Fairlawn, the heavily gabled and brown-shingled estate of Eugene V.R. Thayer, was built c. 1880 on South Main Street. The architect was most likely John Hubbard Sturgis, who was often commissioned by the family. I the early 1920s, architect Henry Forbes Bigelow (who had married Thayer's daughter Susan) greatly altered the building by removing many arches and covered entrances and painting it white. A servants' wing was removed and placed closer to the main street. The "White House" now houses the English department of Atlantic Union College. The servants' wing is used as apartments.
Sadly, the tree fell victim to powerful storm winds on May 3, 2002. This view shows the snapped trunk of the Rowlandson Pine right after the storm. Losing the tree was a sad event for the town of Lancaster.
In 1995, the bridge spanning the Nashua on Bolton Road in Lancaster was named for Bill Farnsworth, who had spent more than 25 years working to make the Nashua River healthy again and to ensure that with a "ribbon of green" along much of it, it would remain so. This plaque marks the memorial bridge.
Uniformed Lancaster firefighters stand with their equipment in front of the Center Hose House. All members of the Lancaster Fire Department were required to march in the parade on Memorial Day. The penalty for not marching was a 25¢ docking of their pay.
In May 1976, a service was held honoring deceased members of the Lancaster Fire Department, organized in 1848. The monument was erected near the public safety building on Main Street. Seen here are David Silveira (left), James E. Bond (center), and William Dyment, who at 85 was then Lancaster's oldest living fireman. At that time, two Lancaster firefighters had been killed in the line of duty.
Former superintendent of schools Frank H. Mitchell comforts a young first grader as she awaits her bus on the first day of school in September 1981. Mitchell served as Lancaster's superintendent of school for kindergarten through eighth grades for 26 years, from 1964 to 1990.
A 15-year-old Robert S. Follansbee Sr. is shown flying high in the sky at the Massachusetts State Ski Jump Championship. This photograph was taken in 1937.
This quaint cottage was the home of Prof. Rochelle P. Kilgore. Through the years, she provided residence in her home for many foreign students. Today, the Flagg Street building contains the college's offices for alumni affairs, public relations, and advancement.
In 1947, the Chickering Private School was moved the North Village from its Lancaster Center location. Louise Chickering, a trained teacher, conducted a kindergarten and grammar school in the house from around 1900 to 1946. In the early years, she could be seen around town picking her students up and bringing them home in her horse and buggy. Today, the building is a private home.
Constructed in 1888, this hose house was first called C. F. Tufts Fire Company. With the beginning of the cold war in the late 1940s, a Lancaster branch of the Ground Observer Corps of the U.S. Air Force was organized by Berger W. Parmenter and located in this building. The purpose was to maintain vigilance in preparing for a surprise attack from the skies. In 1956, a special observation deck was built on the roof, providing an unobstructed view of the post's area of coverage. Local citizens were encouraged to volunteer for duty. After World War II, the building was turned in a Victorian-style residence.