Things to Do in Woburn

Woburn Public Library (Winn Memorial Library)

Designed in 1879 by H. H. Richardson, this National Historic Landmark is an early masterpiece of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture and a model for the American public-library movement. Its polychromatic stone façade, soaring arches, and magnificent interior reading room remain a civic showpiece after the 2019 preservation and expansion project.

Phone: 781-933-0148

Loammi Baldwin Mansion (Baldwin House)

Built c. 1750 and enlarged in 1803 by engineer Loammi Baldwin, “Father of the Middlesex Canal,” this Federal-style cube was painstakingly moved to 2 Alfred Street to save it from demolition. The mansion’s symmetrical façades, Palladian window, and ashlar-scored front remain textbook examples of early American craftsmanship.

Phone: 781-935-8488

Benjamin Thompson House – Count Rumford Birthplace

Birthplace of scientist-inventor Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford), this 1714 saltbox at 90 Elm Street chronicles colonial life and Rumford’s later thermodynamic discoveries. Operated by the Rumford Historical Association, its period rooms display 18th-century masonry and hearth construction.

Phone: 781-933-4976

The 1790 House (Bartlett–Wheeler House)

This refined Federal residence once sat beside the Middlesex Canal and is notable for its two-tier Doric porch, Chinese-rail balustrade, and quoined corners. Relocated to 827 Main Street, it now serves as offices while retaining its historic exterior envelope.

First Congregational Church

Organized in 1642, Woburn’s First Church occupies an 1860 Victorian-Gothic building distinguished by polychrome slate, buttressed tower, and stained-glass lancets. Its masonry work and timber roof trusses offer prime restoration study material.

Phone: 781-933-1642

St. Charles Borromeo Church

Completed in 1915, this granite Romanesque Revival sanctuary anchors Main Street with twin towers, arcaded façades, and intricate limestone capitals. The parish’s 19th-century rectory and parochial school round out a cohesive ecclesiastical complex.

Phone: 781-933-0300

Trinity Episcopal Church

The 1881 brick Gothic edifice at 535 Main Street features buttressed walls, pointed-arch fenestration, and a timber-framed hammer-beam ceiling. Recent masonry-repointing and slate-roof restoration illustrate best practices for contractors specializing in envelope repair.

Phone: 781-935-0219

First Burial Ground (1642)

Among the earliest colonial cemeteries in Massachusetts, this acre holds 1,000+ slate and brownstone markers displaying 17th- and 18th-century iconography—vital reference for stone conservationists.

Second Burial Ground (1794)

Established as the city grew northward, this cemetery preserves Federal-period funerary sculpture and an iron-fenced family lot layout. Its sandstone obelisks offer case studies in environmental weathering.

Woburn City Hall (1879)

Architect Gridley J. F. Bryant’s High-Victorian Gothic seat of government features polychrome brick, granite trim, and a soaring slate-clad clock tower. Restoration of its polychrome masonry is ongoing, guided by preservation easements.

Phone: 781-897-5850

Woburn Center Post Office (1935)

Built under the New Deal, this Colonial-Revival post office at 462 Washington Street boasts limestone quoins and interior WPA murals. Its steel windows and copper gutters illustrate Depression-era federal standards.

Phone: 781-937-8600

Jack’s Diner (Lanna Thai Diner)

Worcester Lunch Car #834 (1952) is the last stainless-steel Worcester diner operating in Massachusetts. Its barrel roof, riveted panels, and porcelain-enameled interior make it a rare mid-century prefabricated icon now adapted as a Thai restaurant.

Phone: 781-932-0394

Spence Farm Historic Site

Founded in 1934 and now city-owned, this 7-acre property preserves the last working farmstead in Woburn. Its 1930s fieldstone farmstand and timber-frame barn host farmers’ markets and illustrate adaptive reuse of agricultural outbuildings.

Phone: 781-933-4847

Horn Pond Recreation Area & 1906 Pump House

Once the Middlesex Canal reservoir, Horn Pond anchors 102 acres of open space and a 1906 Romanesque brick pump house that supplied the city’s early water system. Granite sluiceways and riprap edges offer insight into turn-of-the-century civil works.

Phone: 781-897-5805 (Parks & Recreation)

Middlesex Canal Historic Marker – Baldwin Landing

This granite obelisk and interpretive panel mark the 1793–1803 canal that linked Boston Harbor with the Merrimack River. The surviving towpath, aqueduct abutments, and stone culverts are invaluable for engineers studying early American waterway construction.

Phone: 978-670-2740 (Middlesex Canal Museum)

Woburn Five Cents Savings Bank Building (1887)

This Richardsonian Romanesque landmark by J. R. Richards showcases rusticated brownstone, Syrian arches, and allegorical façade reliefs symbolizing industry and prosperity. It is a case study in load-bearing stone and terracotta detailing.

Phone: 781-935-2936

Shaker Glen House & Reservation

A rare 19th-century Shaker-style cottage anchors this 17-acre ravine park off Lexington Street. Flagstone footbridges, dry-laid stone walls, and original spring-fed irrigation channels showcase vernacular landscape engineering.

Woburn Depot (1887 Boston & Maine Station)

The granite-trimmed brick depot on Station Lane blends Queen-Anne and Romanesque motifs—arched openings, corbelled chimneys, and fish-scale slate. Though rail service moved, the structure remains a candidate for adaptive reuse.

Count Rumford Statue (1896)

Sculptor Samuel J. F. Thayer’s bronze of Benjamin Thompson stands on the library lawn celebrating Rumford’s advances in thermodynamics. The granite plinth and cast bronze offer insight into 19th-century monument fabrication.

Phone: 781-933-0148

World War I Memorial (1926)

Located on the Common, this Beaux-Arts granite shaft with bronze relief honors Woburn’s Great War servicemen. Conservation of its bronze panels and inscription fields highlights issues of metal corrosion and stone cleaning.

Phone: 781-897-5850