Westborough is a town[1] in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 census, in over 7,000 households.[2] Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed by a five-member elected Board of Selectmen whose duties include licensing, appointing various administrative positions, and calling a town meeting of citizens annually or whenever the need arises.
History
Before recorded time, the area now known as Westborough was a well-travelled crossroads. As early as 7,000 BCE, prehistoric people in dugout canoes followed the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers to their headwaters in search of quartzite for tools and weapons.
From 1200 to 1600 CE, seasonal migrations brought Nipmuc Indians to hunt and fish near Cedar Swamp and Lake Hoccomocco. Using Fay Mountain as a landmark, Indians crisscrossed Westborough on well-worn paths: the old Connecticut Path leading west from Massachusetts Bay; the Narragansett Trail leading south, and the trail (along the present Milk Street) leading to Canada.[3]
The early English explorer John Oldham followed these trails through Westborough in 1633, and settlers in search of fertile farmlands followed not long after. By late 1675, a few families had settled near Lake Chauncy, in the "west borough" of Marlborough.
18th century
On November 18, 1717, Westborough was incorporated as the hundredth town in Massachusetts, populated by twenty-seven families, including Thomas Rice who had represented Marlborough in the Great and General Court. Soon large farms were carved out, mills built along the Assabet River and Jackstraw Brook, and taverns flourished. Westborough's first minister, Reverend Ebenezer Parkman, shepherded the growing town of colonists through the years toward independence from Great Britain. Forty-six minutemen from Westborough fought under Captain Edmund Brigham in the Revolutionary War.
In 1775, Northborough split off as the "north borough" of Westborough, much as Westborough split off from Marlborough some 58 years before. However, the two towns shared a meetinghouse for some time more.
Westborough's most famous native son, Eli Whitney, contributed to the industrial progress of the country. Born in 1765, he invented the cotton gin in 1795 after graduating from Yale. In 1798, he introduced mass production to the United States at his Whitney Arms Company in New Haven, Connecticut.
19th century
In 1810, the route from Boston to Worcester was straightened and improved into an official turnpike (the present Route 9), and along its Westborough route, the Wesson Tavern Common, Forbush Tavern and Nathan Fisher's store prospered. The center of commerce shifted downtown in 1824 with the arrival of the steam train through Westborough's center. The railroad brought a new era to the town industry: over the next century, local factories shipped boots and shoes, straw hats, sleighs, textiles, bicycles, and eventually abrasive products, across the nation. Westborough dairies supplied cities with milk and local greenhouses shipped out carnations, while the eight orchards found ready markets for their produce.
In 1848, the State Reform School for Boys, the first publicly funded reform school in the United States, was opened on Lake Chauncy. It operated as a State reform school until 1884 at which time the newly established Westborough State Hospital took over the property. In the same year, the reform school was relocated nearby on Chauncy Street and renamed The Lyman School for Boys.
Maples Cottage: East of Shrewsbury on Oak St. (added April 25, 1980)
Vintonville Historic District: Roughly bounded by Cottage, Green, Pine, Brigham, Beach Streets, and rear of properties along the east side of South Street (added August 23, 2006)
Expanded to include 83–118 West Main Street (1990)
Westborough State Hospital: Along Lyman St. North of Chauncy Lake and junction of Milk St. and MA 9 (added February 21, 1994)
Geography
Mill Pond at sunsetChauncy Lake in Autumn
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 21.6 square miles (56.0 km2), of which 20.5 square miles (53.1 km2) is land, and 1.1 square miles (2.8 km2) is water, or 5.09 percent.
Westborough contains the headwaters of the Sudbury and Assabet rivers. The town contains numerous bodies of water, including Lake Chauncy, George H. Nichols Reservoir (Mill Pond), Westboro Reservoir (Sandra Pond), Hocomonco Pond, and Cedar Swamp Pond. Lake Chauncy is open to swimming, boating, and fishing, and has a public beach open to residents of Westborough and Northborough during the summer months. The average elevation of the town is approximately 300 feet (91 m).
Westborough is located in east/central Massachusetts, located approximately 28 miles (45.47 km) west of Boston and 12 miles (19 km) east of Worcester.
Data from the U.S. Census[16] of 2020 shows there were 21,567 people, 7,930 households, and 5,618 families residing in the town (official). The population density was 998 people per square mile (unofficial). The latest 2013–2017 American Community Survey (ACS) estimated the town's total population at 18,836, residing in 7,095 households. According to the latest ACS estimate, the racial makeup of the town was 70.1% White, 2.4% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 23.6% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 1.1% from other races, 2.3% from two or more races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.8% of the population. Westborough has a significant Indian-American Community making up 15.4% of the population, as well as boasting a strong immigrant community with nearly 5,000 residents of non-U.S. origins (25.9%).[17]
According to ACS estimates, there are 4,912 family households, out of which 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them. Of all households 31.8% were made up of individuals 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.26.
In addition, the town the population was spread out, with 12.5% under the age of 10, 15.6% from 10 to 19, 17.9% from 20 to 34, 29% from 35 to 54, 12.7% from 55 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town (based on U.S. Census ACS five-year estimate) was $107,604, and the median income for a family was $132,543. The per capita income for the town was $47,993. Of the population 4.7% was below the poverty line, including 4.4% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over. The labor force numbered 10,218 with an unemployment rate in the town of 3.6%. Of the population over age 25, 96.4% graduated high school (or equivalent) and 65.7% hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education
Public schools
Westborough Public Schools consist of three elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school:
The Mill Pond School is the newest school addition to Westborough. The three elementary schools consist of kindergarten to third grade, Mill Pond School consists of grades 4 to 6, then Gibbons Middle School which consists of grades 7 and 8, and then Westborough High School. There are three options depending upon residents' geographic location in the town for preschool through third grade.
The Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps, Inc. operates two juvenile correctional facilities in Westborough on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services:
Robert F. Kennedy School, a juvenile correctional center for boys, is in Westborough.[18] The school is the most secure juvenile facility in the state.[19]
The Fay A. Rotenberg School, a juvenile correctional facility for girls, is in Westborough.[20] It first opened in North Chelmsford in 1982,[21] but moved to its current location in 2006.[20]
The Westborough Public Library was founded in 1857.[22][23] In fiscal year 2008, the town of Westborough spent 1.24% ($846,826) of its budget on its public library—some $45 per person, per year ($59.30 adjusted for inflation to 2022).[24]
^The section about Westborough history is based on notes titled The Hundredth TownArchived March 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, written by Kristina N. Allen, which in turn are based on her 1984 book On the Beaten Path.
^"1950 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. 1952. Section 6, Pages 21-10 and 21-11, Massachusetts Table 6. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1930 to 1950. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1920 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. Number of Inhabitants, by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions. Pages 21-5 through 21-7. Massachusetts Table 2. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1920, 1910, and 1920. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1890 Census of the Population"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. Pages 179 through 182. Massachusetts Table 5. Population of States and Territories by Minor Civil Divisions: 1880 and 1890. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1870 Census of the Population"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1872. Pages 217 through 220. Table IX. Population of Minor Civil Divisions, &c. Massachusetts. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1860 Census"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1864. Pages 220 through 226. State of Massachusetts Table No. 3. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1850 Census"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1854. Pages 338 through 393. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008; cf. The FY2008 Municipal Pie: What's Your Share? Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Board of Library Commissioners. Boston: 2009. Available: Municipal Pie ReportsArchived January 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2010-08-04
