Southborough History and Current Features
Southborough, for much of its existence since 1660, (incorporated in 1727), was a rural home for farmers. Although it was a stop along the Boston Turnpike, and had rail access in the south of town, it remained
much less industrious than many of it's neighbors during much of it's history. Some historic events of note:
- Henry Knox passed through the town, in 1775-1776, with 40+ cannon captured from the British in Lake Ticonderoga, on his way to Boston. George Washington used these cannon to send the British Army out of the city, and scored a major military victory. The weight of the cannon, the length of the journey, and the speed with which Knox got the cannon to Cambridge were all noted as heroic in their time period.
- In 1865, Joseph Burnett founded St, Mark's School.
- In 1866, Fay School was founded, and remains the oldest boarding elementary school in the United States.
- The town became host to part of the Boston water supply around 1898, when the Sudbury Reservoir system went into use. A significant portion of the town was flooded for this development.
- In 2009, Southborough was used for the opening sequence of "Grownups" starring Adam Sandler.
Southborough today is marked by it's convenience to all means of useful highways and trains for commute purposes. The Mass Turnpike ("the Pike"), I-90, runs through town (although the exits are in Westborough and Framingham), as does I-495, and the all important state highway Route 9. Travel by rail is also made possible with the Commuter Rail MBTA stop at the south end of town. Since I-495 goes North/South,
and Route 9 goes East/ West, along with the pike, the town two other state highways (Route 30 and Route 85 respectively) carry significantly less traffic and generally do not resemble the more heavily traveled state highways in other towns in the area (126, 135, 20, 146, 140, all come to mind, but there are others). In most towns, you can find major commercial and retail developments where two state highways intersect, but in Southborough, the town center is close to the intersection of Route 85 and Route 30, and you will find no such developments. The commercial and retail environment is so small one might actually not realize you were driving through the town center. At any rate, the state highways make getting around Southborough quite easy for local residence, as they are more than capable of carrying the local traffic.
What you will not likely miss though, is St. Mark's Campus, a private high school of much renown. And across the way is Fay School, a private elementary school of similar renown. These two campuses dominate Southborough's downtown landscape, and their footprint continues to grow.
Southborough has seen a population surge in the past 30 years, but still remains a small town of around 10,000 people, and 3000 homes. A quirk is despite it's small size, it maintains two zip codes, 01772 and 01745 where many much larger towns have only one.
Lastly, Southborough is 10% water - and considerably more once wetlands are included. As a major focus point for the Sudbury Reservoir, Southborough has many scenic views that are enhanced by the waterfront, contributing to the towns rural, scenic character. There is some retail and commercial development, but there is much less than the neighboring towns, and the town reflects this.
Southborough Real Estate Market Conditions
Thanks for asking, you can find a summary here. Historical information is also available.
Southborough Assessors Maps, GIS Information and Property Cards
Southborough Assessor's Maps
Southborough Property card Data
Basic Demographic Information
Southborough Phone Numbers
Can be found here!
Southborough Current Listings for Sale
Here is a great way to browse the listings.
Southborough Schools Overview and Rankings
Southborough has six public schools. The four elementary and middle schools are in Southborough; Algonquin is close to the town line in Northborough.
- Mary E. Finn School - preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade
- Albert S. Woodward School - 2nd and 3rd grade
- Margaret A. Neary School - 4th and 5th grade
- P. Brent Trottier Middle School - 6th, 7th, and 8th grade
- Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough, Massachusetts - 9th to 12th
- Assabet Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Marlborough, Massachusetts - 9th to 12th
There are many other rankings. I happen to think Boston Magazine has a pretty comprehensive methodology, as far as these things go.
Southborough's last ranking was in 2013 by Boston Magazine, as it looks like it was dropped from the analysis in 2014 (Boston Magazine tends to focus on systems inside 495, Southborough straddles it). US News and World Report also has updated rankings for high schools available. There are several website that do rankings just on schools, but the ones my customers often find either rely too heavily on small sets of data, or just don't seem to correlate well with the more sophisticated rankings that I've posted here, so I won't be linking to then until they become a bit more sophisticated.
Most Googled Postings!!
- Examining Conventional Real Estate Wisdom, such as it is…
- How can I tell if a basement gets water in my potential home purchase?.
- How do I calculate true mortgage closing costs?
- What are the various home styles I might consider, and what are their basic floor plans?
- How do Home Property Assessments Relate to Real Estate prices? Should I use them for a valuation?
- What is a home or property municipal betterment?
- How Serious is Moss or Lichen on my Roof shingles?
About Matt Heisler
Matt Heisler is a real-estate professional and owner of this website. He has been selling homes in MA for buyers and sellers for over 20 years. He is an expert in foreclosure purchases, short-sale purchases, short-sale sales, buy and hold investing, fix and flip investing, and of course traditional residential home sales. He is happy to take questions as they pertain to real estate on Title V, Radon, Termites, Sump Pumps, Roofs, Foundations, Wells, Septic Systems, Cash-Flow, Staging, and a host of other housing issues. As a Vanderbilt University alumnus, he is proud to serve his local community.
*All information is posted in good faith and is assumed to be reliable, but may rely on third party information sources.