Southborough Tricentennial Committee

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Southborough Tricentennial Committee

Tricentennial Committee for Southborough's 300th Celebration in 2027

The Southborough Tricentennial Committee is dedicated to deliver a series of amazing events throughout the 300th year of the town's incorporation in 2027. While collecting feedback from residents regarding events and celebrations they would like to see and participate in, we will be brainstorming for commemorative SWAG, soliciting funds, creating fundraisers and developing a comprehensive plan for celebrating and promoting the 300th anniversary of the incorporation of the Town.

07/07/2026

Are YOU or do you have, a High School student looking for a fun opportunity for volunteer hours?
In coordination with the office of the Southborough Town Administrator, the Tricentennial Committee is looking for students to volunteer a few hours over the next couple of weeks. The project is to photograph (via cellphone) specific telephone poles in Southborough (list/map provided) in order to seek permission from the pole owners (National Grid/Verizon) to hang banners to celebrate the Southborough Tricentennial.
The banners will be similar in size to the Hometown Heroes banners often seen in other towns. All volunteer time will be signed off by the Town Administrator's office.
Grab a couple of friends, spend a few hours walking the neighborhoods of Southborough and help contribute to the promotion of Southborough's Tricentennial.
Please DM for more information, or contact the Town Administrator's office, if you are available or know of a high school student who would be interested. TIA!!

06/11/2026

The Southborough Tricentennial Committee is seeking two additional committee members to support celebration events and activities.
Interested candidates should contact contact Assistant Town Administrator, Vanessa Hale at [email protected]

05/27/2026

🛤️🐎 Did You Know? Southborough Was Once a Hub of Early Travel and Trade

Long before highways and cars, Southborough’s transportation network was already taking shape — built on colonial roads that remained vital even after the Revolution.

The Boston Road (today’s Main/East Main Street) served as the town’s primary east–west route, carrying stagecoaches, travelers, and even the postal service through the heart of Southborough. Other key roads — like Fisher and Ward Roads — connected neighboring towns such as Marlborough and Westborough, forming an early regional network.

By the late 1700s, Southborough was well-connected:
🌉 In 1795, the town maintained nine bridges over Stony Brook
🛣️ Roads like Oregon, Richards, and Gilmore linked Southborough to Framingham and beyond
🌾 Smaller local roads extended outward to serve the town’s many farms

But the biggest transformation came in the early 1800s.

🚧 The Boston & Worcester Turnpike (now Route 9)
Constructed between 1808–1809, this new toll road cut a straight path through the southern part of town, dramatically changing travel and commerce.

With the turnpike came new activity:
📬 A tollgate was relocated near Central Street
🏪 Dexter Fay operated a store and post office nearby
🍻 The Woodbury Tavern became a major stagecoach stop, welcoming travelers along the route

This new roadway didn’t just make travel faster — it shifted the center of economic activity and connected Southborough more directly to the growing region.

From winding colonial roads to one of Massachusetts’ earliest major turnpikes, Southborough’s transportation history reflects a town on the move.

📜 Source: Southborough Town Clerk’s Office Municipal Archive

The Tricentennial Committee will be running a “Did You Know” series through 2027. We are gathering information from various sources and strive to be as accurate as possible. Additional information is always welcome! If you are interested in providing trivia or writing a blurb, please message us!

05/13/2026

🏡🪵 Did You Know? Southborough’s Architecture Tells a Story of Hidden History

While no buildings in Southborough are definitively dated to before the town’s incorporation in 1727, many homes may be older than they appear — with layers of history built right into their frames.

Take the Artemas Ward House, once thought to date back to 1702. Though later believed to have been built in the 1770s, its massive stone chimney hints that parts of it may trace back to the early 1700s. This pattern appears throughout town, where homes were often expanded, modified, or rebuilt over time.

🏠 A common architectural style in 18th-century Southborough was the center-chimney, double-pile house — typically two-and-a-half stories with symmetrical layouts and Georgian details like:
• Denticulated cornices
• Pilastered, pedimented entrances
• Rear “lean-tos” extending the home’s footprint

Some of these homes, like the Fay family house on Framingham Road, may even incorporate structures dating back to the 1680s — though confirming this would require detailed structural analysis.

