Still the
most undeveloped section of Framingham, Nobscot was a sleepy village
consisting of a chapel, a school, and a combination post office /
library, surrounded by farm fields and orchards, until the suburban boom
of the 1950s. There are still numerous 18th and 19th century homes and
public buildings within Nobscot - just look for the date board, which
lists the date it was built, and sometimes the original owner or use,
mounted on the front or side of the building.
The largest
commercial enterprise prior to the post-war suburban build-out was the
Nobscot Springs bottled spring water company, which tapped its product
at the base of Nobscot Hill. This era brought the village landscape that
we see today, including the numerous subdivisions of single-family
homes, apartment buildings, shopping plazas, the fire station, and what
is still today the area's only traffic light.
(Information courtesy of
Nobscot Neighbors)