Acton Centre Historic District

Acton Memorial Library is a public library at 486 Main Street in Acton, Massachusetts. In 1889 William Allan Wilde (1827-1902), a Sunday school publisher and philanthropist who was a native of Acton, donated funds to construct the library to memorialize Acton's citizens who served in the American Civil War. The historic Romanesque Revival library building was constructed in 1890 by the architects Hartwell and Richardson of Boston and contractor, Charles H. Dodge. Large additions were constructed in 1967 and 1996. The library is part of the Minuteman Library Network. It is contributing property in the Acton Centre Historic District.

The Acton Congregational Church is a mid-19th century, white clapboard, church building and active congregation in Acton, Massachusetts that become the center of national attention in 2018 when a case decided by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that churches cannot receive public funds to support religious activities. In 2016 the Acton Town Meeting approved a Community Preservation Act bundle of grants with a total of $51,237; $49,500 for the purpose of develop a master plan to restore and preserve the Church's building and two adjacent mid-19th century houses that it rents out, the remainder of the funds to be used to restore the Church's stained glass windows. The Washington, D.C. based Americans United for Separation of Church and State brought suit alleging that the grant violates the Anti-Aid Amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution.

Acton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, approximately 21 miles (34 km) west-northwest of Boston along Massachusetts Route 2 west of Concord and about ten miles (16 km) southwest of Lowell. The population was 24,021 in April 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau. 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. Acton became an incorporated town in 1735. 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.

The John Robbins House is a historic house at 144 Great Road in Acton, Massachusetts. Built in 1800, it is a well-preserved example of a late Georgian/early Federal country house, and was the farmhouse for one of Acton's largest 19th-century farms. The interior includes well-preserved period details, including stencilwork by the itinerant artist Moses Eaton, Jr. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 25, 2003.

The Jonathan and Simon Hosmer House is a historic house at 300 Main Street in Acton, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was built in 1760, and is one of Acton's best-preserved colonial-era houses. It is an unusual double house, consisting of one section with a square plan, and the other with a typical colonial "half house" plan, having three bays and an off-center chimney. Its two entries are finished with relatively high-style Georgian entries. The house was built by Jonathan Hosmer, Jr., a bricklayer whose workmanship is evident in the house's many fireplaces. Hosmer was also prominent in civic and military affairs; he served (along with his son, who was killed) in the 1777 Battle of Bennington. In the 19th century the house was owned by Francis Tuttle, who owned a dry goods store in the center of town. In 1974 the property was acquired by the Acton Historical Society, which rents one of the units, and operates the rest of the property as a museum.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

John E. "Dropkick" Murphy (May 12, 1912 in Malden, Massachusetts – October 17, 1977 in Concord, Massachusetts) was an American professional wrestler and sanatorium owner. He operated the Bellows Farms Sanatorium, an alcoholic rehabilitation facility in Acton, Massachusetts from 1941 to 1971. The band Dropkick Murphys is named after him.

The old Acton High School, also known as the McCarthy-Towne Elementary School, is a historic school building at 3 Charter Road in Acton, Massachusetts. Built in 1925, this Renaissance Revival building served as the town's high school for 30 years, and then as an elementary school for 45. It was the town's first purpose-built high school. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (ABRHS) is an open-enrollment high school in Acton, Massachusetts, United States. A part of the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, it serves the Massachusetts towns of Acton and Boxborough and has students in grades 9 through 12. It is situated downhill from the Raymond J. Grey Junior High School, at 36 Charter Road in Acton. Raymond J. Grey Junior High School occupies the facility that, until 1973, was the high schoolIn 1999 multiple fires were set at ABRHS. The first fire began near the gymnasium but was quickly extinguished. The second fire, a five-alarm blaze in the school auditorium, seriously damaged the auditorium and forced the evacuation of all 1,300 students and canceled school the following day. No students or staff were injured, but one firefighters was hospitalized after suffering from smoke inhalation. ABRHS underwent a $40 million renovation and expansion in 2005.

WHAB (89.1 FM) is a high school radio station licensed to serve Acton, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Acton-Boxborough Regional High School and licensed to the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District. It airs a high school radio format. WHAB is one of more than a dozen FCC-licensed high school radio stations in the state of Massachusetts.The station was assigned the WHAB call letters by the Federal Communications Commission.After technical issues that left the station silent for a time in the early 1990s, WHAB returned to full-time broadcasting in 1995. In addition to its FM signal, WHAB's programming is carried on Acton Community Television and in a studio room near the high school's cafeteria.

The Nashoba Brook Pencil Factory Site contains the ruins of a 19th-century dam-powered pencil factory. This factory was one of several in Acton and Concord, Massachusetts at the time that brought important developments to pencil manufacturing. All that remain today of the factory are the ruins of its dam and a few mechanical components. The site is in the Nashoba Brook Conservation Area in Acton, Massachusetts, along Nashoba Brook and the old Davis Road Dam. Visitors can access the site by following a marked path from the Davis Road parking area for the Nashoba Brook Conservation Area

Great Hill is a 358-foot (109 m) hill in Acton, Massachusetts, the site of a 192-acre (78 ha) wooded conservation area containing hiking trails, wetlands, and recreational facilities. It is the largest single parcel of conservation land in the town. The hill has evidence of Native American use, including a stone mortar. There are also 18th-century farmers' stone walls criss-crossing the property, as well as picnic facilities near a small skating pond and athletic fields adjacent to the South Acton Fire Station. The hill abuts the Discovery Museum, which often uses Great Hill for educational programs.

The Nashoba Brook Stone Chamber is an underground stone structure in the woods of the Nashoba Brook Conservation Area of Acton, Massachusetts. Its more common name is the "potato cave", which comes from the traditional assumption that it was once used as a root cellar. Research and excavation from 2006 supports this assertion, finding evidence of construction from the 18th or 19th century for the purpose of storing food. Some argue that it may originally have been a pre-colonial native American ceremonial stone landscape structure. Local lore states that it also served as shelter for workers on the nearby railroad in the 19th century.