Town History

Town of Sherborn

Incorporated 1674

Located 18 miles southwest of Boston, Sherborn is different than any of the surrounding towns. It is one of the few communities that has retained its semi-rural feel while still being a prime bedroom community to Boston. Originally, Sherborn was a farming community. Industry couldn’t be sustained here because of the lack of waterpower when local industries started to boom and making their presence in surrounding communities during the latter part of the 18^th century. In 1890 Sherborn (then spelled Sherborne) started to make its mark as having “the largest refined cider mills in the world.” Even today, Sherborn has many apple orchards, now mostly owned by private homeowners.

Unlike surrounding towns, Sherborn has escaped the Boston sprawl. I believe this is related to a number of factors 1) its lack of accessibility to waterpower in the early years as mentioned above 2) The town is situated on a number of aquifers that make this gorgeous tranquil area unattractive to the big developer. Everyone has his or her own well and septic system. 3) As time has gone on, the town started to “own” its semi-rural character and as such the selectman have been zealous in keeping out big developers (Sherborn has some of the most strict zoning laws in the state) and the town has purchased 50% of the land and made it into preservations. It is the only town any where on the eastern side of MA that has an uninterrupted 23-mile horse trail.

There are no McDonald’s or any other chain store, for that matter. Sherborn has benefited, however, because every other town Sherborn abuts has more than its fair share of shopping areas. People in Sherborn like it just this way. Drive 5 minutes to an adjacent community to find huge malls but “isn’t it great there is nothing like that here”. With this said, Sherborn does have a quaint village center where there is a post office, cleaners, liquor store, drug store, the Sherborn Inn, an upscale take out food business called Sherborn Out, a newly built police and fire station, a car repair shop that people come from miles around to utilize, some gift shops (one that specializes in Llama clothing), the international known Peace Abbey, Pease’s Real estate that has been in business over 40 years, and even today two of the oldest cottage businesses still exist: The Sunshine Dairy and Dowse’s Apple Orchard. There are many self-employed individuals that work in town in either renovated mansion type homes turned into office space or lovely reproductions that house lawyers, architects, landscape architects, accountants etc.

Sherborn also is privy to have the entire of Farm Pond within its borders. Farm Pond is really a lake by definition but the town has never made that technical name change. This lake is so coveted that Sherborn offers a lottery to surrounding towns in the summer so that non- residents may have some limited access. If you live in Sherborn, Farm Pond is available to you all summer and is well staffed with lifeguards, appropriately roped off areas for safe swimming, and has an extremely well cared for sanitary building for bathers to use. No boats with engines are allowed but the town encourages people to join the Sherborn Yacht Club if boating is of interest. It is well known that Sherborn’s Farm Pond is among the three cleanest ponds in the state.

If this isn't enough, Sherborn has one of the best school systems in the state. Perhaps it is always rated in the top five year after year because the people who live here are believers and supporters of education, and subsequently expect their schools to be the best.

This is not a town for everyone. You need to love peace, tranquility, be civic minded, and be fortunate enough to have the resources to live here. Many a neighbor love having all the natural beauty towns like Sherborn protects AND greatly appreciates all the upscale amenities the neighboring towns afford. In addition, since the completion of the Big Dig, access to Boston is a hop, skip, and a jump. Boston is one of the most diverse and energized cities in the country. There are colleges and universities galore, making it always full of vibrant young adults. There is a fabulous symphony, the world famous POPS, theatres, famous hospitals, and unique eateries that are in abundance throughout the city, There is even an equivalent to the best French cuisine in Paris named L’Espalier.