The Eye of the Commonwealth has a bustling Main Street and a natural setting
Once home to the world's largest eyewear manufacturer in the late 1800s, Southbridge is a south central Massachusetts town still dubbed “The Eye of the Commonwealth.” The factory is now a hotel, but vintage sunglasses and optometry machines in the Optical Heritage Museum preserve the town’s history. Century-old churches and red-brick, Italianate-style bars and cafes line Main Street. Nature lovers can explore trails that wind through the town’s dense evergreen and hardwood forests.
Southbridge's calm suburban streets are just minutes from downtown.
Central Baptist Church is an architectural icon in Downtown Southbridge.
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Southbridge has multi-families near Main Street and large lots on the outskirts
Sidewalk-lined streets closest to the town’s core brim with multi-family properties built throughout the early 1900s. “Main Street has grown so much within the last decade. Now, we’ve got people from Boston and Worcester buying the surrounding multi-families to renovate each unit,” says Mary-Jo Demick, a Realtor with Aucoin Realty and a Southbridge local. Farther from the city's center, three-bedroom Cape Cods from the 1950s rest on quarter-acre lots with backyards enclosed by white picket fences. 1980s contemporary dwellings on the outskirts of town dot parcels as large as 2 acres, shaded by forests of hemlock and white pine trees. The town's median housing price is around $330,000, on par for the region but lower than the national median.
Southbridge is home to a large number of multi-family homes.
A mixture of Cape Cods and Saltbox homes make for varied streetscapes in Southbridge.
Second Empire buildings still stand amongst Southbridge's unique mix of architectural styles.
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Several recreational options in Southbridge
Since 1934, Solair has been a go-to for New England nudists, where they can swim in the Olympic-sized pool or tan on the lake's sandy shoreline. Private hiking and biking trails don’t extend past the Cohasse Brook Reservoir in the town's southernmost region. Clapboard lakeside cabins are reserved for members, while RV parking spaces and wooden tent platforms are available to rent starting on Memorial Day Weekend. Hikers not in the buff can trek the mile-long loop at Thompson Family Forever Wild Preserve, filled with pre-colonial stone walls, towering maple trees and overgrown pastures. Designed in 1916 by Donald Ross, Cohasse Country Club has a 9-hole golf course stretching across hilly terrain and a namesake brook. At the Tri-community Family Branch YMCA, indoor amenities include a six-lane swimming pool, a fitness center and a rock climbing wall.
Morris Street Recreation area welcomes four-legged friends for playdates.
Thompson Family Preservation has 40 acres of protected land for hiking and wildlife observation.
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A unique educational pipeline for Southbridge Public Schools
Children here can attend pre-kindergarten through first grade at Eastford Road Elementary, which has a C grade from Niche, and then continue to C-minus-rated Charlton Street School and D-plus-graded Southbridge Middle. Lastly, students may go to Southbridge High School, earning a C-minus grade. The Early College program offers educational pathways focused on fields like humanities, engineering and musical theater.
Eastford Road School serves Westville students from Pre-K through the 5th grade.
Southbridge Middle School.
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Southbridge’s Main Street has quaint eateries, a local grocery store and Harrington Hospital
Vintage lampposts, American flags and locally owned eateries line Southbridge’s Main Street. Since 2006, residents have sat in Elm Centre Café’s red leather booths to eat reimagined breakfast classics like red velvet pancakes and burger eggs Benedict. String lights hang from the walls at The Metro Bistrot, a provincial French restaurant only open Thursday through Saturday. Down the street, Corner Pocket Café is a dive bar brimming with Red Sox and Celtics gear. Groceries are available at Big Bunny Market, a family owned option in the area since the early 1950s. Local produce farmers, beekeepers and bakers set up tents in the store’s parking lot every Saturday morning from Memorial Day until Colombus Day for the Southbridge Farmers Market. The thoroughfare is also home to UMass Memorial Harrington Hospital, which employs more than 1,500 people across south central Massachusetts. Nationally known retailers like Walmart and Marshalls are in The Center at Hobbs Brook, an open-air shopping center about 5 miles away on Charlton Road.
After having a bite at Honest Town Eats, enjoy its colorful art right outside with seating.
Central Pizza offers outdoor seating being an attraction for warm weather seasons.
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Holiday parades down Main Street and optometry conferences at the Optical Heritage Museum
Led by the high school marching band, superheroes and ghosts walk along Main Street for the Horribles Parade every Halloween. Inflatable Christmas trees atop pick-up trucks drive down the same thoroughfare for the Holiday Visions Parade, which ends with a tree lighting at the Town Common. “We have a summer concert series at the Town Common. Everyone brings a camping chair to watch, and there are local food vendors,” says Demick. The white marble bricks, bronze double doors and 210-foot-tall bell tower have made Notre Dame Catholic Church, built in 1916, a fixture of Southbridge. In June, Mexican food vendors, French flags and face painters fill the parking lot for the church's annual International Festival. Eye doctors flock to Southbridge in November for the Opticians Association of Massachusetts annual conference at the Optical Heritage Museum, which has year-round exhibits on the evolution of sunglasses and eyewear in movies.
Under an hour to numerous northeastern cities
“We have lots of employment opportunities within Southbridge, like Hyde Manufacturing or Dexter-Russell, but we’re also a commuter-oriented town,” says Demick. While the nearby Southbridge Municipal Airport is a hub for charter planes and pilots in training, the Worcester Regional Airport has the nearest commercial flights. Worcester is about 20 miles northeast via Interstate 90, just 4 miles away, and 63 miles in the same direction leads to Boston. Hartford and Providence are also about an hour away. Several Worcester Regional Transit Authority bus stops line Main Street.
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