Welcome to Foxborough
The Town of Foxborough, located at the intersections of
Interstates 95 and 495, is known by its residents as "the Gem of Norfolk
County". Open Town Meeting is the form of government managed by a five
member Board of Selectmen and a Town Manager. We depend on individuals to run
for public office as well as willing volunteers to fill appointed positions. A
call to Town Hall can provide you with information and support with most
situations you need to resolve. Voter registration takes place here during
office hours, Monday through Friday. Town Hall Hours are 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.,
except Fridays when it closes at 12:30 p.m. (Open Tuesday evenings until 7:00
p.m.)
Our Emergency 911 System will connect you to both Police and Fire
Departments instantly. The Town provides its own water, and electrical service
is with National Grid. Recycling bins and schedules for your curbside
collection are available from the Highway Department on Elm Street. A Household
Hazardous Waste Collection takes place during the month of May. The Town has a
leaf composting area on East Belcher Road Street at no cost to residents.
Registration for kindergarten through Grade 4 takes place either
at the Burrell, Igo or Taylor Schools depending upon assignment; Grades 5-8
report to the Ahern Middle School and Grades 9-12 to the High School. Working
papers are available at the High School. Many sports and music champions have
graduated from Foxboro High. Private schools include SAGE, Sabis Charter, the
Montessori School, and other nursery schools.
The Board of Recreation provides an eight week summer program at
the Booth field and a year-round schedule of activities. Boyden Library,
located off the Common on Bird Street, is a cultural and informational center
providing lifelong and recreational learning.
Charitable organizations abound within the Town and include such
groups as the Newcomers, Jaycees, Lions, Rotary, Knights of Columbus, St.
Alban's Lodge, Grange, and Scouts.
Council on Aging/Human Services conducts many programs including
counseling in addition to activities, entertainment and assistance to all ages.
The Community Visiting Nurse Agency, Inc. provides well-child clinics, lead
level screening, immunizations, etc. and blood pressure clinics. The Foxboro
area is served by Caritas Norwood Hospital, Norcap Lodge, and Foxboro Health
Center. Brigham & Women's in Foxborough, Sturdy Memorial Hospital in
Attleboro also provides a local health center, as does the Lahey Clinic, known
as the Lahey Hitchcock Clinic.
Recreation includes Youth Baseball, Midget Football, Hockomock
YMCA, Legion Baseball, Soccer, and Softball. The theatre at the top of the
Common, known as the Orpheum Theatre, regional theatre for the performing arts,
provides many interesting cultural events. There is an Actors Collaborative,
Art Associations, Garden Clubs, American Association of University Women,
Cultural Council; Founders' Day is celebrated annually the second week of June
and boasts a huge parade, fair grounds, contests and fireworks. "Concerts
on the Common", sponsored by the Jaycees, take place during the early
summer months. Conservation areas are open to public use in the Harold B. Clark
Town Forest, Kersey Point on the Neponset Reservoir, Hersey Farm, Wolf Meadow
and countless other areas including the Gilbert State Forest. Normandy Farms
Campgrounds and Canoe River are private overnight camping sites.
Churches of mostly every denomination including the Baha'I Faith,
Congregationalist, Mormons, Evangelists, Universalists, Zionists, Catholics,
Episcopalians, Lutherans, Adventists and others provide schedules of worship in
the "Foxboro Reporter".
There are a number of eating/entertainment establishments
throughout town and on Route One and Route 140. Hotels/Motels are available in
town and just outside. Even though we pride ourselves in our small town image
and strong sense of community, we host Gillette Stadium which is still the home
of the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution Soccer Team.
Concerts and other events take place during the warm weather at the stadium.
We invite you to visit Town Hall where you will be able to pickup
information on our many functions as well as our Annual Town Report.
Additionally, you may want to consider serving on some committee or board;
cards are available for "Citizens Activity" and we would truly
welcome your participation in local government. Our office staff can be reached
at 543-1219 and is ready to serve you.
PARTICIPATION IS THE KEY TO COMMUNITY APPRECIATION
The most
frequently asked question…
Is it
Foxboro or Foxborough?
When the Massachusetts Legislature finally acted upon the petition
of families living in this area, who were residents of Wrentham, Walpole,
Stoughton and Stoughtonham, to be set aside as a town of their own, it was
decided to name the new town in honor of Charles James Fox, a British statesman
who strongly supported the independence sought by the Colonies.
The new town was incorporated June 10, 1778 and it would be called
Foxborough. The 'borough' signifies a free-standing entity with its own
government. But almost immediately, the name of our town became
"Foxboro" in common usage.
So from the beginning, we have been Foxborough on official papers
and Foxboro on most everything else. But our mail was a mixed bag, and as
communities grew in size and number, the United States Postal Service sought
some level of consistency in an 1893 directive, asking postal patrons to use
the short form for names like Foxborough, Attleborough, Middleborough, etc. The
request had no official standing and did not change anything other than how
most people would address their mail.
The name Foxboro became known the world over when the former
Standard Gauge Company reorganized as The Foxboro Company in 1914. Conversely
other entities chose the formal name of the town, such as Foxborough Savings
Bank, Foxborough High School, Foxborough Fire Department, Foxborough Country
Club but the local newspaper has been The Foxboro Reporter since it was founded
in 1884.
When signs were erected on each end of the Common in 1928, they
proudly proclaimed the community as Foxboro. During the town's Bicentennial
Celebration in 1978, they were removed and replaced by signs that read, just as
proudly, Foxborough. One of those signs is still in place on the easterly side
of the village green.
A major change about that same time was the insistence by then
Supt. of Schools Bill Glynn to have local students use the official name of our
town and Foxborough became standard on all student work and school
correspondence.
From the time our town was incorporated in 1778 until the present,
we are a municipality with a dual identity, Foxborough and Foxboro, and we wear
both names proudly. One is official (and to some, preferred), and the other
more a matter of convenience, familiarity and habit, perhaps, but no less respectful.
Use of the long form of Foxborough is encouraged at Town Hall and
it is reflected on the town web site but some community groups list themselves
under the short form of Foxboro.
In the final analysis, much that was Foxborough remained that way as
did everything named later as Foxboro but there is now a trend in some circles
to opt for the original spelling which delights the purists among us.
Jack Authelet
Town Historian