Town Edition
Worcester County
Lancaster, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On a February night in 2026, seven Lancaster residents showed up to a committee meeting to argue for the windows of the 1816 Bulfinch meetinghouse on the Common, and the Community Preservation Committee voted 5 to 0 to put town money behind the repair. Every dollar of that fund still has to clear Annual Town Meeting, which means the last word on the oldest building on your Common belongs to whoever walks in and raises a hand. Lancaster is the oldest town in Worcester County, settled in 1643 and incorporated in 1653, and it still settles its biggest questions in a room any registered voter can enter. This guide shows you how to get into that room.
Lancaster at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Worcester. Lancaster sits on the Nashua River in the heart of the county, borders Leominster, Clinton, Sterling, Bolton, Harvard, Shirley and Lunenburg, and covers about 28 square miles. It is the oldest town in Worcester County.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, John R. Woodsmall III.
- Schools: the Nashoba Regional School District, shared with Bolton and Stow, about 2,972 students, led by Superintendent Kirk Downing.
How Lancaster’s Government Works
Lancaster runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Lancaster is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the Lancaster seats on the regional School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Administrator to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Administrator.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Lancaster is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
Three members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Administrator.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
The Nashoba Regional School Committee has 11 members, elected town by town across Bolton, Lancaster and Stow. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and Lancaster’s seats on the regional School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Administrator and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets on the first and third Mondays of the month at 6:00 p.m. in the Prescott Building, 701 Main Street. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is warned each spring, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. Any registered voter of Lancaster is a voting member.
- Town elections: Lancaster votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 11, and 582 ballots were cast. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Lancaster Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Lancaster HistoryNashaway, 1653, and the oldest town in the county
- DemographicsWho lives in Lancaster
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataNashoba schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Worcester County, and that includes Lancaster. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Lancaster
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and police or fire go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets on the first and third Mondays at 6:00 p.m. in the Prescott Building, 701 Main Street, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. Three Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Offices: Prescott Building, 701 Main Street, Lancaster, MA 01523. Select Board office 978-365-3326.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-365-3326 ext. 1090, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at ci.lancaster.ma.us.
- Public schools: the Nashoba Regional School District, 50 Mechanic Street, Bolton, nrsd.net.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.