Acton Centre

Old Acton Parsonage // c.1740

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Not far off Main Street in Acton Center, this stunning old Georgian home was built around 1740 for Jacob Hooker a tailor and later served as the home of James Dudley, a blacksmith in the village. After the American Revolution, Acton called on Reverend Moses Adams (1749-1819) to be the minister for the Acton Meetinghouse. The town acquired the old Dudley House for Reverend Adams to reside in with his family. In 1780, the home was enlarged, and possibly given the raised foundation we see today. Mrs. Adams ran a store out of the basement, accessed by the doorway in the brick foundation. After Adams’ death in 1819, the property went to the next reverend in town, until his death decades later. In 1889, a carpenter, Moses Taylor, purchased the home, restored much of the woodwork, and replaced the historic windows with 2-over-1 windows, popular at the time. Moses moved a house on Main Street to make way for the new Acton Memorial Library, and was active in building and renovating homes in Acton until his death.

Acton Women’s Clubhouse // 1829

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In 1912, a group of under twenty young mothers of Acton, Massachusetts, formed a club to provide a space to discuss issues ranging from child-rearing to larger topics like prohibition and women’s right to vote. The women began meeting at their homes before it was determined that they would need a permanent home. In 1915, the Acton Women’s Club acquired the old Dr. Cowdrey House (last post) next door occupying it and the attached barn. The 1829 Chapel for the Evangelical Society in Acton was part of the property and deteriorating. The Acton Women’s Club decided to sell the historic Cowdrey Home and use those funds to restore and occupy the old brick-end chapel. In 1940, the Club ceremoniously held a Mortgage Burning Party, having proudly paid off its debt. Today, the Acton Woman’s Club is the oldest and last standing brick- ended Federal structure in town.

Dr. Cowdrey House // 1830

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Located in Acton Center, the Dr. Harris Cowdrey House represents the emergence of Acton, Massachusetts from a sleepy rural town to a wealthy suburban town. This home was built in 1830 by Dr. Harris Cowdrey (1802-1875) as a 1 1/2-story gable end Greek Revival home. It was evidently enlarged to its present size decades later, possibly around the time Dr. Cowdrey and his wife Abigail growing their family. The Cowdreys had two children , Arthur who became a physician, after serving in the Civil War as a surgeon, and a daughter Helen who married a doctor herself, Dr. Charles Little also of Acton. After Dr. Harris Cowdrey died in 1875, Helen Cowdrey Little (who’s husband died young at just 32 years old) remained in Acton living with her mother in this house until 1886 when both women died. The home was later occupied by the Acton Women’s Club, who ran a crafts school for children out of the barn. The house showcases the original Greek Revival form, but features mostly Italianate detailing from the brackets, to the wrap-around front porch supported by turned posts.