Did You Know?

• (no title)January 20, 2026

  

  At the time the Europeans arrived around 1630, the Southborough area was populated by Nipmucs, a non-nomadic Algonkian tribe. Nipmuc translates to “people of the fresh water.” While there are no confirmed native settlement sites, the local people would have utilized the knolls and hills adjacent to the brooks in the center and north part of town, and there would have been considerable activity along the Sudbury at the south. It is likely that any camps associated with fishing, hunting, or gathering were small, and of short duration. An area adjoining the Old Burial Ground at the town center had long been a Nipmuc burial site before the European settlement. A large, high rock in the east part of town, later called Indian Rock, is believed to have been a native site, associated with a nearby Nipmuc smokehouse and fishing area.

  As the European colonists began to populate the area between 1630 – 1675, they first used the existing native trails as highways. Still, the Indians of the region, their numbers much reduced by epidemics and regional tribal warfare, continued to range throughout Southborough in the course of their hunting and fishing activities. At times there were threats of Indian attack to the English colonists and there was apparently no permanent English settlement in “Stony Brook” for several decades of the late 1600s. As large sections of Southborough were converted to pasture land for meadow hay for the colonists, seasonal use by the Nipmucs diminished. Those who remained in the area, however, engaged in some trade with the colonists.

  The Nipmuc Nation currently has 600 members and continues to be one of New England’s most historic and largest native communities

  Sources: Southborough Town Clerk’s Office Municipal Archive and The Tribal Government of Nipmuc Nation.

  #Tricentennial#300years #Southborough300#southboroughma#townofsouthborough

• (no title)January 20, 2026

  

  Did you know the first permanent settler of Stony Brook is believed to be John Fay, who arrived as a young man and first lodged with the Bent family in Marlborough? By the early 1680s, his father, David Fay, had built him a home near Bent’s Stony Brook mills—planting the roots of what would become a growing community.

  Throughout the late 1600s, other Marlborough families—like the Johnsons, Brighams, Newtons, and Wards—began establishing homesteads in the area. In 1688, Mary Johnson and her husband, John Mathis (Matthews), settled in the western part of Stony Brook. Their home later became the area’s official garrison house, a crucial refuge during times of danger.

  By 1695, Stony Brook was quickly expanding. Three of Marlborough’s twenty-six designated garrison houses stood right here, and due to ongoing threats of attack, a blockhouse was even built on the hill between the Stony Brook mill and the Sudbury River.

  From scattered homesteads to a fortified early settlement—Stony Brook’s beginnings are full of resilience and community.

  Source: Southborough Town Clerk’s Office Municipal Archive

  Photo: The first Fay house built between 1681 – 1688.
  Photo Source: Fences of Stone by Richard E. Noble

• DID YOUR KNOW?January 20, 2026

  

  Southborough has grown and evolved dramatically since its incorporation in 1727, when just 35 landholders shared 8,822 acres. Early challenges—including disease outbreaks—shaped the town, but by the late 1700s it had become a thriving agricultural community.

  The 19th century brought steady population growth and change, especially during the Industrial Era, when immigrant families from Ireland, Canada, Nova Scotia, and later Italy became part of the town’s fabric. While growth slowed during the early 1900s and the Great Depression, Southborough rebounded strongly after World War II.

  Once a rural farming town, Southborough has transformed into a vibrant modern community.

  • 1727 – 35 landholders
  • 1749 – 53 taxpayers
  • 1776 – population 735
  • 1830 – 1,080 people
  • 1870 – 2,135 townspeople
  • 1960 – more than 4,000
  • 1980 – nearly 8,500
  • 2025 – 10,569

  Today, the town’s population is estimated at around 3,711 households, reflecting nearly 300 years of resilience and progress.

  Source: Southborough Town Clerk’s Office Municipal Archive and Census Bureau

  #southborough300#southboroughma#townofsouthborough#tricentennial#300years