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 a 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. and Tuesday when it closes at 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. The Town does not have a trash or recycling program. A Household Hazardous Waste Collection takes place twice yearly. The Town has a composting area on East Belcher Road Street, available 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, Foxborough Regional Charter School, 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 recreational learning for all ages.

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 and Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro also provide local health centers, as does the Lahey Clinic, known as the Lahey Hitchcock Clinic.

Recreation includes Youth Baseball, Midget Football, Hockomock YMCA, Legion Baseball, Soccer, and Softball (to name a few). The theatre at the top of the Common, known as the Orpheum Theatre or the Marylin Rodman Performing Arts Center, is a regional theatre for the performing arts and provides many interesting cultural events. There is an Actors Collaborative, Art Associations, Garden Clubs, American Association of University Women, and Cultural Council. Founders' Day is celebrated annually the second week of June and boasts a huge parade, fairgrounds, 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. Summer swimming is available at the Mill Street Public Pool or at Sweatt Beach on Lake Pearl (open to Foxboro residents in the summer). 

Churches of many denominations 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 and motels are available both 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 also take place during the warm weather months at the stadium.

We invite you to visit Town Hall (40 South Street) where you will be able to pick up 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 508-543-1219 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 was shortened to "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