For more than 7,000 years, Acton’s network of rivers has supported habitation, serving as a location for Indigenous culture and migration. Settled by European colonists in 1639, Acton was once part of Concord and originally used as grazing fields for its residents. It was incorporated as an independent town in 1735.

During the Revolutionary War, residents from Acton responded to the call to arms. Their six-mile route to the Old North Bridge, known as the “Isaac Davis Trail” in honor of the first officer to be killed in the Revolutionary War, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

While primarily an agricultural community, Acton’s sawmills and gristmills manufactured barrels and its Faulkner Mills became one of the first large-scale manufacturers of woolen cloth in the United States.

In 2009 and 2011 Money Magazine named Acton the 16th Best Place to live among small towns in the country.