Not all homes followed the same pattern. A rare and well-preserved example at 14 Oregon Road, believed to date to around 1727, still features **First Period construction elements**, including an exposed timber frame with decorative chamfers — a glimpse into early colonial craftsmanship.

⛪ Beyond residences, Southborough’s early architecture also included community structures:
• The first meetinghouse (1727–28), built with local white pine timber
• A fieldstone town pound (c. 1750), used to contain stray livestock
• The Old Burial Ground, where slate gravestones from the 1740s still stand today

From hidden early structures to evolving colonial designs, Southborough’s buildings are more than just homes — they are living records of the town’s growth and transformation.

📜 Source: Southborough Town Clerk’s Office Municipal Archive

05/12/2026

Share Your Southborough Story - Be Part of Our Oral History Project!
The Tricentennial Committee and Historical Commission invites all Southborough residents—both past and present—to help capture the heart and soul of our community and share their unique stories of growing up in Southborough, Massachusetts.

What moments shaped your Southborough experience?

Did you attend Southborough schools, play in the fields or neighborhoods, work a first job in town, or experience moments that shaped who you are today? This local oral history project aims to preserve personal stories about childhood, family, community life, and change in Southborough over the years. All voices and generations are welcome.

Who can participate:
Anyone who grew up in Southborough, from any decade
Longtime residents, even if you’ve moved away
All backgrounds and experiences encouraged

What participation involves:
Relaxed, guided interviews—just a conversation, no performance needed
Sessions last about 30–60 minutes
Held at the Southborough Access Media Studio at Trottier School

We’re interested in stories about:
Childhood and teenage adventures in Southborough
School days, sports, clubs, and community events
Changes you’ve seen in town over the years
Family traditions, favorite landmarks, or local hangouts
What made Southborough feel like home to you
Why share your story?

By participating, you’ll help preserve Southborough’s memories and contribute to a community archive that will inspire and inform future generations.

Reach out to Tricentennial Committee member Michele Hokinson at [email protected].

Please share this invitation with family, friends, and neighbors—everyone’s story is important. Your memories matter, and we can’t wait to hear them!

04/18/2026

Headed to the Transfer Station? Stop and say Hi! to Michele and learn about Southborough's upcoming Tricentennial and all the events being planned. Make sure to sign up to receive our newsletter and email updates.

04/14/2026

Did you know Southborough had Potash Works (and what were they?)
🌾⚙️ Grinding Toward Growth: Southborough’s Early Economy
Around 1699, David Fay — eldest son of John Fay — built a gristmill, bringing the total number of mills in Southborough to four by 1700.
Expansion didn’t stop there:
• In 1712, William Johnson added another gristmill west of the Bent mill privilege.
• Around 1731, David Fay, Jr., and Robert Horn built a gristmill on Stony Brook in the southeast part of town.
By the mid-1700s, a thriving local economy had taken root — overwhelmingly agricultural and typical of colonial New England. Farms produced corn, hay, apples, cider, flax, and h**p, while livestock dotted the landscape:
🐄 Most farmers owned at least one horse and cow.
🐖 The town counted 30 pigs.
🐑 Sheep-raising was widespread, with 430 grazing in town pastures.
Nathan Brigham, one of the most prosperous farmers, had the largest herds — ten cattle and thirty-one sheep.
In 1749 alone, local farms produced:
• 400 tons of hay
• 3,000 bushels of corn and grain
• 300+ barrels of cider
• Nearly 600 pounds of flax and h**p
By 1771, the town’s economy had diversified even further, with eight mills (including saw and grist mills), eight artisan shops, two tanhouses, and two potash works — small often stone or brick buildings used to produce potash (potassium carbonate) by leaching wood ashes with water and boiling the solution in large cauldrons. These structures were vital for producing soap, glass, and fertilizer.
Source: Southborough Town Clerk’s Office Municipal Archive
The Tricentennial Committee will be running a “Did You Know” series through 2027. We are gathering information from various sources and strive to be as accurate as possible. Additional information is always welcome! If you are interested in providing trivia or writing a blurb, please message us!

