Four companies totaling 166 men are credited to Harvard in the Lexington Alarm rolls: Captain Jonathan Davis's company in Colonel John Whitcomb's Regiment, 43 men; Captain Isaac Gates's company in Colonel Asa Whitcomb's Regiment, 48 Men; Captain John Joslin's Company in Colonel John Fairbank's Regiment, 35 men; Captain James Burt's Company, 40 men.                    

Eleazer Hamlen was a Captain in the Revolutionary War from 1780 to 1785. A man of great energy, he was influential in town councils.

Josiah Haskell (1737-1819), was known as "The Colonel". He was a lieutenant in Captain Gates' Regiment, Company M, and marched in Asa Whitcomb's Regiment to the Alarm of April 19th, serving ten and a half days. The house, considered one of Harvard's oldest structures and a rare example of a colonial salt box, dates prior to 1727. Josiah Haskell is buried in Harvard Center Cemetery, as is his wife, Mary.            

Elijah Houghton (1739-1819). The large farm-house is the sum of at least three structures, all very old. The western end is the original garrison house built between 1692 and 1704. Elijah Houghton is buried in Harvard Center Cemetery, as is his wife, Mercy. Houghton is among those listed in "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution". This list includes the service records of participants. Some records are quite complicated, showing patriots' willingness to serve in many capacities, as Houghton's does: he marched on April 19, 1775, to Cambridge and served 13 and a half days; from then on, he signed up for various duties on and off throughout the war until 1780.

A three bay, center chimney house, it is one of the oldest houses erected in Still River, on land that had been part of Simon Willard Garrison's land. Later, owned by Joseph Atherton who marched to Cambridge in response to the Lexington Alarm at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.            

There were 10 registered Innkeepers in Harvard whose inns or taverns existed during the time of the Revolutionary War. Of those, it is most likely that the Parkhurst or Atherton places would have been where people collected to hear news and to exchange ideas. Oliver Atherton Parkhurst kept a well-known public house in the days of the Revolution near the Still River Station. But there were several other taverns at the time, and it is well known that the taverns and inns were all places where news was exchanged.            

This is the second home on this site on the Common. The first was an inn kept by John and Phebe Atherton (1734). Silas Parkhurst, who served in the Revolution, 1779-1784, then ran the tavern in this house, having bought it from the Atherton heirs in 1772. He then sold it to Jonas Merriam in 1807. Named for Jonas Merriam, who also kept it as a tavern and way station for 80 years.

Single grave site of a soldier who had contracted small pox and out of concern for public health his body was not removed to the center cemetery, but buried in a single grave.            

Patriot soldier Shadrach Hapgood (1747-1818) appears with rank of private on muster and pay rolls of Captain Samuel Hill's company, Colonel Josiah Whitney's regiment. He enlisted in August 1777, serving for six days during which he marched to the Bennington Alarm from Harvard. He re-enlisted as private in the same company and regiment in October 1777 for another 4 days, and again served for twenty-four days under Lieutenant Colonel Ephraim Sawyer. He was a member of Committee of Correspondence and Safety in 1781 and later a Selectman. The Hapgood house is an excellent example of a farmer's house at the time of the Town's incorporation. Owned by Shadrach and his wife Elizabeth (Whetherbee) for more than fifty years and then owned by their son, Shadrach, who lived in it with his wife, Elizabeth Keep, for nearly another fifty years. The Hapgoods are buried in the Harvard Center Cemetery.

The Center cemetery, on what was once part of the original Common, holds gravestones from the late 18th into the late 19th century. It is a well maintained cemetery that includes the works of two of the well-known Harvard stone carvers Thomas Park and Jonathan Worster. Both carvers used high quality slate from Pin Hill, where the carvers were part of a cooperative, which came to an abrupt end when someone decided to use dynamite to get the slate and fractured all that remained. Throughout the cemetery are many interesting epitaphs documenting disease, accidental deaths, infant mortality, death by childbirth and slavery.

Farming has formed the core of Harvard’s economy since the town was founded in 1732, and the presence of agriculture remains central to the town’s identity.  Orchard-covered hills, open fields with livestock grazing, farmstands, and fresh picked fruit and vegetables are all part of the experience of living in Harvard.  Its farms and orchards constitute its most valued and its most vulnerable resources.

Harvard is one of several communities in the Freedom’s Way area that mentioned the importance of moderating light pollution at night.  This is a particular concern to Harvard residents for two reasons.  One is the presence of the Harvard Smithsonian Observatory, which requires a dark sky for maximum effectiveness of the telescope.  The other is a large correctional facility to the west of Harvard in Shirley that emanates a bright orange glow from its sodium vapor lights in an otherwise dark and rural area.           

A substantial area in the northwest corner of Harvard became Fort Devens in
1917 and was administered by the US government for many years until the fort was decommissioned in 1996.  The former Fort Devens is now owned by a quasi-state agency, MassDevelopment. Devens development poses a challenge for Harvard because it was historically part of the community but has been controlled by outside entities.

Planning for Harvard’s Rural Landscapes listed historic resources as another of the four key elements that define the rural character of the community. Harvard’s buildings are readily recognizable and have long been a source of community pride.    

Harvard already has extensive conservation land and open space.  Some of it is town-owned; some belongs to organizations such as the Harvard Conservation Trust; and other parcels are in private or institutional ownership.  Many of Harvard’s large natural areas are regional landscapes shared by several communities and administered by state and federal government agencies.

Harvard residents place very high value on their scenic roads.  Planning for Harvard’s Rural Landscapes listed the view from the road as another of the four key elements that define the rural character of the community.  It identified roads as the “public face of Harvard, the threads that tie the town together….” Subsequent to the conclusion of the Harvard Reconnaissance Study, DCR and Freedom’s Way helped the town of Harvard conduct a pilot project to complete an updated scenic road inventory with descriptions and photo documentation of each of the roads in Harvard; include design criteria for driveway cuts and tree or stonewall repair or removal; develop policies for road maintenance and reconstruction that was subsequently adapted by Town Meeting. Click here for the Harvard Roads Final Report. 

Special Trees—those in prominent locations or of historic importance
Views—those of local scenic importance and those that are regional in scale
Village Centers—there are three main centers, the Harvard Center Common, Still River Village and Shaker Village
Waterways—the Nashua River and many streams, brooks and ponds