The town was first settled by
Europeans in 1661 as Nemasket, later changed to Middlebury, and officially incorporated as Middleborough in 1669. From time to time, documents and publications spell the name as Middleboro. The name Nemasket or Namasket came from a
Native American settlement along the small river that now bears the same name.
Nemasket may have meant "place of fish", due to the large amount of
herring that migrate up the river each spring. There are no contemporary records that indicate the name Middlebury was taken from a place in England. The names Middlebury, Middleboro and Middleborough were actually derived from the city of
Middelburg,
Zeeland, the westernmost province of the Netherlands. Middelburg was an international intellectual center and economic powerhouse. The English religious dissenters known as the
Brownists developed their governing institutions in Middelburg before emigrating on the
Mayflower, and were the earliest settlers of Middleborough. During
King Philip's War (1675–1676), the town's entire populace took shelter within the confines of a fort constructed along the
Nemasket River. The site is located behind the old Memorial High School (now a
kindergarten), and is marked by a state historical commission marker along
Route 105. Before long, the fort was abandoned and the population withdrew to the greater shelter of the
Plymouth Colony. In their absence, the entire village was burned to the ground, and it would be several years before the town would be reestablished. The local
Maxim Motors manufactured fire engines from 1914 to 1989. Middleborough has since become the location of the corporate headquarters of
Ocean Spray Cranberries. sponsored by the
Wampanoag Tribe of
Mashpee, Massachusetts. Teams from Middleborough have twice reached the
Little League World Series (LLWS) the only Little League in the state to reach twice in the International Era (1958+). Middleborough reached the
1994 edition by defeating
Milburn-Short Hills, New Jersey, to take the
East Region title. In
South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the team lost two games (to Virginia and California) and won one game (over Minnesota). They were one of only two Massachusetts Little League teams to win the East title (the other being from
Andover in 1988) before it was split into the
New England Region and
Mid-Atlantic Region in 2001. Middleborough advanced to the
2022 edition of the LLWS with a 10–1 win over Maine. They were the first Massachusetts team to reach South Williamsport since
Peabody in 2009. Middleboro lost each of its two games falling 5–3 to Southeast (Tennessee) and 7–5 to Mid-Atlantic (Pennsylvania). Image:South Main Street, Looking North, Middleborough, MA.jpg|South Main Street in 1912 Image:Webster Street, Middleborough, MA.jpg|Webster Street Image:Nemasket Mill, Middleborough, MA.jpg|Nemasket Mill in 1914 Image:Bank Building, Middleborough, MA.jpg|Bank building in 1910
Profanity ban controversy On June 11, 2012, Middleborough made national headlines after residents approved an ordinance outlawing the use of
profanity in public, making it punishable by a $20 fine. It passed 183–50 in the town of over 23,000 residents. Many legal experts said the law violates the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Dozens of residents on both sides of the issue attended a protest in front of the town hall. The Massachusetts state director for the
American Civil Liberties Union said, "the Supreme Court has ruled that the government can't prohibit public speech just because it contains profanity." In October 2012, Massachusetts attorney general
Martha Coakley blocked enforcement of the law, saying it was inconsistent with the Constitution, and the town ultimately backed off the profanity ban. ==Geography==