Westborough Agricultural Society Park on the Turnpike

Westborough Agricultural Society Park on the Turnpike

 When the Boston & Worcester Railroad bisected Westborough center in 1834, the community was predominately based on agriculture, primarily dairy farming with manufacturing on the rise in the immediate downtown. However, dairy farmers of Westborough became the first to take full advantage of the newest form of transport. Shipping milk by rail was established shortly after the opening of the Boston & Worcester line and Westborough became the primary milk shipping community to the Boston market. A number of milk cars were attached to the first passenger train of the day for the fastest delivery to Boston. The railroad proved to be a boon to area dairy farmers that continued to grow well into the 20th century.

In 1839 the Westborough Agricultural Society, the forerunner of the Westborough Grange was founded by 27 Westborough farmers. The purpose of the society was twofold: to promote agricultural education and farm related techniques and as a social organization. Farming was clearly the primary occupation of the residents and increased with the opening of the Worcester Turnpike in 1810. It was believed that “a society of agriculturists can more easily as well as more expeditiously than individuals collect and distribute such information as cannot but tend to increase the products and improve the soil.” The initial meetings of the society were held at members homes and later in the lower hall of the townhouse.

The society became the first social organization outside of church meetings, barn raisings and funerals that established a social element for its members and town residents. The society organized an annual town fair that incorporated the various elements of a farmer’s life and to promote agriculture. The annual town fair included cattle and livestock competitions, plowing demonstrations with oxen, steers and draft horses. Exhibitions of new equipment, leather products for saddles, harnesses and bicycle seats made in local shops were displayed. Later, trotting horse demonstrations and bicycle racing were also regular events. A farmers’ market displayed and sold locally grown fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains and breads.

 Agriculture reached its highest level in 1865 when 184 working farms were recorded in Westborough ranging in size from 10 to hundreds of acres of farm land, the majority being dairy farms. A century later there were fewer than six working farms remaining in Westborough. History of Westborough, DeForest  

Westborough Town Fair...Westborough Historical Commission

 By 1891, the success of the society prompted the members to purchase a tract of land to build a facility and in 1892 George Brigham and other chosen trustees represented the society in negotiations to purchase 19 acres of the late Charles L. Adams on East Main Street from his heir Lucy Merrifield of Worcester for $1,800. The society later developed the site as a fair ground and agricultural park to promote agricultural awareness. A half-mile horse trotting track as well as a smaller bicycle track were built for racing and sport. It was believed that agricultural fairs could be profitable.

 Westborough Map 1898

 The 1898 Westborough map shows the location of the Westborough Agricultural Society Park and the dual track for horse and bicycle exhibitions bordered the Turnpike and East Main Street. The property consisted of 18 acres of flat pasture land, a house, barn, bridle shop and grandstand. But, in December 1901 the society voted to sell the land to James Shaw representing the Boston and Worcester Street Railway Co. However, after 66 years the society had fallen on hard times, a declining membership and loss of revenue. In 1905 the Society dissolved and the remaining members joined the Westborough Grange. 

 From the James Shaw/Boston & Worcester Railway Co. purchase of the property in 1903 the railway retained a strip of land from Lyman Street to East Main Street for the rail bed. The remainder of the property retained by Shaw was followed by a succession of owners and subdivision. However, in 1927 Elmer Bliss of Brookline purchased tract 1, a 9.8-acre site north of the railway line and south of the Turnpike for $3,700. Bliss later purchased tract 2, a 12-acre site south of the railway with the residence on East Main St. for $8,500, the former Agriculture Park from Otis Young.  

In 1928 Bliss sold tract 1, the 9.8-acre site to the partnership of Paul Brigham and Archibald S. McGuffogg, d/b/a Westborough Conservatories, who built two Lord & Burnham greenhouses, 50 x 500 feet, close to the Turnpike. In 1933 the site was solely owned by McGuffogg.

 In 1946 Elmer Bliss sold 12 acres of the former park to Ethel Bliss Shepherd while he retained the residence and 2.3 acres on East Main Street. Then in 1950 Ethel Bliss Shepherd and James Shepherd sold the 12-acre site to Richard Lion of Marlborough and John Appleyard of Methuen to construct a residential subdivision. Today the site is the Stevens and Shepherd roads subdivision.

Glenn R. Parker