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Our Shirley, MA real estate website provides a wealth of information for home buyers and home sellers. Below, you will find information on the history and culture of the community as well as links to more detailed information such as demographics and schools. You may view a virtual tour, search homes for sale, access information on different types of properties such as condos, farms, foreclosures, and vacation homes. We also offer valuable reference materials for home buyers and home sellers. This website will give you everything you need to buy or sell a home in Shirley, MA.
Shirley MA Community Profile & History
Shirley, Massachusetts is a rural industrial community located on the lowlands of the Catacoonamaug River. It was considered the frontier when the handful of earliest colonists arrived in 1720 and settled on scattered farms in the town. Grist mills, saw mills and fulling mills were developed after 1739 using the town's available water power supplies.
Even after industrial development began, Shirley was treated as the outlying agricultural and mill area of Groton. As the frontier stabilized, however, the number of settlers increased and they turned to agriculture and grazing as their main economic activities. Townspeople planted fruit bearing trees very early and the managing of orchards along with seasonal lumbering became part of the town's economy.
Industrial activity flourished in Shirley, with the first paper mill erected around 1790 and a small iron works and nail factory built about 1810. Within a few years, Shirley had become a textile producer, as the first of seven cotton mills was established in 1812 along the Catacoonamaug. The railroad from Boston on the Fitchburg route opened Shirley to further development in 1845.
The location of the water to power these industries created an industrial village along the narrow valley in which the town is situated. Many of the era's brick towered mills survive today, standing as the cornerstones of an authentic period landscape.
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