Groton on scattered farms and at river crossings on the Nashua and Nissitissit Rivers in the 1720s and 1730s. The community was given separate identity as Groton West Parish in 1742, with its boundaries described in the petition for the new community. It became a district in 1753 and a town in 1775.
While the town center began as a religious and governmental center, the eastern portion spread out from paper and shoe factories along the Nashua River, beginning there in the 1830s and reaching the Rotary by about 1900. This development and the building of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad in 1848 led to the expansion of the town in 1857 to include former Groton land to the east of the Nashua River.
A paper mill was established at Main Street and the Nashua River by And Emerson, grandson of Reverend Joseph Emerson in 1834 or 1835. Under his ownership and then that of H. M. Clark, the S. D. Warren Company, and the Fairchild Paper Company, the mill expanded considerably. The shoe industry began with small shops or "ten footers" in the 1830s. Then Albert Leighton and his sons expanded the size of the industry with the three shoe factories, each larger than the last, they built in 1868, 1879, and 1890. Employment in these factories rose from 70 in the first to 700 in the last. Their construction marked the climax of Pepperell's growth until the post-World War II years.