West Main Street Historic District (Boundary Increase)

Along West Main Street in Westborough, Massachusetts, a row of houses just west of an earlier historic district forms a boundary extension of 24 contributing and 14 noncontributing buildings. Most are single-family homes built from about 1713 into the early twentieth century, and all still serve as residences. Eight of the contributing buildings predate 1800. The group includes a saltbox from 1739, Georgian houses, Federal houses with fanlights and sidelights, a brick Greek Revival house of 1832, and Queen Anne houses from the 1890s. One building, at 108 West Main Street, began as the Blue Anchor Tavern in 1732 and hosted Revolutionary War figures before being moved in 1820. The houses are linked to settlers and merchants such as Thomas Rice, Lyman Belknap and Reuben Boynton. Together they show how the town moved from farming to railroad-era manufacturing, as large farm lots were gradually subdivided.