BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Westborough, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Westborough town. It lies in ZIP code area 01581. It stands on Whitney Hill. The Survey maps it on the Marlborough quadrangle. 4,255 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 312 feet above sea level.

Westborough within Worcester County

Population over time

2 figures

Westborough grew from 4,045 to 4,255 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20104,045
20204,255+210 (+5%)

Then and now

1887 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 102 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Westborough, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Westborough, surveyed 1887

Topographic sheets covering this place

42 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires nearby

41 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 41 fires within 5 miles of Westborough between 2015 and 2020, burning about 30 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined12
Debris and open burning11
Smoking7
Recreation and ceremony5
Arson/incendiarism3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
29 September 2018Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
25 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 July 2016Debris and open burning7.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 July 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
18 July 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,089 shown

Museums hold 1,089 specimens collected within 10 miles of Westborough between 1850 and 1975: 466 Animalia, 427 Plantae, 188 Fungi, 3 Chromista, 3 Protozoa, 2 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A E WOODHEAD, A. B. Seymour, A. H. Chivers and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) LyonSceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon1899H. H. Scudder
A photograph of the species Geranium maculatum, not of this specimenGeranium maculatum L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Packera aurea, not of this specimenPackera aurea (L.) Á.Löve & D.Löve1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Quercus velutina, not of this specimenQuercus velutina Lam.1858E. S. HoarRoad to Marlboro, Concord.
A photograph of the species Condylura cristata, not of this specimenCondylura cristata cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)1859E S WheelerBERLIN
A photograph of the species Carex vulpinoidea, not of this specimenCarex vulpinoidea Michx.1861not recorded
A photograph of the species Magnolia soulangeana, not of this specimenMagnolia × soulangeana Soul.-Bod.1866J. Mekenes
A photograph of the species Potamogeton berchtoldii, not of this specimenPotamogeton berchtoldii Fieber1870Morong, T.
A photograph of the species Saemundssonia merguli, not of this specimenSaemundssonia merguli (Denny, 1842)1871W. Hope
Arphia sulphurea (Fabricius, 1781)1892unknownWellesley
A photograph of the species Castilleja coccinea, not of this specimenCastilleja coccinea (L.) Spreng.1892E. C. SmithMarboro.
Hepatica americana (DC.) Ker Gawl.1892Clarence Kinney

All 1,089 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

3 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Westborough: 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hopkinton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Hopkinton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Northboro PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms nearby

27 since 1998

The National Weather Service names Westborough in 27 storm reports between 1998 and 2023: 16 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 2 lightning, 2 flood. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1998LightningWestborough1 hurtno account filed
June 2002LightningWestborough$500,000no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindWestborough$100,000A concentrated area of wind damage in Westborough was found by an NWS storm survey team around Chauncy and Oak Streets and extended ENE to the east shore of Chauncy Pond on the old Westborough State Hospital property and to the ESE along Flanders Street. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees, some very large, were uprooted or snapped off. A few landed on houses and vehicles. Most of the downed trees were lying in an easterly direction except more toward the ENE along the east shore of Chauncy Pond, consistent with what one might expect to be something of a divergent pattern with a microburst. At the southern edge of the damage swath no more than a quarter mile from downtown Westborough, the trees and branches seemed to be lying in a more ESE direction, again suggesting a hint of a divergent pattern. Several signs were blown down along Route 9, including a large restaurant sign and a billboard. A resident along Chauncy Street who took video looking out of his basement window showed an image that showed the storm approaching at 7:55 PM EDT and damage occurring at 8:02 PM EDT. The concentrated part of the microburst began about a half mile west of the Route 9 and Lyman Street intersection and ended about three quarters of a mile east of that point. The westernmost sign of damage observed was a tree down along Otis Street. It is possible that some damage occurred further west but was not part of the survey area. The team encountered one of the largest root balls they had ever seen on the old Westborough State Hospital grounds. Scattered damage was observed to the east into Southborough.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindWestborough$25,000Trees on Flanders Road were downed by thunderstorm winds. One of these trees fell onto a house.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindWestborough$15,000no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindWestborough$10,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindWestborough$8,000no account filed
August 2016Thunderstorm WindWestborough$5,000Wires on Mayberry Avenue at the High Street extension were downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindWestborough$5,000A tree on Glen Street was downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindWestborough$5,000A tree on Davis Street was downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindWestborough$5,000no account filed
July 2019Thunderstorm WindWestborough$4,000In Westborough, large trees were downed at Bowman Street at Olde Coach Road. Other large trees were downed on Upton Road.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindWestborough$2,400In Westborough, trees were down on wires on Carolyn Dr, Linda St, and Haskell St.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindWestborough$2,000In Westborough, there was a tree down on a house on West Main St.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindWestborough$1,000A twelve inch diameter tree on Haskell Street was downed by thunderstorm winds. The tree fell, blocking the street.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindWestborough$500In Westborough, there was a tree down blocking Lyman St near Haskell St.
August 2020FloodWestborough-In Westborough, flooding was reported at Rt 9 and East Main St.
July 2016FloodWestborough-Minor street flooding occurred on Route 135 in Westborough.
June 2008HailWestborough-Penny size fell on Route 9 at the Southborough line.
August 2015HailWestborough-no account filed
August 2015HailWestborough-no account filed
July 2009HailWestborough-no account filed
July 2009HailWestborough-no account filed
July 2008HailWestborough-no account filed
May 2007Thunderstorm WindWestborough-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindWestborough-no account filed
October 1998Heavy RainWestborough-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Worcester County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Ward Corner1.2 miles44
Wessonville1.3 miles44
Northborough3.7 miles44
Southville4.2 miles42
Woodside4.2 miles44
Axtell Corner4.4 miles45
Chapinville4.7 miles42
Cordaville4.9 miles42

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on WestboroughAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7987129The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 611409. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.