This is an individual effort by David Holladay. I like to assemble large "websites" that can be stored and shared on CD-ROMs. I did this for a variety of reasons: I enjoy assembling and organizing information, I needed the exercise of going out with my bicycle and taking all the photos, and I liked the fact that there are so many interesting aspects about Graniteville and Westford. As I bicycled my way around the neighborhood (with and without my daughter in the tandem), I think a lot about land use. How is the land being used now, how was it used before, and how will it be used in the future. I cannot help but think that in a future dominated by expensive oil, we may have to revert back to older patterns.
I want to thank Robert Oliphant for sharing his material he wrote to put various parts of Westford in the National Register of Historic Places. I also want to thank Ms. Moore from the library and the folks at the Westford Historical Society for their assistance. I also want to thank my friends and neighbors for their stories and leads. I want to thank everyone (such as Peter Severence) who placed information on the web for me to grab. I especially want to thank my family for putting up with me as I assembled this material.
I want to thank Frank Karkota for his wonderful photo album which he posted at his website so I could include a copy.
I suppose I should thank Microsoft for its TerraServer project. According to their web site, I am not allowed to create "derivative uses" of the government data that has been re-worked by Microsoft. Certainly, they did not make it easy to download the 500 seperate photo panels that I assembled to make a map of most of Westford. When you put your mouse cursor on top of Boutwell Hill Road, the label "Boutwell Hill Road" shows up. That is cool. What is even cooler is that if you click your mouse, you get to see the photos I took of the houses on Boutwell Hill Road. So while my lack of restaint when handling Microsoft data may disappoint Bill Gates, I hope you the reader will enjoy the fruit of my efforts.
While we are on the subject of Bill Gates, I must say that I really admire his use of charity. While history has shown that most rich people give money to "nice" causes, Bill Gates and his wife have given billions to rid the world of some very terrible diseases whose very description could upset your lunch. Doing that takes real guts. Anyone with some extra money should be following Bill Gates instead of supporting opera houses. And speaking of billionaires, did you know that the railroad through Graniteville is actually owned by America's most secretive and reclusive billionaire? Check it out
