Trusting Trail Companion

Before European settlement, the area now known as Holbrook, Massachusetts, like all of New England, had long been inhabited by Algonquian-speaking peoples. Holbrook was first settled by Europeans (mostly British colonists) in 1710 as the southern part of Old Braintree, and was officially incorporated on February 29, 1872, the last town created from the former lands of Braintree. It was formerly known as East Randolph, being divided from Randolph by track from the Old Colony Railroad line. Holbrook's development is typical of suburban Greater Boston. In the 18th and 19th centuries, farming and cottage trades, particularly shoe production, dominated the economy.