Hubbry Logo
search
logo
2237519

Foxborough, Massachusetts

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Foxborough, Massachusetts

Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, it is about 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Boston. The population was 18,618 at the 2020 census.

"Foxborough" is the official spelling of the town name per local government, but the abbreviated spelling "Foxboro" is common and is used by the United States Postal Service.

Foxborough is the site of Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots of the National Football League and the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.

Settled in 1704 and incorporated in 1778, the town of Foxborough was named for Charles James Fox, a Whig member of Parliament and a staunch supporter of the Colonies in the years leading up to the American Revolution.

The town was once home to the world's largest straw hat factory, erected in 1886. The building became the Bay State Boot and Shoe Company which closed in 1891. In 1894, the building became the Inman and Kimball hat factory. It burned to the ground during a spectacular mid-day fire in 1936. The Foxborough Post Office now stands on the site.

Foxborough was composed of small neighborhood communities until the early 1900s. These included Foxvale/Paineburgh, which remained semi-independent until the early twentieth century; Quaker Hill in South Foxborough; and Lakeview/Donkeyville in West Foxborough.

Schaefer Stadium (later known as Sullivan Stadium, then Foxboro Stadium) opened in 1971 as the home of the New England Patriots, after the football team spent its first eleven seasons playing at various stadiums in Boston. The family of Billy Sullivan owned both the Patriots and the stadium until they sold the team in 1988. The stadium, however, lapsed into bankruptcy and was then bought by paper magnate Robert Kraft. With Kraft in control of Foxboro Stadium, he prevented the Patriots from relocating to St. Louis in 1994 by refusing to let the team break their lease, then bought the Patriots outright. Kraft then founded the New England Revolution, one of the charter clubs of Major League Soccer, in 1996.

Gillette Stadium opened in 2002 as a replacement for Foxboro Stadium. The Patriot Place shopping plaza, built on land surrounding the stadium bought by Kraft, completed construction in 2009. The plaza includes a variety of restaurants, clothing stores, and other retailers.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.