From Mill Town to Mini Computer Capital
Maynard's name, shape, and downtown all trace back to one site on the Assabet River: a woolen mill that grew into the town itself, then closed, then reopened as the headquarters of one of the most influential computer companies of the 20th century. This page covers the highlights. For the full story, town records, and historical photographs, the Maynard Historical Society maintains an extensive archive.
Four Eras, One Mill Complex
Most of Maynard's history runs through the same set of brick buildings beside Mill Pond.
The Mill Town (1846–1899)
In 1846, Amory Maynard and William Knight built a woolen mill on the Assabet River, drawing workers from the surrounding farmland of Sudbury and Stow. The mill grew quickly enough that the surrounding village outgrew its parent towns: on April 19, 1871, it was incorporated as its own town, named for the mill's founder.
During the Civil War, the mill produced cloth for Union Army uniforms, and the 1910 census shows the scale of that early growth: the town's population more than doubled in a single decade.
American Woolen Company (1899–1950)
In 1899, the American Woolen Company acquired the mill and spent the next two decades expanding it into one of the largest woolen mill complexes in the country. The company built worker housing across what's still called the "Presidential streets" neighborhood. The mill operated until 1950, when it closed for good as the textile industry left New England.
Mini Computer Capital of the World (1957–1998)
In 1957, Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson, two MIT Lincoln Laboratory engineers, leased space in the empty mill and founded Digital Equipment Corporation. DEC's minicomputers made computing affordable for businesses and universities for the first time, and the company grew to employ over 100,000 people worldwide. DEC bought the entire mill complex in 1974, and through the 1980s Maynard was known as the "Mini Computer Capital of the World."
DEC was acquired by Compaq in 1998, and the headquarters left Maynard soon after.
Reinvention (1998–present)
After DEC's departure, the mill complex was redeveloped into an office park called Clock Tower Place. In 2015, Artemis Real Estate Partners and Saracen Properties bought the 50-acre campus and renamed it Mill & Main, completing a major renovation by 2017. Today it's a multi-tenant office campus of eight buildings, managed by Lincoln Property Company and still anchored by the 1892 clock tower that appears on the Town Seal.
Downtown has filled in around it with restaurants, a brewery, and the arts and festival scene that the Traditions page covers.
Population, 1880–2020
The mill's growth shows up directly in the census: the town's population nearly tripled between 1880 and 1920, then held roughly steady for the rest of the 20th century.
Decennial Census Population
U.S. Census decennial counts, 1880–2020
U.S. Census Bureau decennial census, 1880–2020. The 1910 jump corresponds to the American Woolen Company's expansion of the mill complex. Population has stayed within about 10–15% of 10,000 since 1970.