| Population | Voters (1999) | |||
| 1970 | 6,095 | Total | 3,544 | |
| 1980 | 6,334 | Democratic | 650 | |
| 1990 | 6,661 | Republican | 672 | |
| 1995 (est.) | 6,831 | Unenrolled | 2,131 | |
| 2000 (projected) | 7,000 | Other | 2 | |
| Education level | Taxes (fiscal year 1999) | |||
| (based on 1990 U.S. Census) | Residential tax rate (for fiscal 1999) | $13.96 (per $1,000 valuation) | ||
| Eight or fewer years of school | 184 | Total taxable property | $341,767,100 | |
| High school graduates | 1,036 | residential | $286,561,900 | |
| College graduates or beyond | 1,105 | commercial | $20,231,500 | |
| industrial | $18,125,500 | |||
| School system | personal | $15,261,500 | ||
| Total enrollment (May 1999) K-8 | 741 | |||
| Average teacher salary, 1993 | $25,781 | Town finances (fiscal year 1999) | ||
| Per pupil spending, 1993 | $3,046 | Total revenues | $6,241,578 | |
| Students/ non-public schools, 1993 | 184 | Real estate taxes | $4,327,649 | |
| Federal aid | NA | |||
| State aid | $811,944 |
| Income | Households | |||
| (based on 1990 U.S. Census) | (based on 1990 U.S. Census) | |||
| Per capita income, 1989 | $14,619 | Total households | 1,910 | |
| Median household income, 1989 | $41,552 | with persons under 18 | 771 | |
| Median family income, 1989 | $46,924 | with persons over 65 | 450 | |
| receiving public aid | 51 | |||
| Housing | receiving Social Security | 485 | ||
| (based on 1990 U.S. Census) | non-family households | 399 | ||
| Total units | 2,095 | Persons per household | 2.89 | |
| seasonal or recreational use | 101 | Persons per family | 3.27 | |
| single-family units | 1,643 | family households | 1,511 | |
| owner-occupied units | 1,449 | |||
| renter-occupied units | 461 | |||
| Median value of single family home | $160,400 | |||
| Median rent | $444 |
| Lancaster’s history reaches back to 1642, when
Sholan,
chief of the Nashaway tribe, deeded 80 square miles of land to
Thomas
King and Henry Symonds. In 1653, the town was incorporated as
Lancaster.
From 1730 to 1850, eight other towns were cut out of Lancaster. Lancaster’s daughter towns are very different from Lancaster. Harvard is one of the wealthiest towns in the state. Leominster is a city, while Boylston, Berlin, Bolton and Sterling have remained semirural. Clinton had a long history as a mill town. And West Boylston is a suburb of Worcester. Lancaster, just 16 miles north of Worcester and 50 miles west of Boston, and located at the crossroads of routes 2 and 190, has been a favorite home for high-tech commuters, according to real-estate brokers. There is little industry in town. In the 1700s, the town could boast of manufacturing leather goods, ironware, textiles and wood products. But today, there are only a handful of industries. No alcohol is sold in Lancaster. Aside from a play or performance by the Thayer Symphony Orchestra at Atlantic Union College, there is little nightlife in town. In the fall, the annual Horseshed Fair is held in the center of town and the Doctor Franklin Perkins School sponsors an annual program and fireworks display in July. The streets are lined by oaks and dotted by stone walls. The town boasts poultry farms and apple orchards. Main Street still is home to many mansions, many built by the Thayer family in the 1800s and now owned by Atlantic Union College. A Paul Revere bell still chimes in the tower of the Unitarian Church, designed by Charles Bulfinch in 1816. The historic church is still a fixture on the Town Green, along with the century-old library, and the historic Town Hall. Many of Lancaster’s residents are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. |
The Adventists established
Atlantic Union
College in South Lancaster more than 100 years ago and, each June,
thousands
of Adventists from around the Northeast come to Lancaster for a
week-long
camp meeting. The town has experienced some major financial problems in the recent past, with a negative Free Cash figure since the early 1990s. But at the 1998 annual Town Meeting, the town had a positive Free Cash balance. While money for town services has loosened up recently, the town is facing some major capital projects since little maintenance has been done in recent years. The town is looking at renovating or building a new elementary/middle school, a public safety building, the town library and the Town Hall. In addition, the town is beginning to design a sewer line for the center of town, which should help the municipal buildings and houses with failed septic systems. While the town is seeing major residential growth, officials are trying to increase the industrial tax base. At the 1998 Town Meeting, voters approved a two-acre zoning change (to slow residential growth) and a tax incentive financing program (to try to induce industry to come to town). Since the town is situated on the banks of the Nashua River and many of its tributaries, conservation and resource preservation are high priorities. The town also houses two state prisons - Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Lancaster, a minimum security and pre-release center, and a portion of MCI-Shirley, including the new, maximum security facility. Lancaster also houses the South Post of Fort Devens, the only portion of the base not decommissioned. The town is a member of the Nashoba Regional School District (with Bolton and Stow), as well as the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District. In addition to the public schools, the town houses Browning Elementary School and South Lancaster Academy, Seventh-day Adventist schools, and Perkins School, for children with special behavioral, emotional and developmental needs. In addition, the town is home to The Trivium, a private school that stresses classical education, and Thayer Conservatory, which provides music education. |
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