Christmas Light Installation in Sudbury, MA

Incorporated in 1639, the boundaries of Sudbury included (by 1653) what is now Wayland (which split off in 1780, initially as East Sudbury), and parts of present day Framingham, Marlborough, Stow and Maynard (the latter town splitting off in 1871). Nipmuc Indians lived in what is now Sudbury, including Tantamous, a medicine man, and his son Peter Jethro, who deeded a large parcel of land to Sudbury for settlement in 1684.

The original town center and meetinghouse were located near the Sudbury River at what is now known as Wayland’s North Cemetery. For the residents on the west side of the river, it was a treacherous passage in the winter and attendance at both worship services and Town Meetings was compulsory. In 1723 the West Parish meetinghouse was built west of the river at an area known as Rocky Plains (presently the Town Center). It served as a place for both worship and Town Meetings. The church and town separated in 1836 and a new Town House was built in 1846. Since then, the has changed little, with the exception of the Town Hall, built in 1932 to replace the Town House, which burnt down in 1930.

Sudbury also contributed the most militia during King Philip’s War and was the site of the well-known attack on Sudbury. Ephraim Curtis was a successful leader of the militia of West Sudbury and would lend his name to the town’s junior high school. Sudbury militia participated in the Battle of Lexington and Concord, in 1775, where Sudbury members sniped on British Red Coats returning to Boston.