Westborough
| Westborough, Massachusetts | ||
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| Town | ||
Nathan Fisher House, Westborough
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| Nickname(s): The Hundredth Town | ||
 Location in Worcester County and the state of Massachusetts. |
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| Coordinates: 42°16′10″N 71°37′00″W / 42.26944°N 71.61667°WCoordinates: 42°16′10″N 71°37′00″W / 42.26944°N 71.61667°W | ||
| Country | United States | |
| State | Massachusetts | |
| County | Worcester | |
| Settled | 1675 | |
| Incorporated | 1717 | |
| Government | ||
| • Type | Open town meeting | |
| • Board of Selectmen |
George Barrette Timothy Dodd Denzil Drewry Leigh Emery Ian Johnson |
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| Area | ||
| • Total | 21.6 sq mi (56.0 km2) | |
| • Land | 20.5 sq mi (53.1 km2) | |
| • Water | 1.1 sq mi (2.8 km2) | |
| Elevation | 300 ft (91 m) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 18,272 | |
| • Density | 877/sq mi (338.6/km2) | |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | |
| ZIP code | 01581 | |
| Area code(s) | 508/774 | |
| FIPS code | 25-75015 | |
| GNIS feature ID | 0618390 | |
| Website | town |
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| County-level state agency heads | |
|---|---|
| Clerk of Courts: | Dennis P. McManus (D) |
| District Attorney: | Joseph D. Early, Jr. (D) |
| Register of Deeds: | Anthony J. Vigliotti (D) |
| Register of Probate: | Stephanie K. Fattman (R) |
| County Sheriff: | Lew Evangelidis (R) |
| State government | |
| State Representative(s): |
Carolyn Dykema (D) Danielle Gregoire (D) Hannah Kane (R) |
| State Senator(s): | Jamie Eldridge (D) |
| Governor's Councilor(s): | Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney (D) |
| Federal government | |
| U.S. Representative(s): | James P. McGovern (D-2nd District) |
| U.S. Senators: | Elizabeth Warren (D), Ed Markey (D) |
Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,272 at the 2010 Census, in nearly 6,900 households. 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.
Before recorded time, the area now known as Westborough was a well-travelled crossroads. As early as 7,000 BC, 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 AD, 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.
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