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The original Town of Sherborn Police shoulder patch (Above)
Sherborn is an active, outdoors-oriented town where residents enjoy miles of trails through woods and meadows for walking, horseback riding, swimming and boating in Farm Pond, and participating in any number of team sports. A high degree of volunteerism due to strong citizen support for town projects, and commitment to excellence in public education characterize the community's values today, as they have for more than 300 years.
Sherborn is located in eastern Middlesex Massachusetts, bordered by Framingham and Natick on the north, Millis on the south, Dover and Medfield on the east, and Ashland and Holliston on the west. Sherborn is 18 miles southwest of Boston; 22 miles east of Worcester; 32 miles south of Lowell; 38 miles north of Providence, Rhode Island; and 195 miles from New York City.
Sherborn was originally settled in 1652 under the Indian name of the township; "Boggestow". In 1674, Boggestow had grown sufficiently to be incorporated as a new town (i.e. the land had never been part of another town) and was arbitrarily named "Sherborne" by the General Court, then was changed to the present name Sherborn May 3, 1852.
Throughout the 1600's, 1700's, 1800's, Sherborn remained a small, and relatively self-sufficient farming community. Little industry developed because of the lack of good water power, although there continued to be saw and gristmills on several of the small, intermittent streams. However, apples grew well, and there were always small cider mills. With the coming of both the railroad and steam power, one mill developed further, until by the 1890's it was advertised as the "argest refined cider mill in the world". At that time it pressed over 1.25 million gallons of cider per season, and exported "Champagne" cider as far west as Nebraska and Texas, and as far east as England and Belgium.
The first step when designing and implementing a new patch is a combination of things. Everyone (or at least the majority of everyone) must be on board for a change because the patch will be worn on the shoulder of each officer. Also, the patch is to represent the Town of Sherborn, and the towns history. Researching the history of the town is one of the major elements that goes into the designing of a new patch. The direction for the research was formed with the study of the patch worn by officers since 1974. From the that patch (Shown on left) we knew the town was settled in 1652, but that was really all we knew. The date 1674 was shown on the patch but we only assumed that was the incorporation date. No officer within the
department could explain without uncertainty what the tree on the patch stood for. Consensus of the department was the tree was a Shilling Tree and it grew in Sherborn. Upon researching the Shilling Tree we learned that no such tree even existed and the symbol on the patch was actually a Pine Tree Shilling. The Pine Tree Shilling was the first form of U.S. currency and was minted in Massachusetts in 1652, the same year Sherborn was settled. Famous to the Town of Sherborn because the Pine Tree Shilling was minted by Captan John Hull, one of the original land owners in Sherborn. The "Pine Tree Shilling"; the "Willow Tree Shilling"; and the "Oak Tree Shilling" are referred to today as the famous "tree" pieces. The Pine Tree was the last to be coined, and today there are specimens in existence, which is probably why all of these early coins are referred to as Pine Tree Shillings. Uncovering small facts lead to other small interesting facts and
away we went.
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The second step to designing the new patch was the artwork process. After researching the history of the town, and taking from the research what we though was important, the first sketch was drawn and presented. Officers within the department looked over the drawing and gave their thoughts. Wording and color changes were made here and there, but the overall design stayed the same.
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The new patch will show in greater detail, the history and heritage of Sherborn. The new patch will feature the name "Boggestow" as it was called in 1652 when originally settled; a crimson inner border to represent Sherborns early industry of Apple Cider Mills, paying tribute to "The Worlds Largest Cider Mill" of the 1890's.
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The Official patch of the Sherborn Police Department.
Both the new SPD patch, and this page were designed by former officer, Jared Snapp, presently of the Marlborough Police Department.
**For security purposes we are unable to provide patches or any other memorabilia to the public**
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