Westborough

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. 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. 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…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  35,162
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  34,662
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  30,721
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  30,673
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  29,233
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  25,261
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  24,839
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  24,713

Largest nearby schools

• Shrewsbury High School
  High · Shrewsbury · 1,823 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• Worcester Technical High
  High · Worcester · 1,469 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School
  Other · Worcester · 1,422 students · 11.9:1 ratio
• North High
  High · Worcester · 1,377 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• Milford High
  High · Milford · 1,324 students · 12.1:1 ratio
• Blackstone Valley
  High · Upton · 1,230 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Algonquin Regional High
  High · Northborough · 1,213 students · 10.8:1 ratio
• Burncoat Senior High
  High · Worcester · 1,179 students · 17.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire
• M 2.6 — 2015-01-13
  2 km E of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 3.3 — 2015-01-12
  0 km NE of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 2.5 — 2007-10-19
  2 km WSW of Littleton Common, Massachusetts
• M 2.5 — 2005-11-17
  4 km S of Plymouth, Massachusetts