03/25/2026

📜 Growing a Town: Southborough in the 1700s 🌾
By 1735, the Town of Southborough had built its very first small schoolhouse — right alongside the town pound. Education and civic order were clearly early priorities!
Not long after, a powder house was constructed within the burial ground to store gunpowder, ball, and shot for the local militia.
Growth continued quickly:
📚 In 1736, three more schoolhouses were built in the east, west, and south parts of town.
🪨 In 1753, the wooden fence around the pound was replaced with sturdy stone.
🏚️ In 1764, the original small schoolhouse — replaced by a larger one — was refitted as a workhouse.
By the mid-1700s, Southborough was home to 43 dwellings, many tied to thriving farms producing corn, hay, apples, and cider — the backbone of the local economy.
From classrooms to cornfields, early Southborough was a community built on learning, hard work, and resilience.
Source: Southborough Town Clerk’s Office Municipal Archive and Census Bureau
The Tricentennial Committee will be running a “Did You Know” series through 2027. We are gathering information from various sources and strive to be as accurate as possible. Additional information is always welcome! If you are interested in providing trivia or writing a blurb, please message us!

03/11/2026

In 1700, lands once reserved for Native peoples — including the large praying town of Ockoocangansett — were deeded to Marlborough, opening vast acreage for colonial settlement. The north side of Stony Brook became Marlborough’s “cow commons,” and as families moved in, two population clusters formed along the Boston Road — one east of center and one west.
Growth continued across the region. In 1717, the western portion of Marlborough, known as Chauncy Village, became the town of Westborough. By 1720, Stony Brook residents were numerous enough to hold their own winter church services — often at the home of Timothy Brigham, built in 1724 along Boston Road.
Then came a defining moment.
On July 17, 1727, after a successful petition by local landholders and Marlborough selectmen, the Massachusetts General Court officially established the Town of Southborough.
Unlike its mother town’s clustered 1660 settlement pattern, Southborough developed with widely dispersed farmsteads stretching along Boston Road — a hallmark of early 18th-century communities.
The town’s first months were filled with spirited debate over the meetinghouse location. Ultimately, it was built beside the old Nipmuck burial ground, with:
• A three-acre common surrounding the meetinghouse and burying ground
• A twenty-acre tract reserved for training, grazing, and the minister’s settlement
The meetinghouse was completed in 1728. In October 1730, the town church was officially established with the ordination of Rev. Nathan Stone. That same year, a town pound was fenced nearby.
From open farmland to organized town governance, Southborough’s story reflects determination, growth, and the foundations of community.

Source: Southborough Town Clerk’s Office Municipal Archive
The Tricentennial Committee will be running a “Did You Know” series through 2027. We are gathering information from various sources and strive to be as accurate as possible. Additional information is always welcome! If you are interested in providing trivia or writing a blurb, please message us!

02/25/2026

From frontier battles to the dawn of Revolution 🇺🇸

In 1745, during King George's War, Capt. Timothy Brigham led Southborough men to join the regiment that attacked the French stronghold at Fortress of Louisbourg.

As tensions continued through the French and Indian War, local heroes like Capt. John Taplin, Capt. John Fay, Josiah Fay, Joshua Newton, and Lt. Nathan Brigham, Jr. answered the call. Many men from the Southborough area endured unimaginable hardship—facing wounds, disease, and starvation. Lt. Brigham’s bravery during the campaigns of Robert Rogers and his Rogers' Rangers was so remarkable it inspired the poem later known as “The Brigham Ballad" by Sara Sartell Prentice.

By the 1770s, resistance to British rule was growing. After the Stamp Act and years of mounting tension, Southborough formed its own Minute Men in 1774 and voted approval of the Continental Congress. In January 1775, Capt. Josiah Fay was elected to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.

Then came April 19, 1775. Though they arrived after fighting began at Battles of Lexington and Concord, Capt. Fay and 71 Southborough men harassed British troops on their retreat to Boston—helping to ignite the American Revolution.

Southborough’s legacy is one of courage, sacrifice, and a steadfast commitment to liberty.

Source: Southborough Town Clerk’s Office Municipal Archive and Census Bureau
The Tricentennial Committee will be running a “Did You Know” series through 2027. We are gathering information from various sources and strive to be as accurate as possible. Additional information is always welcome! If you are interested in providing trivia or writing a blurb, please message us!

Address

Southborough, MA
01772, 01745

Website

https://www.southboroughma.gov/781/Tricentennial-Committee

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