Harvard

Town in Worcester County, north-central Massachusetts, 19 km/12 mi east-southeast of Fitchburg; population (1998 est) 12,400, including Fort Devens military base (the population of the town alone was estimated in 2000 to be 5,400). Harvard is primarily agricultural, the most important produce being apples, and was incorporated in 1732.

Harvard was the site of ‘Fruitlands’, a short-lived utopian community founded in 1843 by US educator, mystic, and author Bronson Alcott, and now a museum. A Shaker community was also established here in 1791 by English religious leader Mother Ann Lee.

The Harvard Astronomical Observatory is situated here.