1. History of Sherborn, Massachusetts
Colonial and Revolutionary Eras – 1700 to 1800

2. Table of Contents
Early Maps
Farms and Mills
Houses
Memorable Mortality
French and Indian War
Town Jobs
Town Pound
The Revolutionary War
21 Mile Stone
Schools

3. Borders of Sherborn in the 18th and 19th Centuries

4. Borders of Sherborn in the 19th Compared to Today

5. Farms and Mills
Throughout the 1600s, 1700s, and even into the 1800s, Sherborn remained a small
and relatively self-sufficient farming community.

6. Farms and Mills
Throughout the 1600s, 1700s, and even into the 1800s, few industries
developed in Sherborn because of the lack of good water power to run
them. There were small sawmills and gristmills on several of the narrow
streams. Apples grew well in Sherborn, and people loved to drink cider, so
there were always small cider mills in town.
Holbrook Grist Mill and Cider Press, Forest Street
Leland Mill, Mill Street

7. Sherborn’s Colonial Houses
Because the town was relatively poor in the late 1800s and early 1900s few
people "modernized" their old houses by tearing them down and rebuilding. As a
result many of the houses built in 1700s and early 1800s remain, as well as six or
more with late 1600s parts.
Two National Register Historic Districts have been established to include the
old Town Center and a two-mile strip along North Main Street. Throughout the
rest of the town, many other old houses still stand today.

8. Sherborn’s
Colonial
Houses
Asa Sanger House 1674? 1775? (70 Washington Street)
Deacon William Leland House 1717 (27 Hollis Street)
Morse House 1710 (210 Farm Road)
Woodland Farm Leland House 1760
(104 Woodland St.)

9. Sherborn’s Colonial Houses
Sewall Ware House early 1700s (100 S. Main St.)
Addington Gardner House 1730 (128 Hollis Street)
Ware’s Tavern 1780 (113 South Main St.)
Holbrook House -- Front Section 1745 (69 Forest Street)

10. Sherborn’s Colonial Houses
Leland-Hooker House 1760 (no longer standing,
Joseph Twitchell House 1690? 1710? (32 Pleasant St.)
on site of 13 Mill St.)
Morse-Tay-Leland-Hawes House 1700 (266 Western Ave.)
Richard Sanger III House 1734 (60 Washington St.)

11. Changes Over Time
This the colonial era house, located at
52 Brush Hill Road, has changed a lot
since it was built in 1680. It has been
called many different names, also:
Hiram Bullard House
Cozzens Fay House
Sawin-Bullen-Bullard House
Bullen-Stratton-Cozzen House

12. Interesting Town Jobs
Several of the old positions not found in town government today come from the
earliest days of the town, when farming was the major occupation.
Three fence viewers were first appointed by the Selectmen in 1680. Their job
was to settle disagreements over property boundaries.
The field driver’s job was to round up stray cattle and other livestock. The
animals were put into the Town Pound, which still stands today on South Main
Street.

13. Town Pound
In the early days of Sherborn, cattle and horses grazed on common land, and
swine (pigs) and other farm animals often ranged freely about town. Cattle were also
brought from other towns to graze in Sherborn. If livestock got lost, they could put in
the Town Pound until their owners claimed them. A fine or tax needed to be paid
when the animals were removed from the pound.
Sherborn's first two Town Pounds were built in 1694 and 1741. Both were located
on the “Plain,” near the current Pine Hill Cemetery gate. They were probably built of
logs, laid together in log-house style. The 'Widder Mary West' was the first person in
town chosen to take care of the pound.
Another Town Pound was built in 1775 of stone and located on the green near the
meeting house, where the Unitarian Church stands today. This pound was not
satisfactory because it was too close to the church. These three pounds no longer
exist.

14. Town Pound
The only remaining Town
Pound was built of stone in 1770
by Captain Sanger. This pound
still stands today on South Main
Street, as shown in the lower
picture.

15. The 21 Mile Stone
The first United States Postmaster General was Benjamin Franklin. He
had these stones set out along the routes of the stagecoaches that carried the mail.
The cost of postage was determined by the distance a letter or package was carried,
and the stones made it easy to see how much to charge. Sherborn's 21 Mile Stone is
located on North Main Street, across from the entrance to the Plain Cemetery,
near Rockwood Street. This stone displays how many miles (21) the coach had to
travel over the rutted, dirt roads to reach Boston.

16. Schools in Sherborn
In the late 17th century, after the town’s
founding in 1674, the children of Sherborn were
taught in private homes. The parents of the
children paid, not the town. Obadiah Morse was
the first teacher in Sherborn. He was also the
first Town Clerk. In 1694, Edward West, who
was Town Clerk by then, was the next
schoolmaster. His gravestone is shown at right.
Until 1709, the school had been open less
than three months each year. But in 1709, the
Town voted to have school open for three
months and in private houses in three different
parts of the town: a month on the Plain, near
North Main and Coolidge Streets; in South
Sherborn near the Charles River; and in Dirty
Meadow, near Greenwood and Washington
Streets. In 1712, two more locations were added,
as well as two more months of school.
Since 1709, the town has paid school costs
by asking townspeople to pay taxes.

17. Schools in Sherborn
The town voted to build the first public schoolhouse in 1727. The building was
supposed to be 18 feet long and 20 feet wide, which is a lot smaller than a Pine Hill
School classroom. The schoolhouse was located next to the Meetinghouse, where the
Unitarian Church stands today. This building was used until 1770. Until 1761, the school
was open only during the winter and was taught by a man teacher. In 1761, the town
voted to pay a woman to teach the smaller children, as well.
Reading, writing and cyphering, or simple math, was taught. The General Court of
the Colony (the Legislature) also specified that other subjects be taught, such as Latin,
Greek, and history.

18. Schools in Sherborn
Throughout the rest of the 18th and into the 19th centuries,
there were as many as seven small schoolhouses throughout
the town.