"Leaving the Nashua, we changed our route a little, and arrived at Stillriver Village, in the western part of Harvard, just as the sun was setting. From this place which lies to the northward, upon the western slope of the same range of hills on which we had spent the noon before, in the adjacent town, the prospect is beautiful, and the grandeur of the mountain outlines unsurpassed. There was such a repose and quiet here at this hour, as if the very hillsides were enjoying the scene."
– Henry David Thoreau, "A Walk to Wachusett," Thoreau's Complete Works, (Boston, 1929), p.151.

The panoramic view from Prospect Hill and the waft of apple blossoms in the spring air are just some of the distinctive traits of Harvard, a town rich in history.

Native Americans of the northeast coast shared various dialects of Algonquian, describing themselves as "people of the dawn or first light". The area has been inhabited by Native Americans for at least 9000 years. Disease and Mohawk attacks reduced The Nashaway to a handful of families by the mid-1600's. A native presence remained here until the death of Metacomet (called "King Philip" by the English) at the end of what became known as King Philip's War (1675-76). This war marked the last major effort by the Indians of southern New England to drive out the English settlers. European settlement of this area began in 1667, and Harvard was incorporated as a town in 1732, at the same time as the nearby college in Cambridge from which the town took its name.

By the 1850's, most of Massachusetts' forests had been cleared for farmland. People had already started leaving the hill farms of New England as early as 1800, first, for richer western farmland, and later, as mill jobs in nearby river towns provided an alternative to farming the rocky soil. These early farmers abandoned their stone walls, which stand today as a reminder of their backbreaking, endless attempts to clear the fields. Today Harvard's forests are laced by stone walls that once separated open pastures and fields.

But some farmers stayed. They found that fruit trees did well, and today Harvard is known for its apples, rolling terrain, and beautiful vistas. Harvard's classic New England town common remains surrounded by white steeple churches and gracious antique homes. From the overlook at Prospect Hill, the view stretches for miles to the hills to the west, and north to the foothills of the White Mountains.

Harvard attracted a series of communities that were experiments in communal living. These groups left their legacies here, both physical (their unusual buildings, farms, burying grounds) and spiritual (land conservation, a respect for nature, and perhaps, a tolerance for individuality).

Mother Ann Lee came to live in Harvard in 1781 and founded a Shaker village, which flourished in Harvard until 1919. The remains of the village and worship area on Holy Hill are reminders of the Shaker's once large presence in the area.

Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May) moved family and intellectual friends from nearby Concord for a short-lived experiment in transcendental living that failed after a few months in the winter of 1844. Fruitlands is today a 210-acre area on Prospect Hill of open views, trails, museums, and cultural events.

Fiske Warren established a series of "enclaves" encouraging communal land ownership in the early 1900's that lasted until his death in 1938. The Tahanto enclave along Bare Hill Pond in Harvard was one of many worldwide, which included ones in Alabama, Australia, France, and on an island near Borneo.

In addition to the Fruitlands Museums, Harvard is home to the Oak Ridge Observatory of the Harvard University Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and The Oxbow Wildlife Refuge, on what had been the southern portion of Fort Devens. Bare Hill Pond is a 330-acre lake dotted with small islands. Harvard is also home to more than 2,000 acres of conservation land and walking trails. For information about the greater Boston area, we recommend Boston.com as one starting point.

CyberTools offices are located in the historic Blanchard House Office Park which incorporates a circa-1850s inn.

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