Westborough, Massachusetts: Difference between revisions

In 1810, the route from [[Boston]] to [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]] was straightened and improved into an official [[Toll road|turnpike]] (the present [[Route 9 (Massachusetts)|Route 9]]), and along its Westborough route, the Wesson Tavern Common, Forbush Tavern and Nathan Fisher's store prospered. The center of commerce shifted downtown in 1824 with the arrival of the steam train through Westborough's center. The railroad brought a new era to the town industry: over the next century, local factories shipped boots and shoes, straw hats, sleighs, textiles, bicycles, and eventually abrasive products, across the nation. Westborough dairies supplied cities with milk and local greenhouses shipped out carnations, while the eight orchards found ready markets for their produce.

In 1848, the [[State Reform School for Boys]], the first publicly funded reform school in the United States, was opened on Lake Chauncy. It operated as a State reform school until 1884 at which time the newly established [[Westborough State Hospital]] took over the property. In the same year, the reform school was relocated nearby on Chauncy Street and renamed The [[Lyman School for Boys]].

The industrial progress of the entire country is indebted to Westborough's most famous native son, [[Eli Whitney|Eli Whitney Jr]]. Born in 1765, Whitney invented the [[cotton gin]] in 1795 after graduating from [[Yale]]. In 1798, he introduced [[mass production]] to the United States at his Whitney Arms Company in [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]], Connecticut.