Westborough, Massachusetts

Westborough is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Westborough in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,045 at the 2010 census.

The West Main Street Historic District of Westborough, Massachusetts is an expansive historic district that encompasses a large residential portion of the historic center of the town, as well as part of its commercial center. When first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, the district included West Main Street from its junction with Milk and South Streets (Massachusetts Route 135), west to Blake Street, along with streets running northwest to Whitney Street. It was extended in 1990 to include properties further west on West Main Street (nearly to Chestnut Street), and again in 2006 to include properties south of West Main Street between South Street on the east and Charles and Ruggles Streets in the west, and abutting the Cedar Swamp Archeological District to the southeast. In 2009 it was extended a third time, to include a cluster of streets north of Milk Street and west of East Main Street.

Westborough High School is a public high school in Westborough, Massachusetts, United States that serves as the high school for the Westborough Public School District. The school's mascot is the Ranger and the school colors are cardinal and navy blue. In the 2017–18 school year, WHS had an enrollment of 1131 students. The school is located in the downtown Westborough area at 90 West Main Street.

The Vintonville Historic District is a residential historic district to the east of the center of Westborough, Massachusetts. The 20-acre (8.1 ha) district includes 80 properties on Cottage, Elm, Spruce, Green, Pine, Brigham, Cedar, South, and Beach Streets. The area, which consists of modestly sized houses built on smaller lots mainly between 1860 and 1890, is named for Otis Vinton, who platted out some of the early streets in the area.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

The Nathan Fisher House is a historic house in Westborough, Massachusetts.

The Joseph Lothrop House is a historic house in Westborough, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as being in the "Shrewsbury vicinity", but Massachusetts cultural inventory identifies its location in Westborough.The Federal style house was built in 1825 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Maples Cottage is a historic cottage in Westborough, Massachusetts, USA. Located on the former grounds of the Lyman School for Boys, this Greek Revival cottage was built in 1832 by Rev. William White on the site of a 1725 parsonage. The property was acquired by the state in 1884, and used as part of the reform school, which is now closed. The building has lost most of its exterior Greek Revival styling (see photo). The cottage was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and included in the historic district encompassing the Lyman School in 1994.

The Jonah Warren House is a historic house at 64 Warren Street in Westborough, Massachusetts. Estimated to have been built in the 1720s, this 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house is one of the oldest buildings in Westborough. It was built along what was known as the Old Connecticut Path, a former Native American trail. Jonah Warren, the owner and probable builder, moved to Westborough in 1719. A tanner by trade, he also helped to build the first meetinghouse in Westborough.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Westborough station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Westborough, Massachusetts. It serves the Framingham/Worcester Line. It is located off Smith Parkway, west of the Westborough town center. The station consists of two side platforms serving the line's two tracks. Each side has a small mini-high platform for accessibility; an overhead ramp structure connects the two platforms.

The State Reform School for boys in Westborough Massachusetts was a state institution for the reformation of juvenile offenders from 1848 to 1884. Originally conceived the facility was built to house up to 300 young boys but by 1852 an addition was added to house an additional 300 inmates. By 1857, there were 614 inmates at the reform school. After a devastating fire in 1859, that consumed half of the building and was set by one of the inmates, the school created a nautical branch to house some of the older boys on school ships. The youngest boys were housed in an old mill in the nearby village while some remained in what was left of the Reform School. By 1861 what was left of the Reform School was rebuilt and 3 "trust houses" were built, each holding approximately 30 boys. The "trust houses" as an experiment in juvenile reform in which boys were placed in a family setting known as the "cottage system". By 1872, the nautical branch was disbanded and in 1877 a "correctional" addition was added to the original building to house the older boys. After a riot broke out in 1877, information leaked to the media about cruel and unnecessarily severe punishment of the boys. Legislative hearings were held and the abuses uncovered were denounced by many in the public. By 1880 the legislature, having deemed the Reform School a failed experiment in a congregate setting, and needing additional space for an overcrowded institutional system for the insane, used the land and the buildings to establish the Westborough Insane Hospital. By 1884, the State Reform School for Boys was relocated a couple of miles away, in Westborough, and renamed the Lyman School for Boys being established under the "cottage system". It is widely written that the Reform School for Boys in Westborough was the first juvenile reform school to be built in the United States. This is somewhat misleading as there were several reform schools built before 1848 including; The Boston Farm School (1833) and the New York House of Refuge (1824) that were either private or corporate institutions. The State Reform School for Boys in Westborough is believed to be the oldest publicly funded reform school in the United States.

Westborough State Hospital, originally "Westborough Insane Hospital", was a historic hospital in Westborough, Massachusetts, which sat on more than 600 acres (240 ha). The core campus area was located between Lyman Street and Chauncy Lake, north of Massachusetts Route 9. The hospital was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. The hospital was established in 1884 on the grounds of the State Reform School for Boys. The existing buildings were renovated to accommodate the needs of a mental hospital and was opened on December 1, 1886. This was the first homeopathic hospital for the insane established in New England; but such hospitals existed in New York, Michigan, and perhaps other states.The pioneering African-American psychiatrist Solomon Carter Fuller spent the majority of his career practicing at the hospital in the early 1900s. While there, he performed his ground-breaking research on the physical changes to the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients. The hospital was closed in 2010, in anticipation of a new Worcester State Hospital opening in 2012. The ten-bed Deaf Unit, the two Adolescent Units, and the Intensive Residential Treatment Program (one step below State Hospital Level) programs were closed by June 2010.On May 9, 2015, a memorial service was held in nearby Pine Grove Cemetery for the more than 500 patients who died at Westborough State Hospital and whose remains were unclaimed and subsequently buried in a potter's field. The service was part of a larger effort to put names to the graves of the deceased. Despite being on the historic register, the entire hospital complex was demolished during the summer of 2019. A senior living complex is currently being built at the same location as the state hospital was.

Westboro Speedway, also known as Westboro Sports Stadium, was a one-quarter mile (0.40 km) banked and paved oval race track located in Westborough, Massachusetts, that operated from 1947 through 1985. It featured various types of racing including super-modified and midget cars.