NORTHBOROUGH – Northborough’s first Historic Preservation Plan was recently completed. This plan is the road map for Historic Preservation in Northborough for the next 10 to 15 years. It is based on the 2020 Northborough Master Plan. The Master Plan contains overall goals for historic preservation while the Historic Preservation Plan contains specific tasks to accomplish the goals.
The plan was written by the members of the Northborough Historic District Commission with support from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Northborough Historical Society, Northborough Town Planner, Northborough Planning Board and the Northborough Conservation Agent.
Continuing education was identified as the highest priority. One part of the education priority is to bring an awareness of Northborough history to the community. This will be accomplished by continuing to work with local organizations to promote historical information. Promotion will include continuing the monthly programs offered by the Historical Society, preparing articles for local news outlets and continuing the historic marker program. In addition, teaming with the Northborough schools, the library, and cable access are encouraged.
Another part of educational outreach is to bring an awareness of preservation options to the community and especially to historic property owners. Three key approaches for historic property preservation are listing in the National Register of Historic Places, designating properties within a local historic district, and protecting properties with preservation restrictions. In addition, there are preservation options for open space lands which in the past were farms, woodlots or meadows. All preservation options have different advantages. It will be important to understand their differences and determine which is most beneficial to a property owner. One key aspect to these preservation methods is that property owners have control over the processes.
Several key tasks were identified, including increasing the number of historical properties and historical lands protected, preserving historic documents, repairing the many damaged grave markers in the Howard Street Cemetery, and finding ways to financially support historic restoration and preservation. Additional tasks include working with the Trails Committee to convert the Aqueduct Trail to a multiuse trail and open the aqueduct over the Assabet River for pedestrian traffic. Having an archeological assessment prepared for the town to identify areas that may contain archeological and early colonial artifacts was also noted as a necessary project.
In addition to the historic plan chapter, the preservation plan document also includes chapters containing an overview of Northborough history, a review of prior Northborough historic preservation efforts, and the current status of historic preservation in Northborough. There is also an appendix with state laws and Northborough bylaws related to historic preservation.
Printed copies of the plan are available at the library, Senior Center and Planning Department.
The plan is also available online at:
