The Bayard Thayer estate in Lancaster was well-known for its beautiful gardens. Shown here is the one-acre, English walled garden, which was started in 1908. Spring flowers were confined to this space. Each year, no less than 75,000 bulbs would be planted, including narcissi, daffodils, lilies, and (as shown here) tulips, truly creating a display that was "gorgeous in the extreme."
A well-behaved first- and second-grade class at the Narrow Lane School sit up straight with hands folded. The photograph was taken c. 1906-1908. Longtime Lancaster resident Marion F. Ancill Robinson was a member of this class. Her father, Henry Ancill, was Col. John E. Thayer's head groom.
This large stone dwelling was once the summer home of Mr. and Mrs. F. Abbot Goodhue. Mrs. Goodhue was the former Nora Thayer, daughter of Col. John E. Thayer. The picturesque setting included a front entrance directly facing Mount Wachusett and a back entrance facing the Bolton hills. The home stood on Fort Devens reservation land and was the last to be demolished, in 1947.
Perhaps the noise of the trains and dust from the old toll road were too much for Mrs. Anthony Lane, for right after the death of her husband in 1869, the widow built herself a lovely new home on Main Street in the center of town. In more recent times, the home has become Queen Chapel, run by longtime Lancaster funeral director Jessica Queen.
Built to meet the needs of an expanding congregation, this 3,500-square-foot addition to the old "Brick Church" was completed in 2002. It connects to the main part of the church by a glassed-in walkway and contains three classrooms, two handicapped-accessible restrooms, and a kitchen-social hall.
In addition to a view of the town, this 1991 photograph shows the Wachusett Reservoir (upper left corner) and the railroad line from the south (upper left) to the east (lower left). The pilot was Don Crossman.
In this c. 1900 photograph, Cornelia "Connie" (left) and Elizabeth Parker (right) sit with their grandmother Harriet Felton Parker on the porch of their estate in South Lancaster.
Alice Greene Chandler, who moved from Roxbury to Lancaster in 1867 at the age of 16, was an unusual lady for her times. She served the town for many years as a professional librarian and, in 1891, began making photographs from glass negatives. She took pictures in and around Lancaster until 1900, when she turned her camera over to James McDonald.