Overcoming Geography – Making of a Downtown

Overcoming Geography – Making of a Downtown. Marlborough, Massachusetts. Marlborough's vibrant downtown in the 1900s would have seemed highly improbable to those who lived here during the early 1800s. , The 1833 state map of Marlborough shows that Marlborough's East Village and West Village, though well-developed, were connected by a Main Street mostly empty of buildings. Two reasons account for this: first, Marlborough was still an agricultural community with little demand for a retail center; second, the geology along the main road prevented early development. , The Prospect Hill cliff hung on the north side. This rock ledge can still be seen behind the present buildings especially in the parking lots across from City Hall and next to the Old Fire House. , On the south side of Main Street, a large swamp, fed by numerous brooks and the runoff from the surrounding hills, produced recurring flooding which also discouraged development. , However, in the 1850s, the population of Marlborough tripled, mostly from Irish immigrants who had come to work in the growing shoe industry. Demand for housing and for retail markets created the real pressure needed to create a downtown. , The introduction of new tools and methods to drain and contain waterways, and the development of dynamite to blast rock, opened the door to needed development. , By 1860, business buildings lined both sides of Main Street, and housing neighborhoods sprang up atop the cliff on Prospect Hill. Within ten years, the creation of Downtown Marlborough was complete. , [Caption] This photo was taken from the top of Mt. Pleasant Hill around 1875. You can see all of Main Street from this vantage point. The I.C. Church, before its spire was built, can be seen on the left and the First Church and City Hall can be seen to the right. The north side of Main Street still has noticeably vacant areas where Prospect Hill, and all its rock, meets Main Street. The 1853 map (see inset) shows the area between the two villages largely undeveloped. Over the span of about 25 years, these two villages that made up Marlborough effectively ceased to exist and the downtown as we see it today had been born.