Town Profile
The Town of Northborough, originally part of the Towns of Marlborough -- then Westborough, was incorporated in 1766 and became a full-fledged town with the right of representation at the Great and General Court of Boston in 1775.
The early churches of Massachusetts, called "meeting houses," were the center of all town activity. Built on land given by Capt. James Eager, Northborough's first Meeting House stood about where the First Congregational Unitarian Church is today, on Church Street. Town meetings were held there, as were church services -- at which attendance was compulsory. The only religion tolerated within the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony was that of the Congregational Church, which, at that time, had strong Calvinist tenets. The church "tithing men" were the legally elected officers of the town, while town ministers were the arbiters of both town and family life. Customarily, they had strong influence in the conduct of the schools, which were not nearly as important to the founding fathers as was the church, and had no formal setup until well after everything else in town was established.
Northborough's open town meeting "grass roots" government now operates under its own home rule charter. The governing body of the town are the five elected members of the town's select board and the town meeting membership of registered voters. In the days of unheated meeting houses, town meetings were often adjourned to the warmth of the famous Post Road state stop, Monroe's Tavern. This tavern now stands on the spot to which it was removed in 1867, at the corner of Blake and Pierce streets. The meeting locale of the select board as well as the "official" offices of the town have moved from the first church to the second church vestry to the Old Town House to the "old" Town Hall (which merited a listing from the National Park Service Department as an Historical Architectural Monument, having the longest roof span of any known French Mansard roof style building) to the "new" Town Hall, which is the old Northborough High School -- built in the early 1930s.
Along the old Boston Post Road, commemorative plaques outline historical events including the place where Mary Goodnow, a young Northborough settler, was scalped by Indians in 1707. Scattered along the tributaries of the Assabet River, numerous mills serve as markers of another kind, commemorating the places where textile manufacturing and other early industry boomed, and then, ebbed and died.
Today, in addition to providing the setting for several working farms, Northborough is also host to a burgeoning research and development-oriented industrial park; however, the town serves primarily as a residential area, rural home to Boston and Worcester commuters.
Geography
Central eastern Massachusetts, bordered by Berlin on the north, Westborough on the south, Marlborough on the east, Southborough on the southeast, and Boylston and Shrewsbury on the west. Northborough is 10 miles northeast of Worcester, 30 miles west of Boston, amd 190 miles from New York City.
- Total Area: 18.76 sq. miles
- Land Area: 18.54 sq. miles
- Population: 11,929
- Density: 643 per sq. mile
Government
Municipal Offices Main Number: (508) 393-5001
Form of Government; Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator, Open Town Meeting. Incorporated as a town in 1775.
Museums
- Northborough Historical Society
50 Main Street
(508) 393-8249
Transportation and Access
Located in the Worcester area, which has three major cross-state highways: the Worcester Turnpike (Route 9), Route 20, and the Massachusetts Turnpike. I-495 borders to the east, I-190 links to the Fitchburg-Leominster area, I-84 and I-395 connect to Connecticut and points south. The region is well connected by rail and highway to the ports, airports, and intermodal facilities of Boston and Providence.
Major Highways
Principal highways are U.S. Route 20, Interstate 290, which connects Interstate Route 495 with Worcester, and State Routes 9 and 135. Interstate Routes 90 and 495 form an interchange in the neighboring town of Westborough.
Rail
Conrail provides freight service to Northborough. Contact number: (617) 783-6222
Bus
Northborough is a member of the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) but does not receive services. Cavalier Coach Corporation provides commuter service to 4 locations in Boston.
Other
The Worcester Municipal Airport, a Primary Commercial (PR) facility with scheduled passenger service, is easily accessible. It has 2 asphalt runways 5,500' and 6,999' long. Instrument approaches available: Precision and non-precision.
