Southborough, Massachusetts

Southborough town in Worcester County, Massachusetts. With a reputation for affluence, Southborough , United States. It incorporates the smaller villages of Cordaville, Fayville and Southville. Its name is often informally shortened to Southboro, a usage seen on many area signs and maps.

First settled in 1660 and incorporated in 1727, land use now is primarily residential, with substantial open space. A quarter of the town’s area is flooded by the Sudbury Reservoir. Light industrial land use is concentrated along main roads, primarily Massachusetts Route 9, and there are several small business districts in the villages and along Route 9. Southborough recently earned a high ranking on CNN Money’s “100 Best Places to Live.”

Southborough was primarily a farming community until mills began to tap the small rivers that ran through the town. By the end of the 19th century, the town was home to the manufacture of plasters, straw bonnets and footwear, among other things. In 1898 the Fayville Dam was constructed in 1898, producing several reservoirs to supply a growing Boston with water. As a result, manufacturing vanished but Southborough saw substantial growth again during the high-tech boom of the 1970s. The Fays, Burnetts and Choates are three noted families who have made a disproportionate contribution to the development of the town. The library and the Community House reflect this influence.