Maynard Mills, 9:07
Liz West
I have always loved the town of Maynard, Massachusetts. Maynard is a true small town just a few miles from where I live. At just over 10,000 people, it’s smaller than nearby Acton, which has twice the population. Yet Maynard has two features that Acton and many other communities around here lack. First, it has a real downtown area with shops and sidewalks, and second it offers almost every service that all its citizens need.
Giant mill buildings are in the heart of Maynard, both literally and figuratively. In fact, they actually predate the town itself. Built in 1847 by Amory Maynard and a partner, the original wooden mills soon gave way to big brick mills, which provided jobs and a focal point for the new town. In the 1950s, the mills closed and many residents lost jobs, but soon a small computer company called Digital moved into the mills. Digital became a major force in the computer industry, and gradually took over the mills. As its fortunes rose, so did those of the town.
Digital was later bought out, and once again people lost jobs and wondered what they would do. After a few rocky years, the town of Maynard worked together with a group, who renamed the entire mill complex Clock Tower Place, after one of the mill’s most prominent features, a big four-sided clock that is still wound by hand weekly. Today, Clock Tower Place is chock full of thriving businesses, and Maynard itself is alive with commercial, artistic, and traditional activities.
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