Architectual and Historic Significance

Westford reflects the unique history of upstate New York’s period of growth in the early-to-mid ninteenth century. The Town of Westford is still overwhelmingly rural with the hamlet consisting mostly of structures from its early period.

Westford’s initial settler, Robert Roseboom, arrived in 1787 and the Town of Westford was officially established in 1808. The population peaked at more than 1600 in 1830 after which the population fell steadily, bottoming out at fewer than 500 residents in 1970. It has since climbed back to more than 900 residents.

In the late 19th century, the hamlet boasted two hotels, an elementary school, a private secondary academy, four churches, a cheese factory, a gristmill, a flax mill, a sash-and-blind factory, a wagon-maker’s shop, four blacksmiths shops, a doctor’s office, and three stores.

Today the Westford hamlet is still mostly comprised of Greek Revival and early Victorian structures that were erected in Westford’s early growth period. A view down main street to the southwest today contains no structures that aren’t pictured in a photograph from 1867 of that same view, and only a couple of houses in that photo are not standing today.

The hamlet consisted of 63 primary structures (excluding outbuildings) in 1868; 60 primary structures in 1905; and 51 today. Of the primary structures remaining in the hamlet, it is estimated that 32 predate 1868, 43 predate 1905, four were added in the early 20th century, and only three primary buildings and six trailers have been added since the 1980s.

Thats means that of the 51 primary structures on the main streets of the hamlet today, approximately 92 percent of the buildings predate the early 20th century, 84 percent predate 1905, and 63 percent predate 1868.

There was a period of moderate growth in the hamlet in the 1860s, which is documented in the book “A Rural Carpenter’s World” by Wayne Franklin, published by the University of Iowa Press in 1990, but since 1905 there have been very few new primary structures added to the hamlet. A new school was built in 1915. Three of the earlier houses were replaced, two with foursquares from the 1910s or 20s, and one with a bungalow from the 1920s or 30s. One house was built recently. A new post office was erected in the 1980s. Two mobile homes have been placed on main-street lots, and four more mobile homes have been located in a lot that runs behind the streetside lots on the northwest side of the hamlet.

Sadly, many of the early commercial buldings have been lost, but several significant early commercial and public structures remain:

• Three of the early store buildings remain: The imposing two-story Greek Revival general store at the main intersection, and what were once two smaller sundries stores. The General Store operated continuously as a store from its inception in 1854 until it closed a couple of years ago.

• What used to be the Westford Literary Institute—a private secondary academy where New York State’s first comissioner of education, Andrew S. Draper, once taught—is still standing. This building was erected as the original Methodist Church circa 1825. It was relocated within the hamlet and became home to the Westford Literary Institute in 1865. By the late 20th century, having long been a private residence, it had fallen into disrepair. It was vacant for a decade. The current owners are in the process of restoration.

• Three churches are still standing, the Presbyterian Church, circa 1809; The Episcopal Church, circa 1840; and the Methodist Church, circa 1862, which was built when the original Methodist Church, circa 1825, was moved and repurposed as the Westford Literary Institute. All three are in good condition.

• Most of the rest of the early structures are residential, most of them vernacular Greek Revival or vernacular Victorian. Most are occupied.

While Westord is a stable community, we have lost several early buildings in the hamlet in the last few decades, and several more are in unstable condition and could be lost without timely intervention.