A little Cleghorn History.. The first owner of land appears to have been David Pratt who acquired 600 acres (there are 5,000 building lots in 600 acres) about 225 years ago, during the colonial days before the town of Fitchburg had been thought of. This section of Massachusetts Territory was then known as Lunenburg. David Pratt, we are told, was a member of the historically famous Boston Tea Party. The late Andrew Pratt, who was well-known and lived here, and whose estate still owns many desirable building sites in the vicinity of Pratt Road and Pratt Street, was a direct descendant, of the original owner of the district. The early development, from wilderness to pasture and cultivated field, was largely the lifework of four generations of Pratts, particularly, the late Andrew Pratt. They subdivided their holdings into a number of farms and woodlots. During the industrial development of the district Andrew Pratt was a prominent factor in giving financial assistance and doing promotional work that brought the location of the mills here. Some of the financial assistance he rendered turned out to be a sacrifice toward Cleghorn progress. As measured by present-day standards—life was sleepy and slow in the good old days. 124 years ago in 1840 there were only 348 buildings in all Fitchburg, three of them farmhouses in Cleghorn. When Fitchburg was incorporated as a Town, on February 3 1764, there were only 40 families with a population at 250.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 19:23:24 +0000
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